It may very well be that I started this whole blog series to be able to tell you about Twitter…..
The series is designed to tell you a little bit about each of the most important Social Media tools.
I’m introducing the platforms and talking about their best use. I hope my posts help you get a better Idea about the communication sites, everybody is talking about.
You can find the other posts here:
Or in my Column at Welcome To Kelowna
Twitter is the “ultimate” micro-blogging platform. In it’s pure form Twitter allows updates of 140 characters or less. This restriction was needed because the original idea was to create a micro-blog that could be updated by using text messaging (the limit for a SMS Text message is 160 characters).
The concept for Twitter was developed during an all day brainstorming session in 2006 and quickly took the Internet by storm. Today Twitter has more than 300 Million accounts and every major Social Media Platform and a growing number of web services use Twitter to reach a larger audience.
Sometimes people I meet don’t really “get” Twitter. I found my passion in teaching people how to use Twitter and other Social Media tools effectively and I love how most of my “Students” develop the same love for Social Media I have. After all, Social Media is all about connecting with others and telling your story - something humans have done since we learned how to communicate.
Here are three of the most common problems:
“I don’t understand what those @ signs mean” The @mention work like an email address - we use them to address someone directly and all messages including @Tweet4Ok end up in a special folder and I also receive an email telling me that you included me in a conversation.
“What are those #signs for?” The #Hashtags as we call them act as links to an automatic search of all tweets using the same terminology - read more about Hashtags here
“Who reads all that stuff?” My pet answer is: “Do you read everything in the Newspaper?” When you use Twitter on a regular basis you learn how to filter the stream. Social Media is more about painting an image about yourself and your business through short updates. We have to work on developing an image of a reliable resource for good information…. Much like in the other “Real Life”
Why should you include Twitter in your business communications?
- Twitter users can discover you even without knowing about your business beforehand - simply because you mention keywords they are looking for
- Twitter allows you to engage your audience directly and in real time
- Twitter makes it easy to ask questions to learn what your (potential) customers really need
- Twitter is an awesome opportunity to monitor your brand’s reputation online
- Twitter followers are often influencers in their community
- Twitter allows you to make contact with people and then arrange to continue the conversation through other means
- An active Twitter account streamed to your web site adds relevant content and credibility to your site
Does Twitter work in cities the size of Kelowna?
It is impossible to tell how many active Twitter users are in our city but as a regular user I can tell you that the number is growing every week. Yes, using Twitter in an area with a larger population base makes it easier to reach a good number of local contacts but having only a couple of thousand users using for example #Kelowna makes it a lot easier to Network with specific people in your community!
In 2009 two local Twitter-Pioneers @hlooman and @NickKellet taught a large number of business owners and other individuals about Twitter and a number of the accounts created are still active today. In a way Nick and Hans pushed Kelowna years ahead in the adoption of Twitter for Networking in #Kelowna
There are many bad uses of Twitter and unfortunately the Twitter stream is filled with people using Twitter as a free advertizing platform, trying to spam us with offers or automatic postings while forgetting to “be social”.
If you ask me about the biggest benefit of using Twitter consistently, I will say without hesitation: “The ability to connect with people I would never have a chance to meet otherwise”
Would you like me to follow you? Leave your Twitter handle in the Comments
What is your favourite Twitter - story?
@bluebirdbc
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My favourite Twitter story is very cool....I had been following @georgemoen of @blenz for some time on Twitter admiring how he was using social media for his business but how he also branched out to network to others. We had many coments back and forth, RTs here and there and most certainly the #FF.At the time I worked for the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce and was looking to bring in a social media speaker to speak with our membership but I wanted a speaker who culd show they had succeeded with Twitter.I was on Twitter and saw @georgemoen tweeting at the same time. I asked him..."What would it take to have you come and speak to the Chamber of Commerce members in #VernonBC?". His response..."just ask me".@georgemoen came to #vernonbc and spoke to a full house. Chamber members are still talking about that session today and as a result, more Chamber members are using social media which was the entire goal in asking George to come to #VernonBC.It's a year later now and George just dropped in to my new place of employment for a quick visit. For me, it was a fantastic connection and for my community a very fruitful connection. Business owners are becoming more and more engaged in social media in our community and it all started because of a very simple Twitter connection.
What a great Story Val! To this day I regret not being able to make it to that event. I still remember sitting in the office reading all the tweets.
Twitter Business Day was a lot of fun.We got over 1000 businesses on Twitter.The best thing that happened was that lots of new friendships were formed that still exist today.I know I met lots of people via the event and via Twitter. I know many others did the same. Those bonds exist today. Many are stronger.I was a great human learning experience too
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[…] Twitter is my favourite Platform right now. What appeals to me is the real-time conversation, the openness and the limitation to 140 characters. I use Twitter for many things and I like it best for connecting with individuals that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. […]
I totally agree - although a lot of what you'll get in your Twitter feed will be spam it does allow you to meet people you normally wouldn't in real life. I've been able to connect with people in my field across the country and the world thanks to Twitter. It's all about making lists :)
Thanks for stopping by Rachel! I agree that lists become more important all the time. I have to admit that mine usually only exist in Hootsuite