After hearing a very inspiring speaker at one of the Chamber meetings this week speak on "social media" and business, I took the plunge and joined Twitter. I have to say, although some people poke fun at me for the amount of social media I am already a part of, the truth is, I can only handle so much. For instance, Facebook vs. Myspace...I can't do both. I like Facebook because it seems less trashy. I enjoy catching up with friends and it has been a TREMENDOUS tool for me professionally in casting and communicating with our Gary Musick performers.
I confess, Twitter has been something I've resisted. I don't totally get the concept. I mean, I GET it, I just don't appreciate it yet. As the speaker (David Bullock) talked about Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and other things I hadn't even heard of, his focus was on business marketing and development. Basically, his premise is...if you're not using those forms you're already miles behind the curve. For me, I get it with Facebook and see how he's TOTALLY right. But, I don't get Twitter yet. In fact, I confess that it kind of bugs me. Our business development guy here at Gary Musick asked me why it did and it was hard to formulate a coherent answer.
for those of you out there who Twitter...can you help me understand the benefits personally and professionally? I'd love some feedback. And, by the way, my Twitter name is brandonsthomas
Friday, February 27, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
I don't get it either....
Brandon
Good to talk to you at the airport in Nashville. Guess you're heading to Lubbock next weekend?
Twitter for me has been amazing. I've only backed into FB after having an active Twitter account. Twiter to me is instant contact with folks. I guess you can do that with FB--but I do it with Twitter. I've connected to people all over the world--even met a few of them in person while overseas. I share moments and photos through twitter; we share comments during special events (Grammy's, Academy Awards--etc) and even during Breaking news (the Buffalo air crash) I can ask questions and get instant answers. I can connect with authors (Matthew Paul) and artists (Vicky Beeching) and friends like @jeffrecberry @richsmith.
I love Twitter... it has opened a whole new world for me.
Take care of Nashville until I return!
by the way.. my twitter name is @fbcjdrake
I admit that I didn't like Twitter for about 6 weeks. I used it on and off during that time and just didn't get it, either. Then one day I realized that it will be whatever I make it. I unfollowed all the random people I'd friended and began to follow people that shared my professional interests (education, technology, social media).
It was about this same time that I began using a Firefox extension called TwitBin that made it easier to use Twitter. I found this much more useful than my Twitter home page. I've since begun using TweetDeck which is even more robust.
I’m now a big fan of Diigo (social bookmarking service) and Twitter. My professional development has fast-forwarded at warp speed as a result of interacting with individuals with common professional interests worldwide.
I don't mean to self-promote on your blog, but perhaps this post will help. http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/187
I’d enjoy having you join me on Twitter. I actually use 2 IDs now. I discuss education and technology as clifmims and I engage in conversations about faith and Christianity as cmawip.
Great question! Ok, I'll admit that as a NEW Marketing guy (one who promotes things like FB, Twitter, Social Media), I'm still working my way to find my Twitter feet. I will say that of the Marketing Twins (Randy and I), Randy's more of the Twitter guy and I'm more of the Facebook guy. I think I'm like the other commenter - I need to delete some people I'm following and only follow those who I'm interested in. When I go to check Twitter now, I'm baraged with a bunch of chunk. I can manage that better in Facebook. I'm sure Randy will chime in on this. He's found Twitter helpful for business. Take care!
Use Twitter in these ways and in this hieracrchy:
1) community - share stories about other people you know, link to their blogs, refer people you know to businesses you are a fan of, promote other people - show the love!
2) live events - whether it's a face-to-face meeting, webinar/webcast, or some other event, get people talking about it on Twitter - rather than discuss the comments a speaker is making an hour after they were made, Tweet to other people about what they are thinking - makes the event come alive. Using #hashtags for this is great!
3) Breaking news - like a group text msg but something you can share alot faster with other people - this works for venue changes, cancellations, emergencies, etc...
4) Share pics/videos....
5) Self-promote - while it has it's place, you should not overdo it. Occasionally mention a new blog post, new product, or new thing you are doing, but it's better to promote others and let the community be your advocate
NOTE:
Like @cmawip - use a tool like TweetDeck to really make Twitter work for you. You get to see all the status updates as well as DM and Replies all on one screen...
Go for it BST - I think you'll get the hang of it and enjoy it...I have 2 different strategies for FB and TW - they can link, but I like to keep them separate. My family doesn't Twitter so I can say what I want (but they all see what I write on Facebook!!) :)
Randy Vaughn
Follow me on Twitter: @marketingtwins
Here is a "plain english" explanation of Twitter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o
I'll admit, I got started on Twitter because I'm a nerd/geek and I get easily swayed by the next new thing in the tech world. What I did find out that works for me is to tie in my Twitter feed and Facebook status so I don't double up there. Also, Twitter is basically what you make it. I Twitter with some close friends at work and in my theological circles, as well as some people that I follow from the greater user experience world. I've found it a great, and even fun, tool to use.
oh and my Twitter name is @philwilson.
OK...yeah yeah yeah. I saw that same video on the Twitter site. I get that part. But then you get on Twitter and everyone has these weird signs and # signs and other things that I don't get...and aren't explained anywhere that I can see. Then when I get things on my phone, it will say things I don't get like telling me to reply with some weird letters and hi.
I know that you can supposedly do something like use a # sign and find people who are at a certain event...but all of this escapes me and I can't really find anything to explain it. That video is basically useless for any of that.
The # symbol is called a "hashtag" and like you said, it's used for people talking about a specific subject. However, the detriment is that it's not in universal usage. For instance, if I wanted to see what people were saying about Friday night's Battlestar Galactica, I would go to search.twitter.com and look for #BSG or #battlestargalactica. Usually there's some abbreviation that most people are using for a particular subject.
I don't know about other symbols. I haven't seen any besides @ and # myself. Others might be able to.
On Sunday my minister used the analogy that most of us have relationships with God like those of friends we have via Twitter. We get little status update blips about Him throughout the day, or give ours, but that's the extent of the relationship. Nonetheless, just like our friends we only communicate with on Twitter, we feel like we're in touch a lot, but it's not true, deep, impactful, growing relationship. Just food for thought. ;)
P.S. I don't Twitter. Facebook however, came in handy today when I was able to go on my Blackberry to view your profile to email my Dad your address after he called. Ah technology!
Post a Comment