here’s just a few reasons why twitter is so awesome.
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1. meet new people
totally obvious, but that is so often overlooked. The open ‘follow’ feature is twitter’s greatest strength. Unlike other social networks like Facebook, you don’t have to be friends to establish a channel of communications. A ‘follow’ is enough. One gets plugged into the other person’s updates, and the conversation can start from there. Great way to get a ‘taste’ of what someone has say.
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2. chatting
twitter was originally touted as a microblogging service, and indeed, some people use it this way to purely broadcast ‘outwards’, But if two people overlap their online time, a real chat can take place. Firing off question and answer at each other, smiley faces and omg’s included, this is just like the instant messaging you know and love.
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3. pimp your links
everyone has something they want to share. Whether its photos, or funny videos, or your own blog, you can share the web easily and quickly. Link compression services like tinyurl or is.gd make link sharing fast and reliable. Basically link sharing provides a way ‘back-out’ into the web, so the twitter ecosystem is fully plugged into the wider web. Essential.
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4. instant feedback
nothing is faster than typing in a twitter update, hitting enter, then waiting for a reply. First responses might roll in after 20 seconds! This is such a kick. Compared to email, twitter runs at light speed. Instant feedback has its downside too: one gets hooked on it pretty quick! returning to the real world after a quick burst of twitter can feel like brain torture at times.
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5. brain storming
while I’m pretty interactive most of time, there are times when I just monitor my twitter stream as it flashes past. Just to gauge the current atmosphere, see what’s trending, catch the stray thought here and there. Look for inspiration basically. Some quote, some funny remark, some unrelated observation; any of these can be sudden springboards for your own creative thought. When you’re stuck; turn to your twitter buddies, and see what’s on their minds!
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6. breaking news and events
this used to be the main reason why twitter got big media coverage – the olympics, the hudson river crash, the hostage situation in india, earthquakes – all this breaks on twitter, because that’s where the people are. There’s always a time gap between the Event and when Big Media can mobilise to get on the scene; the eyewitnesses are already there, with twitter at hand. Reportage from the very source. Nothing quite like it!
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7. master your haiku
one hundred and forty characters ain’t much, especially if you have a Profound Thought to convey to the world. Learning to compress without cheating (using excess abbreviations, dropping vowels) is an art form. One best learnt in the twitter-verse. One soon learns to be concise, sharp, witty, and to the point. Very good haiku skills, and one that occasionally leads to poetical, almost lyrical tweets. A well crafted tweet is gold; and worthy of inclusion in any book of quotations worth its salt.
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8. expose the real
what is often laughed at by those who don’t GET twitter, is the trivial nature of it. Hey, who cares what you ate for breakfast, or that you’ll late driving to work? That’s just so BORING. These are their stupid criticisms. But what they miss, is that in the mundane and ordinary, you find REAL LIFE. This is existence, at the coal face. This is what we have to deal with, what our minds process. This is ‘edgy’ because its what we _really_ experience. This is NOT what we get in movies, novels, or the news. But it is what HAPPENS to us, and for that reason, it’s bloody well important and meaningful! it’s authentic.
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9. contacts, opportunities
don’t come into twitter with this mindset, because people will run away from you (if that’s possible in cyberspace). Don’t be hawking your wares, or touting your ‘jedi’ skills. Be authentic, show a true side of yourself, and you’ll be surprised at some of the opportunities that come your way. Oh, I was just looking for someone with your kind of skills, would you mind taking on this work? — or I like your style, do you want to do some guest blogging at my big-ass website? you know, that kind of shit. Everyone has their own story to tell. Freelancing, etsy, ebay, outsourcing, interviews, blog redesign, whatever. I see it Every Day.
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10. FUN
pure and simple, twitter is fun. Like sex, people tweet because its INHERENTLY ENJOYABLE. No other reason. Releases endorphins, makes you sweat and grunt (okay, maybe the analogy is getting strained here) but you get the point. Twitter pulls people back day after day, hour after hour, because its just plain FUN. If there was just One Reason to love Twitter this would be it. Twitter is fun. On tap, 24 hours a day, from your computer, from your mobile, where-ever you are in the world, twitter is there. And for that I say:
< >
THANK YOU TWITTER
couldn’t live without you!!
blessings, and peace
ggw
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Tags: twitter
May 1, 2009 at 3:27 am
11th reason: you get to write wonderful blog posts like this one if you stay on Twitter enough time to be aware of its true nature.
Stumbled and retweeted š
May 1, 2009 at 4:47 am
That really hit my spot this am, Thanks:)
May 1, 2009 at 10:27 am
I really love this article…just so on point! You’re right about people not understanding the true nature of Twitter. Recent headlines suggest people don’t stay around long enough like the SM forums. I’m pretty happy the mainstream doesn’t get it…they have TV!
Thanks for your wonderful blog and the insights you bring!
May 1, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Thank you for this great article. Very RT worthy! It will help me show those not yet involved reasons to jump in.
I feel that Twitter has changed the world – it changes the way we can choose to interact with one another and share…
The Twitterverse is amazing and I’m so glad to be following you there.
Many thanks again,
Carol
May 1, 2009 at 3:27 pm
if it weren’t for twitter, i wouldn’t have known ray allen was having such a great game tonight. ggw: what about a twitter composition?
May 1, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I agree with these points, I’ve learned a lot of things about a lot of people I admire. I’ve found out about great new sites, new things, Twitter is just so great for sharing and finding random stuff.
I’d show this to the people that say twitter is worthless.
May 1, 2009 at 3:45 pm
11. Free lubes with every brake pad inspection.
May 2, 2009 at 10:03 am
I’m catching on. And found you and your music there. We need more FUN! Thanks @visionaerialist
May 2, 2009 at 4:59 pm
If you don’t mind, I reposted your article (this one) on my own blog. Of course I linked to your original and made it clear you wrote it. It needs to be distributed!
Guillaume Smit
South Africa
May 2, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I stumbled this as a confirmation of my own experience of Twitter. I have learned a lot using twitter including breaking news and I get to share my discoveries as well as the ‘real’ in my life and others.
Stumbled!!! š
May 2, 2009 at 9:27 pm
LOVING Twitter, and now convincing my beloveds. Thanks for these “why’s”.
May 2, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Nice advice, thanks for sharing š
May 3, 2009 at 12:52 am
Loved your list and would like to add that there are quite a few games and quizzes on Twitter too, for those who like fun… I run one every day (@linnetwoods) there’s a great one every Friday run by @Twizmaster and several others on the go at any given moment, some run manually and others by bots š
May 3, 2009 at 1:00 am
joined twitter long time back, was never serious, but now its whoe lotta fun and learning. good post and yeah thanks twitter!
May 4, 2009 at 5:24 am
another reason is the creativity Twitter sets free the community in developing all the related tools and apps
May 4, 2009 at 6:07 am
and you learn an insane amount of information — very GENEROUS people on twitter – sharing the knowledge…
May 5, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Thanks for selling the twitter to me..am about to explore the world of twitter.
Lo and behold…here comes me!
June 29, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Load of absolute rubbish, especially point 8.
Everyone knows it’s “real life” – the point is that your real life is boring. No one cares except you.
September 11, 2009 at 9:01 am
Love this post! Found it on a RT from someone else, and am glad I found Twitter too!
September 11, 2009 at 11:57 pm
I’m a business user of Twitter and have been on itless than a month. Like many business users unless it can save me time or money I’ve got no interest in it. I’ve given myself one month (20 minutes per day) to try it out. After the first two weeks I’d have said “it’s a load of crap for business”. Now I can see the usefulness of Twitter — from a business point of view. Like several of the other posters, I have no interest in the mundane goings on of you. Conversely I’m sure you could give at rat’s ass about what I had for breakfast this morning (nothing). @MikeSM53
September 13, 2009 at 9:27 am
Thanks for putting this list together! I wanted a clear way to say why I am on Twitter.
– @corpmvmnt