Twitter: Why should you use it?

As a young, recently graduated marketing professional, I get a lot of questions about twitter. What it is, what its for, what all the bustle is about. Considering the infinite number of ways that people use Twitter, I thought I would outline how and why I use twitter, to give you an idea of how it can be used, but more importantly why.

Affinity

I first joined twitter when I heard about it at a marketing conference, reasoning that if all the techies and the pros used it, why not me? Since then, I am a big follower of the latest technologies, especially in the social media realm. I’ve even started a career in the field.

Personal Branding

A big part of getting the job is looking the part. With terms like social media and search engine marketing flying around, simply knowing about them is not enough, you need to embrace them too. Besides, your posts on twitter say a lot about the type of person you are. That’s why I think Twitter is so much more useful in personal branding than most other social networks. Many people are making a conscious effort to join the service to show that they are aware of new technologies, and not just using it as a place to post pictures of the last party they got drunk at.  The users worth following tend to post relevant and insightful tweets.

Sharing

One of the main things I use twitter for is posting links to videos, articles, news, anything that spreads. Sharing links is simple and measurable; I can see the effectiveness of my tweets by the amount of people who follow me.

Ultimately, as the writers of Groundswell put it, “concentrate on the relationships, not the technologies”. The basic idea of Twitter can and has been duplicated, but more importantly it can also be improved upon. Find how you want to express yourself and share online, then choose the technology that works for you.

http://twitter.com/JeffRShearer