Our world has been taken over by a small, blue bird. It tweets incessantly using the voices of others. Through this lovely blue bird we hear about the daily lives of our friends, family members, and complete strangers. We are given an opportunity to hear the words of a famous celebrity or professional and to find our own voice amongst a sea of strangers.
This blue bird is more well known as Twitter. It has changed the way in which we network, even the way we receive our news. Let’s take a look at a few benefits twitter may offer you.
Networking, networking, networking! Times are tough for everyone. The unemployment rate is high, and let’s face it when looking for a job or opportunity, it’s who you know. Well, Twitter helps you get to know a whole lot more people. You can follow different people depending upon your interests. For example, if you are a writer you can use the hashtag #amwriting which many writers use. You can begin following, chatting, and connecting with those who share a similar interest with you. Basically, by using a hashtag, which is the # sign and a word or phrase, you can have a public conversation with anyone using the same hashtag. There are multitudes of hashtags available, you just have to find the right one for you, or you can even start your own!
Don’t just network, take advantage. By following different people on Twitter you can get the opportunity to hear about things before others. Most people and companies love to post new happenings on Twitter. Those on Twitter knew about Osama bin Laden’s death before the president had even begun to address the nation. That’s the power of Twitter.
Tweet Chat. For those who don’t know, several organizations and people host tweet chats using hashtags. Some occur on the same day and time each week or biweekly. It’s a great way to fuel one’s knowledge and get your daily dose of chit-chat about your favorite subject. I know one of mine is “YALitChat”, which talks about young adult novels and trends in the publishing industry.
Facebook vs. Twitter. Sure, on Facebook you can connect with family and friends on a different level than Twitter, but since you usually keep personal information on there, do you really want strangers knowing that much about you? Twitter is great because most people know about you is a small bio blurb and whatever you are tweeting about. Within this bio, Twitter allows you to link back to your own website or blog. This is a great way to increase blog and/or website traffic and make your blog/site more popular. By posting an interesting link from your own blog to Twitter where you have a decent amount of followers can instantly connect you with the right kind of readers.
With all of this in mind, Twitter has proven to be a wonderful tool for businesses or even self-promotion. So what are you waiting for? Give it a try and check out our Twitter page!
