What Twitter Is (and what it is NOT)

fly on the wall.

Imagine for a moment the many thousands of conversations taking place around the world at this very second. Now picture an interface that would allow you to sift through and find conversations that interested you. They could be talking about your favorite band coming to town, discussing the latest industry trend or describing a plane crash in the Hudson River. With Twitter, you can be that fly on the wall. What’s more, you can even join in on the conversation.

140 characters.

That’s the limit of each message, or “tweet.” It’s thanks to this bite-size package that we can consume such a large volume of tweets in a single sitting.

As Tom Foremski once tweeted to me, “140 characters is the new container for ideas.” So true.

Tweet often contain: a description plus a link to article, a description + link to a Web site, description + link to picture, Old School quote + link to video of Will Ferrell streaking through the quad. Get it?

the world doesn’t care what you’re doing.

I believe that the founders of Twitter (Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams) failed to choose the best line to prompt tweets. Instead of merely cloning the Facebook status message, they should encourage more insightful tweets from users with a better prompt. If it were my site, I would have prompts like these in rotation:

“What is interesting to you?’

“What can you add to the conversation?”

“Seen any good LOLCat pictures lately?”

OK, maybe not that last one.

A new Twitter user can be spotter a mile away. “Trying to figure out this twitter thing.” Don’t be THAT guy.

twitter for business.

Twitter is one of the single greatest tools for organizations to listen to user feedback, provide customer support and reach out to potential new users. It allows for laser-precise one-to-one communication. Unfortunately, many businesses’ marketing departments try to re-use copy from magazine ads.

When using Twitter, you should always be trying to add something to the conversation. Be helpful, even when your it doesn’t help your busness. Be honest and transparent; there is no place left to hide. And remember: your business serves to address some problem, inconvenience, or desire for your potential customers. Now is a good time to dispose of gimmicks, and revisit this.

I still believe that listening is the most important feature.

incomplete.

I could say a great deal more about Twitter. And I will. For now, please visit these wonderful resources for more information.

How to use twiter for business people with Jeremiah Owyang

Twitter Tools for Community and Communications Professionals by Brian Solis