Monday, August 24, 2009

Learning What Twitter Is All About

. Monday, August 24, 2009
By Michael Fleischner

For a long time I've been avoiding the Twitter phenomenon. That is, until recently. A fellow associate of mine encouraged me to join and even explored some of the reasons why I hadn't done so. I simply told him that I didn't understand the need to Tweet and the real purpose of using Twitter. With some reluctance, I signed up for an account.

Once I got online and started using Twitter, I better understood the fascination with this seemingly simple tool. It has its own vocabulary, functionality, and many features that you may not know about. Truthfully, the only way to truly understand Twitter is to read a how to guide, watch a video, or use a third party platform for managing Twitter related tasks.

After having some time to get comfortable with Twitter and what it can do for me, I quickly learned the benefit of a far reaching social media tool. Having interest in tasks related to my job, hobbies, and other activities, I found large numbers of Twitter users who share the same interests. This is great for identifying a support group of other users who can share ideas and from whom you can learn a great deal. The other thing that's so amazing is that you can get access to celebrities that are using the tool as well. They write about their lives and even share a personal anecdote from time to time. Twitter gives you a direct line to many people you thought weren't within reach. This helps to make the world smaller and bring us all together.

When you find a group of individuals who share your interests, concerns, and are willing to have a discussion around them, it enriches your experience. This is especially true as I have built a small following of people within my area of interest. When I have a question or topic that needs discussion, this group is there to share what they know and comment on my messages, also called tweets. Also called retweeting, the act of sending someones post to your follower happens frequently within the Twitter community.

You may be thinking to yourself that having an audience is a good thing, but it can also become a bit overwhelming at times. Twitter has a way to handle this as well. You can easily control who you follow and easily change your notifications. In essence, you can be very selective about who you communicate with and who communicates to you. This is a wonderful feature that helps you manage all of the messaging that happens on a regular basis.

I was not an early adopter of social media and for good cause. I never saw the point of Tweeting or trying to build a fan base. However, now that I've gotten my feet wet and have a good deal more experience with Twitter, I see that it's not only good for getting information but giving it as well. If you are trying to determine the value of Twitter from the outside then I encourage you to role up your sleeves and give it a try. Unfortunately you can't appreciate it unless you do.

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