5 Reasons Why You Should Be On Twitter
This post is for all my doubting Thomas friends who think that Twitter is a waste of time. I must admit that for a long time, I also believed that. When I first heard about Twitter I thought it was a stupid, time-consuming site that promoted stalking. I mean, who calls their friends followers? Then there’s the perception that it had lots of people posting mundane things like “I’m eating a PB&J sandwich in my undies” or “My dog keeps following his tail. What should I do?” Well, there are persons who still do that but for the majority, boy, was I wrong. Thanks to my friend @Tyrone876 (who finally convinced me to join), @Gordonswaby and a few others who helped to show me the usefulness of Twitter.
For right now, Twitter is one of the best creations known to man. Here’s why I love it:
1) You get direct, real-time access to your friends, favourite celebrities, news sites, companies, TV shows, etc. You get to interact with people you wouldn’t otherwise have gotten the chance to. It’s quite fun, especially if they tweet you back. As a freelance journalist, I have direct access to the people I want to interview.
2) If it’s not on Twitter it’s not really happening. Breaking news, not so breaking news, whatever it is, you usually hear it first on Twitter. If it’s a fire, someone who is there is tweeting about what they’re seeing. If it’s an elephant walking the streets, someone is posting a pic to their page. Twitter is your first real source for what’s happening.
3) You meet people. You meet people. You meet people. Ask anyone you know on Twitter how many persons they’ve met through this micro-blogging site and you’ll probably be shocked. It’s a great place for networking and also conducting research. Respected Jamaican communicator @marciaforbes, has been touting the usefulness of Twitter and has even been conducting research on it.
4) Depending on whether your profile is public or private and also how many followers you have, you get a huge platform to share your views, advertise your causes and seriously have a genuine impact on someone’s life. A lot of motivational tweeters get countless retweets every day, simply because what they tweet connect with their followers. If you own a business, imagine how many potential customers might be on Twitter just waiting to be connected with you. Ask @JamaicaPegasus, @PalaceMovies, @popstylejamaica and others about this. According to social media news blog @mashable, Twitter has over 145 million registered users.
5) Twitter is a family. Who you follow and even who follow you become the people you interact with often. You’ll see words like tweeps, twam, etc., which are generally used to address those who are part of your inner circle. You will realise that there exists a group of core people who follow each other. This makes it fun and interactive. Lost? Ask your twam for directions and you’ll see a bunch of tweets coming in about where to go. Hungry? Ask your tweeps to suggest restaurants and they will. They’re like your real friends but without the face-to-face interaction.
If you’re not already on Twitter come and join the family. You can follow me @ArnoldKer.
Always love your neighbour as yourself and remember to pray, laugh, grow.
Well written post. I am also a big fan of Twitter and think is is the first true “social networking” website I have used.
That is exactly what I am saying
Good article
Thank you. The fact that tweetup was recently added to the Oxford dictionary should be an indication of Twitter’s influence.
You can’t use twitter in China
im already on twitter. FaceBook? Yeah, photos of a person a thousand times with a pout or sticking their tongue out is enough. no wonder teens get too obsessed with it and barely bother to study. UGH.
Twitter is by far the best combination of micro blogging and a social network that people find comfortable enough to use. Once you crack the 140 characters nut it’s the best.
I completely agree. I was also a “Twitter skeptic” for some time but simply find it a great way to get information, links to articles etc. that Facebook does not provide. I am also finding that I am drawing more readers to my blog through Twitter. It gradually becomes a family I think – not immediately. You have to establish your own community, and that takes a little while.
Yes, that’s true. Twitter can be very useful if you know how to maximise the benefits.