http://bit.ly/bHMiFW
January 24, 2010, marked my first post about Twitter. At the time, I was skeptical, unconvinced and very unsure how I was going to use this new social medium to my advantage. Now you must understand, at the time I had zero followers, about five tweets which were basically equivalent to Facebook status updates and a cloud of doubt that led me to believe that Twitter would not help me in any way at all.
Fast forwarding to the present, I'm following over 200 people, have over 100 followers and have tweeted well over the 1000 tweet milestone. Not too shabby…But the biggest change of all? I realized I was dead wrong about the value of Twitter.
Twitter offers more than I ever imagined. In these series of posts, I will try to explain what makes Twitter different, why it's important (and relevant) to college kids and what you can do to maximize this social media website. I will also, in the end, talk about how Twitter has benefited me and changed my whole perspective about social media.
Anyone can join Twitter. You can tweet about anything, and everything. Some DO tweet about every single thing they do (annoying, I know). Others actually provide some excellent content to their Tweets, like links to cool websites or questions that spark discussion between different people.
If you join Twitter with a purpose, or have some sort of clue of what you're looking for, you can quickly learn how to utilize the site so it's beneficial to your interests and needs. It's important to know why you're joining, otherwise it'll take some time to figure out how you want to use this social networking site.
Twitter is about connecting with others who you may or may not know. That is one main thing that separates Twitter from other social media websites; it stresses the ability to connect with people who you might not know, but you have similar interests or multiple things in common. With these similar interests in common, you connect and create a stronger bond with the people you're following.
Now, in Facebook, a group or an organization may have a fan page (or like page as I guess they are called now). However, when it comes to specific people, people on Facebook, people may not be as inclined to become friends with you because they don't personally know you.
On Twitter, following someone is like a compliment. It shows that you like the information that the person is tweeting about, and want to connect and communicate with them because of your shared interests. People love to gain followers, and many follow people back as a sign of gratitude. As an example, you may follow five people, and all five people may follow you back! It's a great show of reciprocity, and it builds your followers too! As you continue to follow people who are interesting and share a variety of information, so too will your follower list grow. (Learning how to gain more followers will be discussed in Part 3) 
For example, a journalist for the Baltimore Sun, Carla Correa, tweets about different events that are happening around the city. She's not just tweeting links that go back to the Baltimore Sun's page. Instead, she's connecting with her followers and interacting with them, by replying to their comments, tweeting about things that are happening in her current location and (of course) talking about her favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. This interaction increases loyalty because people who are following her know that's she's real and not just another employer who puts out links to their company. Very anti-robotic.
http://www.twitterjournalism.com/2010/05/22/why-you-should-join-twitter-part-1/?utm_source=TwitJourn&utm_medium=twitter+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Unidos Venceremos! United We Will Win!
~Peta-de-Aztlan~ Sacramento, California, Amerika
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
c/s
Why You Should Join Twitter (Part 1)
Posted by Tauhid Chappell | Posted in Commentary | Posted on 22-05-2010
Comments
Fast forwarding to the present, I'm following over 200 people, have over 100 followers and have tweeted well over the 1000 tweet milestone. Not too shabby…But the biggest change of all? I realized I was dead wrong about the value of Twitter.
Twitter offers more than I ever imagined. In these series of posts, I will try to explain what makes Twitter different, why it's important (and relevant) to college kids and what you can do to maximize this social media website. I will also, in the end, talk about how Twitter has benefited me and changed my whole perspective about social media.
Part 1: How Twitter Differs from Other Social Networking Sites.
According to CNN's blog, Scitech, Twitter has over 100 million people are registered on Twitter. For a site has been around for only four years, that's a pretty good statistic. According to Social Media Today, Digital Pulp and Pew Internet, the average Twitter user age is in their early 30's. Percentage wise, 20% of Twitter users range from 25-34 years old, and 19% are between the ages of 18-24. Students in college fall into this category, and I feel as though as college kids here need to be more aware of the benefits and opportunities that Twitter has to offer.Before you consider joining Twitter, ask yourself: What do I want to use Twitter for? Am I using it to search for friends? Am I using it to look for news? Am I just curious to see what it has to offer?
Anyone can join Twitter. You can tweet about anything, and everything. Some DO tweet about every single thing they do (annoying, I know). Others actually provide some excellent content to their Tweets, like links to cool websites or questions that spark discussion between different people.
If you join Twitter with a purpose, or have some sort of clue of what you're looking for, you can quickly learn how to utilize the site so it's beneficial to your interests and needs. It's important to know why you're joining, otherwise it'll take some time to figure out how you want to use this social networking site.
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project
There are a couple things that makes Twitter different from other social networking websites (like Facebook and LinkedIn). Some important things to note is that Twitter helps connect people who otherwise would have never have known each other, it gives organizations a personal (and sometimes informal) voice and people use Twitter for news consumption.
Twitter is about connecting with others who you may or may not know. That is one main thing that separates Twitter from other social media websites; it stresses the ability to connect with people who you might not know, but you have similar interests or multiple things in common. With these similar interests in common, you connect and create a stronger bond with the people you're following.
Say you like guitars, you may follow multiple guitarists/musicians, guitar labels or companies who sell guitars. You may not know the people personally, or the company itself, but you follow them because they tweet about things that cater towards your interest. Who knows, maybe the guitar companies that you follow will tweet about special events that they are holding, guitars on sale or they may even give away free items through contests.
Now, in Facebook, a group or an organization may have a fan page (or like page as I guess they are called now). However, when it comes to specific people, people on Facebook, people may not be as inclined to become friends with you because they don't personally know you.
LinkedIn is more professional and used to connect those in the professional world. It's useful and definitely a great way to expand your network, but it's not as personalized as Twitter. Twitter offers more ways to get personal with people that you are following and your own followers. (I will discuss more in Part 2)
On Twitter, following someone is like a compliment. It shows that you like the information that the person is tweeting about, and want to connect and communicate with them because of your shared interests. People love to gain followers, and many follow people back as a sign of gratitude. As an example, you may follow five people, and all five people may follow you back! It's a great show of reciprocity, and it builds your followers too! As you continue to follow people who are interesting and share a variety of information, so too will your follower list grow. (Learning how to gain more followers will be discussed in Part 3)
Another thing that makes Twitter different is that some companies/organizations will have actual employees tweet about events, news or even their personal opinions!
To quote Dr. Leslie-Jean Thornton (@ljthornton) when she spoke at the VPA/AP Conference in Roanoke, "[These tweets] show how an institution can speak with a personal voice rather than an institutional voice. It's not just pushing out headlines. It's not just a machine."
For example, a journalist for the Baltimore Sun, Carla Correa, tweets about different events that are happening around the city. She's not just tweeting links that go back to the Baltimore Sun's page. Instead, she's connecting with her followers and interacting with them, by replying to their comments, tweeting about things that are happening in her current location and (of course) talking about her favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. This interaction increases loyalty because people who are following her know that's she's real and not just another employer who puts out links to their company. Very anti-robotic.
Twitter also provides users with a lot of news. People who Tweet love to place links to websites of their interests. Many well known media organizations use Twitter to provide news, like CNN, New York Times and L.A Times. These organizations pump out links to interesting articles that are on their front pages, and again their employers also tweet about events that are happening.
The point is, you can find (and learn) a lot of news through Twitter. People want to communicate to others and tell them what's happening in their area. There's tons of news being thrown around like there's no tomorrow.
The people I follow link to news that cover a variety of topics. Anything from Virginia Tech sports to events happening in Australia! If you like to stay informed of what's happening in the world, in your country, your state or even your local town (provided that your newspaper has a twitter/website), definitely consider joining Twitter. There's plenty of news to go around, you'd be surprised what people are talking about.
Hopefully some of this information helped. Next up will be part 2, which will talk about why Twitter is relevant to college kids. I encourage that everyone make a Twitter account! Start connecting, learning and building your network. Stay tuned for more.
http://www.twitterjournalism.com/2010/05/22/why-you-should-join-twitter-part-1/?utm_source=TwitJourn&utm_medium=twitter
Unidos Venceremos! United We Will Win!
~Peta-de-Aztlan~ Sacramento, California, Amerika
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
c/s
great post!
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