twitter.com

Author & generally swell guy Jay Goldman makes an appearance on Global News with Leslie Robertson to help explain what Twitter is to the masses.

twitter.com – I had the great fortune of sitting down with twitter.com last weekend to record this discussion. Wicket and Pixie decided to join us for a while.

Twitter Hacked by The Iranian Cyber Army Dec 18/09. A group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army has hacked Twitter and an Iranian opposition website, replacing it with an anti-American message.Traffic to the social networking website was redirected for nearly two hours on Thursday night. CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD NOW! Read full story here: news.bbc.co.uk Twitter Hacked by The Iranian Cyber Army Dec 18/09

There’ s no question that Twitter has become the next big thing in internet social networking. Yet to this day, less than 10% of North American internet users actually “Twitter.” But unique visitors the Twitter website has grown over 1300 % in one year.

So what exactly is Twitter?

Twitter is an automated service for sharing of short 140 character communications. Why 140? So that you can send “tweets,” or communications from your cell phone as well as your computer. Most celebrities have a twitter channel as part of their marketing and promotion. And now businesses are seeing Twitter as a business tool.

Some feel that Twitter is just a vehicle to kill time, filing any moment with useless drivel. But does it serve a deeper need?  Moses Ma, writing in Psychology Today, believes it does. He says that we are living in a culture starved for real community, which is a message that Robert Putnam gave us in Bowling Alone. Our brains have been biologically hard-wired to operate within a social community, but the industrial age and its extension, free market capitalism has weakened those bonds. People are compelled to tweet, facebook, and to email as well as meet face to face, because they crave social connection.

The critics of Twitter would argue that it is a near perfect example of an intermittent variable reward, a key addictive element of slot machines, and Twitter can trick the brain into thinking its having a meaningful social interaction when you actually aren’t, and finally, Twitter can add to the already recognized problem of overwhelm through multi-tasking, reducing your ability to perform.

The proponents of  Twitter would argue that Twitter, like all social networking, aims primarily at social needs, like those for belonging, love and friendship. At  higher level, Ma suggests, Twitter is related to self-esteem and social recognition. Twitter allows normal people to feel like celebrities. You get a following, and people “like you.” Dr. David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist at the University of Sussex argues that Twitter helps people feel less insecure.

So do people use Twitter to self-actualize, the highest human need according to Maslow? Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins and scores of other personal growth and spiritual gurus have twitters. Or are they just exercising a new form of smart marketing and promotion of their products?

One way to look at Twitters is what is the impact if you participate. Are you just adding to the crushing weight of spam and useless garbage already out there in cyberspace, or are you participating in  great planetary social experiment that will help us all evolve into better human beings?

Ma would argue that being in the “twitterverse” is like a rive of human awareness, composed of billions of 140 character molecules, each a snapshot of life or thought or reflection, and that river of pure information equals energy in the quantum universe.  And therefore it is a good thing.

Given that as a background, will Twitter go the direction that Facebook is now heading, and become a new vehicle for business marketing and promotion, and the distribution of unedited news and information? 

Heyy my twitter accounts: (Follow both!) twitter.com and my backup: twitter.com PLEASE also follow my bestie: twitter.com AND add/subscribe her here on youtube: www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Twitter has grown in popularity almost exponentially since its arrival on the web. Twitter is a social networking site. People who start twitter accounts can you use them for various different things. The idea is to start connecting with other similarly minded individuals when you start an account. There will be people who will take interest in what you have to say and, or offer. The people that show interest will become known as your followers. The people who are classified as your followers will be simple for you to reach so that you can update them about things of various natures. Of course, you can also ask them questions or carry out any other conversations.

When you converse on Twitter, you are tweeting. A tweet is the unique 140 character message that allows you to communicate with others on Twitter. You may be thinking “why only 140 characters?” Don’t worry the limit is actually a good thing. It keeps the conversation lively and prevents it from bogging down like a long email or chat.

Twitter can be used for both business and personal reasons. You can keep in touch with friends and family and quickly let them know what you are doing or where you are (you can tweet from your cell phone!) If you are running a business, Twitter can be a great way to broadcast news and updates to your customers.

Now that you know what twitter is, you may be wondering just exactly how you get followers. Of course, the first and obvious step is to begin communicating with other twitter users. This can be as simple as conversing about a website that is beneficial to you, a blog that interested you, any current events or a myriad of other things. Another good way to communicate is by answering questions or pointing people in the right direction. People will greatly appreciate your help and be more receptive to following you. These people may or may not tell other people about you, but there is always the chance that they do, which is highly beneficial to you. Being kind is another great way to gain followers on twitter. This step is closely linked to the latter step and is simple enough to accomplish. If someone on twitter does some sort of favor for you, whatever it may be, always make sure that you thank them. The word will spread about you more quickly if people like you.

Another obvious way to gain a larger twitter following is to add value to your network. By becoming a person who tweets mostly interesting links and other media, more people will follow you. This is because you are providing valuable information to them and so you are an asset. Of course, you will want to participate in other twitter websites. By being active in their blogs or buying their products, you can keep and build a larger following. Showing interest in your followers is a wise idea. You may also want to help your followers promote their products or media. This is just another chance to get your own name out there on the twitter network as much as possible.

I hear it all the time. The people on twitter are twits, twittering tales of hairballs and haircuts. Bloggers have been moaning about the noise on twitter, and predicting the date the site will close down, yet twitter remains a powerful communications force in the online world.

I think it has something to do with that thing they call API…the stuff programmers use to talk to twitter and make other tools that use twitter information for something else. I didn’t really understand what use it would be to aggregate all these useless posts, until I noticed that some people are posting really valuable stuff. Like the BBC and CNN! Yes, these news sites twitter their top headlines into their twitter account, for all the world to see.

Now, things like twittervision are interesting, and give you a glimpse of world twitter activity, but it sure can waste time too…kind of like what a twit would do, right?

With a little thoughtfulness, you might be able to imagine twittervision done right – showing only the twitters of your friends or a region. So far, that’s not happening. But there are a lot of powerful tools being developed to make twitter more personal and available. Like the SMS integration, which lets you read and respond to twitterings from your cell phone. Or twitterfox, a firefox browser plugin that lets your twitters pop up while you surf. This latter tool is even more powerful now, by filtering the replies from your posts, so you can scroll through the responses from others, and respond to them with one click of the mouse.

Other people are using twitter for business, and developing their reach even further simply by posting some of their work on twitter. Lately, I have found poets, reporters, marketers, ceo’s, and others, all focusing their twitters to provide useful content relating to their specialty. It makes me think that soon all the major business communications will be carried over twitter, as a new medium to reach a wider audience.

The beauty of twittering is it is like instant messaging, without being instant. People don’t expect an immediate response, don’t see if you are online or not, but do get to see your response when you post it, so they can catch up to the conversation whenever they want to, and respond to things without worrying about the interactive requirements of a phone conversation or instant messaging session (big time wasters in this world of ours).

Still, there are millions of people using twitter, and many of them are twits, twittering about toilets and termites that no one else wants to hear about. I like people who do something to fix this problem, and one free tool is at Quotably, and lets you search twitter and group responses into conversations that you can read and respond to. It’s quite powerful when you think about it, and perhaps it will help you to see where twitter might go in the future.

It’s an exciting world for the twitterers of today.

What Is This Twitter You Speak Of?

So what is Twitter and how can it be of benefit to you or your business? Twitter is a free online micro-blogging application which gives you the ability to send out short messages (up to 140 characters) called “tweets” to people who are following you on Twitter. You can send tweets either through your computer or by using your cell phone via a text message. These tweets/messages can be about anything you want and they can include links, as well. Making Twitter even more useful is the ability to send a direct message to someone you are following (this is done by entering @username at the beginning of your message) or replying to someone’s tweet with your own. You would be surprised how common it is to reply to someone’s message then to have someone who is either following you or the person you sent the reply to reply to your initial message and so on.

People can follow you and your tweets by first signing-up for their own free Twitter account at the Twitter site then adding you to their list of people they are following. Once you have created your account, you can either check your Twitter page (your own personal page which appears after you sign-in at the Twitter home page) for any of your friend’s new messages or you can send out your own. But it is much easier, in my opinion, to use one of the many online or desktop applications which give you the ability to do all of this and more.

Twitter As A Communication Tool

Twitter is a quick and easy way to communicate with family, friends, business associates, and also within a company setting. Being an online service, Twitter is available to anyone with online access. All you have to do is login to your account through any number of third-party applications developed for Twitter or through the Twitter site and you are ready to go. Within a company setting, employees could have a Twitter account created for them with the option to have their messages protected. This means only people they (or you or the person in charge of creating the Twitter accounts) approve will be able to send and receive messages from them. The same thing could be done using an instant message program but with Twitter, there would be no software to install and it would be accessible from anywhere with an online connection. Additionally, the person who is in charge of the Twitter accounts will have the power to control who is and who isn’t part of this private Twitter network.

Even though there are tons of online communication applications available, Twitter can also be used as a way for people who are collaborating on a project to stay in touch with one another regardless of where they are. And depending on which third-party application they are using to Twitter with, these conversations can be saved for future reference. There are even some third-party apps which you can use to send files up to 10MB to anyone you are following as long as they are using the same application, that is. Still, a handy feature to have and one which may become a feature of Twitter if there’s a big enough demand for it.

Marketing With Twitter

Here in lies the great thing about Twitter from a business perspective: the marketing potential it offers users. Sure, it is great to send messages and chat using Twitter, but it can also be a great marketing tool if used correctly. Have some breaking news you want to get out quickly? Send it out as a Tweet. Made an important update to your blog or web site? Let people know about it instantly with a Tweet. Want to promote your project, book, movie, whatever by giving away a free download or preview? Send out a Tweet with a URL to the free download. Only want to market something to certain individuals you are following? Simply enter their username preceded by the “@” and you are set.

Another simple marketing tool available with Twitter is the ability to befriend people who are following someone you already follow. While this practice could backfire on you if you begin to add everyone you find following someone you are following, be picky and just befriend those who either share similar tastes that you do or work in the same field as you or already follow many of the same people you do. Otherwise, you could come off as a spammer which will be a hard image to shake.

Twitter Now And Beyond

Twitter represents a fundamental change in the way people communicate online. There have always been instant messengers and they have their place and purpose but they don’t offer the one thing which sets Twitter apart and that is the ability to instantly communicate with either a couple of people or potentially thousands without the need for proprietary software. No need to download this piece of software in order to communicate with this person or that organization.

Much like how blogging has become a staple of today’s society, Twitter and “twittering” is on the same path to becoming ingrained in today’s culture despite only being around for less than two years. So simple in its execution, powerful in the marketing opportunities it offers, and ease of use, Twitter will be one of the top web technologies to gain worldwide prominence in 2008.

Everyone online seems to be talking about Twitter these days! But what exactly is Twitter?

This is Twitter.com’s official definition:

”Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People write short updates, often called “tweets” of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.”

It’s pretty simple really. Twitter is a site where you toss out short notes on the web that tell people what you are doing, feeling, thinking right now. It’s a great way for busy people to keep in touch with friends and quickly broadcast information about where you are and what you’re up to. Twitter is like an instant messaging blog that posts your conversations to the world (although you can also have private conversations.) You only have 140 spaces to write something– so you have to keep it short.

With Twitter you have the option to link it to your mobile phone or to your instant messenger. This turns Twitter into a powerful mobile communication tool, since you can both send and receive updates on your phone, and stay in touch wherever you are.

What is the point? Well, if you’ve ever been hooked on Facebook, MySpace, email, blogging, one of the instant messaging clients, or even just spent a lot of time texting on your cell phone, you probably get the idea. It is a quick way to stay in touch, meet new people, and have some fun. It is like a mini blog.

Twitter isn’t just for personal use, it also has many applications for business use. It can be used to broadcast your company’s latest news and blog posts. Twitter is good for interacting with your customers and employees. It can also enable easy internal group communication, feedback and collaboration.

For the entrepreneur and home worker, Twitter is becoming an important part of business promotion, web marketing, personal branding, and the social networking scene. It can be a great tool to get your messages out to a targeted audience and find new business leads.

There are some great twitter resources and tool out there on the web. One of my favorites is Tweetdeck.com. It organizes your Twitter information and gives your Twitter account an instant messenger style format. Firefox has some great Twitter add-ons. Another good Twitter tool is Tweetlater.com. You can send postdated tweets and auto reply tweets with this. There is also a Twitter download that you can add to your Apple/Mac Dashboard. You can also add twitter feed and wigets to your Facebook, Wordpress and Blogger blogs.

If you are going to be using Twitter to promote your business, here are a few important Twitter Business Tips:

1. Don’t blatantly promote. This is more of a passive promotion media. Blatant promotions turn your audience off.

2. Don’t let it take over and distract you from other important tasks. It’s easy to get too caught up in Twittering and lose track of time.

3. Don’t let it take the place of real communication in your life. Twitter is a communication tool not a communication replacement.

4. Do have fun! Share interesting non-business as well as business related tidbits of information that others might enjoy learning.

So, are you ready? Let’s Twitter!

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By Dianne Ronnow © 2009 Mohave Publishing. All rights reserved. This article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box below accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.