This is a response to my post “10 things I hate about twitter.” I figured since I did a little twitter bashing, I ought to set the record straight.
Twitter is one of my favorite social marketing tools. It’s also a guilty pleasure when it comes to personal communication, politics, celebrity gossip, and other stuff I want to know about without actually having to do any digging on the web.
So why did you write the “10 things I hate” article?
Because it’s important to play the devil’s advocate now and then. Because without seeing both sides of an argument, you can’t possibly form a reasonable opinion. So onto my 10 favorite things about twitter.
1. The 140 character limit.
Let’s face it—people have a lot to say. Twitter does a great job of keeping it short and to the point, which makes it much easier for our tiny attention spans to catch the gist of the message.
2. It’s easy.
Anybody can learn twitter. This may be good and bad, but one of the tenets of social media is accessibility. Twitter embodies that—I can just as easily receive messages from my sister as I can from the president.
3. Its reach.
There’s no limit to how many people you can reach with your tweets, and because your messages are so concise, people actually want to read them. Twitter is the best platform for sharing tips, articles and information—plus you can post links that direct people back to your site (see #9).
4. Trending.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to watch all that much TV. Twitter’s trends can show you the hot topics and what your favorite people (famous and otherwise) have to say about them.
5. Fail whale.
One, it’s a cute picture. Two, you have to respect the brutal honesty of a system that can admit when it’s just plain overloaded. Who doesn’t need a fail whale of their own now and then?
6. Follow Friday + RTs.
Twitter is all about sharing the love and promoting users by helping us promote each other—talk about great karma.
7. Twit pics.
C’mon, you know you love looking at other people’s pictures, especially when “other people” are famous.
8. Customizable backgrounds.
Part of the magic of social media is the ability to have your own little spot on the web. Twitter backgrounds are an easy way to share your personality, promote your website and services or just show off a picture of you on that vacation to Tahiti.
9. Triangulation + leverage.
Your tweets reach hundreds of thousands of people. By linking back to your website, or other social media profiles, you can feed readers from twitter’s high traffic area to your blog or sales landing page.
Using twitter (ideally in combination with other social media platforms like facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace) to create a steady stream of traffic to your virtual storefront will increase your online traffic exponentially.
10. @ Mentions.
Twitter is all about community. Using @ mentions, we can share a conversation with the entire twitterverse. What’s the benefit to that, you ask? There are two, I say.
The first is that open conversations engage those around you. Ever overheard a conversation at a restaurant? It’s easy to get sucked in. The second is that @ mentions can link directly back to your page. So if you say something interesting, it’s easy to go check out everything else you’ve said. And now that we’re on your page, we might just go check out your website. See?
How do I learn more about twitter?
If you want to learn more about twitter, there are tons of resources available. Mashable’s Twitter Guide is a great start, and there are more written every day. My twitter e-book comes out this spring. Interested? Contact me to get your free copy.
Happy tweeting!
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