After dismissing it for months as nothing more than a fad, I’ve recently signed up for a free Twitter account. I’ve also invited more than 30 friends to start Twittering with me. (If you’re reading this post, by the way, you’re cordially invited to join in on the fun.)
What is Twitter? Why start Twittering? Here’s a short explanation, plus ten good reasons to Twitter with me.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a fast, convenient way to give a “shout out” to your friends and family. It works like this: whenever you want to (or whenever you think about it), you post a short (140-characters or less) message (called a “tweet”). Just had a great meal? Post a tweet. Rented a great movie? Post a tweet. Get a raise? Find a great website? Found a news article that set your blood to boiling? Post a tweet.
People who want to read your tweets are called “followers.” Each time you post a tweet, it shows up on your personal Twitter home page … and a copy is also automatically forwarded to each of your followers. In addition, when you follow someone else’s tweets, they are automatically forwarded to you and appear on your personal Twitter home page.
Soon, your Twitter homepage fills up with your tweets … and tweets from people you care enough about to follow. At a glance — you’re in touch!
Ten Great Reasons to Twitter with Me
10. It’s fast. Blog entries (like this one) are long. Tweets are, by definition, short. In seconds, you can send a shout out or an update to all your followers (including family and friends).
9. It’s handy. Want to jot down the name of a book to buy from Amazon.com later? Post it to Twitter (and your friends might check it out, too.) Run across a random fact you don’t want to forget? Twitter it. (Just remember — anyone following you will see your tweets — so don’t use Twitter to plan my surprise party!)
8. It’s easy. You can enter tweets at Twitter.com, but it’s a lot easier to use software like Twitterific (or, if you own a PC, Twitteroo), which brings all tweets posted by you or your followers directly to a window on your desktop. (Twitterific is free, if you don’t mind seeing an “ad tweet” once an hour; if you don’t like ads, you can buy an ad-free version for $14.95.
7. It’s portable. Twittering from your computer is fun, but when you start posting tweets from your mobile phone, you’ll enjoy Twitter a lot more. Twitter supplies a number you can send SMS text messages to; any tweets sent to that number from your cell phone appear on your web page and are copied to your followers. (If you want to, you can choose to receive your follower’s tweets on your cellphone, too. I don’t do this, though, because I don’t want to be alerted every time a tweet comes through … and because my cell phone plan includes a very limited number of SMS text messages!)
6. Tweets wait. I’m not fond of Instant Messaging at all — mostly because people who send them expect their IMs to be answered right away. Incoming IMs demand attention, shattering your focus and disrupting the “flow state” you need to get work done. By contrast, tweets aren’t urgent. They don’t have to be seen, read, or replied to right away. When you want to see them, they’re there. When you need to ignore them, you can. They don’t demand attention. (If you do like and use IM, you can use IM to send tweets and monitor the tweets of your followers, too!)
5. Twitter makes a great journal. If you tweet just once every twenty-four hours with a quick note about your day (“Finally got that promotion” or “Adopted a Chinese baby”), you’ll have a great little record of how the days of your life were spent. Because the entries are short by nature, you’re more likely to stick to your posting routine.
4. It keeps you in touch … effortlessly. You don’t have to tweet constantly. (In fact, it’s better if you don’t.) You don’t have to tweet every day. But if you make a habit of tweeting and reading the tweets of your followers, you’ll find that you feel more connected to those people. (And you can tweet to them faster and easier than you can email or call.)
3. It’s more fun with more friends. Tweeting by yourself can have value … but tweeting with lots of friends and followers is a lot more fun, because each time you check in, you have a big batch of fresh tweets to read.
2. You’ll find new friends. From the Twitter home page, you can search profiles of everyone on Twitter, finding folks in your town or Twitterers who share your interests. In addition, if you use IM, you can send an IM to Twitter like this one: “Follow Atlanta.” Once you do, you’ll receive an instant message any time anyone, anywhere posts a tweet with the word “Atlanta” in it. You can then strike up a conversation with those people by sending a tweet directly to them.
1. It’s worth a try. Yeah, Twitter’s new. And you may not have the time or energy or interest to sustain long-term Twittering. (I may not, either!) But it is something new to try … and trying new things is good for your brain and your soul.
So: run to Twitter.com, sign up for a free account, and, if you do nothing else, start following me (my Twitter user name is, logically enough, “madebymark”). When you follow me, I’ll get an email telling me that you do — and that gives me the option to follow you, too!
Hope to see you tweeting soon!
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