Twitter is more than just a microblogging service. Twitter is a way to connect with people you don t even know. It is a way to connect, reconnect, network and grow. Perhaps, then, this is why it has been so popular as of late among business owners and others who claim to have an entrepreneurial spirit.
In just 140 characters or less, you can let the world know what you are thinking as you stand outside of a luxury department store trying to determine whether or not to buy that blouse you ve had your eye on forever; and what s more is that if you pose that question, you will more than likely receive a response back from someone! Some people think that Twitter is just another way to be nosy and dive into other people s lives, but if you think about it; if other people didn t want their information displayed so publicly, then they probably wouldn t have summed it up so neatly in 140 characters or less..or would they?
One of the neat features about Twitter is the fact that there are so many incredibly neat applications out there that you can use with it. For instance, if you were thinking about going for a run in a new area, but was unsure of where to go, you could do a search on Twitter or simply pose the question to someone directly by looking up the area that you are in. Twitter has proven to be extremely useful for finding out what things are going on in the area that you live in as well as world news. For example, when the news broke about Michael Jackson s death, I happened to be on Twitter and noticed that the largest trending topic were the following phrases: “Michael” “Jackson” “cardiac”. Immediately, I clicked on the word cardiac and was shocked to discover that credible sources had just announced via twitter that the celebrity had been rushed to the hospital. Hours later, his official death was announced; but I had heard it first on Twitter.
There are some downsides to Twitter as well. For instance, if you are using Twitter, and you have made your profile public, then this means that anything that you say will be able to be viewed by anyone who has access to Twitter. Also, keep in mind that you don t have to have a subscription to Twitter in order to gain access to other people s profiles. In other words, if I wanted to see what someone recently posted on their Twitter profile, I will be able to instantly see it without having first signed up for a Twitter account. Normally, this isn t a problem for most people. However, there are some who forget that when they tweet about something it isn t just being seen by those who are listed as followers; rather, it is being seen by everyone.
When posting things on Twitter for your business or whether it is personal, just keep in mind that everyone is able to view it. Certainly, you can always make your profile private so that only selected followers may read your updates, but then you lose out on a lot of what Twitter was originally intended for: sharing and networking.