I first joined Twitter in 2009 for the sole purpose of following athletes' tweets (the ever-so-clever name given to Twitter posts). It was right around the time when Charlie Villanueva infamously tweeted in the locker room during halftime of an NBA game. I thought it was hilarious (it still is, albeit quite ridiculous), so I followed Charlie in hopes that he would tweet again.
Eventually, I lost interest and my Twitter account sat idly for awhile. Until earlier this year, when I had my 'eureka' Twitter moment, if you will. Do I think Twitter is the greatest thing ever? No. But it's pretty useful for a variety of things. For example:
(1) One-Stop News Source
One thing I have found extremely useful on Twitter is 'following' various news sources, as well as other topics of interest, including CNN, ESPN, Amoeba Music, Adam Schefter (great for all things NFL!), SF Weekly, Pitchfork Music, and various bands I enjoy, to name a few. As things unfold in the NFL, in the US or the world, or in relation to one of my favorite bands, I can get up-to-the-minute info via my Twitter feed. Instead of individually visiting multiple websites, boom, I get all of this info at once!
Even better, because Twitter only displays news / tweets from people I choose to 'follow', my news feed is personalized to include only content that I am interested in. Nothing more, nothing less.
(2) Effective Way to Reach the Masses
Depending on your motives, this may be more or less important. For example, many companies nowadays (especially public relations firms, advertising agencies, technology companies, and other businesses I would describe as 'hip') are using Twitter as a means for recruiting, advertising, and/or a way to get their name/product some awareness in general.
The same can be said for individuals. Many people use Twitter as a way to create awareness for themselves, whether it be amongst a certain group of people or to a specific company or organization.
Additionally, Twitter can be used in this way for actual networking with people. Where else can you interact with hundreds or thousands of 'strangers' and create actual networks or relationships? When done in the correct way, Twitter can allow you to do this. It also allows you to find people with similar interests who may turn you onto new interests that you may not have heard about before.
(3) Entertainment
There are a plethora of entertaining Twitter pages, which provide everything from humorous blogs, witty one-liners, random quotes from a guy's grumpy old dad, or just people with random pictures / thoughts that don't seem to make any sense whatsoever.
Some of my personal favorites include:
@azizansari
@kellyoxford
@shitmydadsays
@UMO
I'm sure there are many other great ones as well.
(4) Links to Other Social Media Outlets
Twitter is great in that it allows you to link it to your Facebook, your Linkedin (if you so choose), any blogs you may have, Instagram, Foursquare, and many other social media sites. With this linkage, it allows you to update / manage many social mediums at once, without having to log onto different sites to get the same message out.
In this respect, Twitter is essentially a Facebook message on steroids, only way better.
(5) Amplification Potential
With millions and millions of people on Twitter, your messages, thoughts, links, etc. have the potential to be amplified much more rapidly than on other social media sites (i.e. Facebook). All it takes is for one person to 'retweet' your tweet (essentially the same as 'liking' something you posted), and all of their followers will be able to see it. If one of them 'retweets', and one of their followers does the same, and so on, your message/thought/funny video/etc. can all of a sudden be seen by millions.
This is an extremely powerful (and dangerous) tool, depending on the message you're trying to share.
(6) What Do I Want Out of Twitter?
Most of what I get out of Twitter has already been listed above. I can get personalized, real-time news from any major news source I choose, as well as some not-so-major news sources. I can learn about tour dates and new album info from some of my favorite bands. I can have a good laugh at one of Aziz Ansari's "Watch the Throne" comics, or one of Kelly Oxford's witty thoughts.
Ultimately, however, I'd like to really make a difference in the world. I'm not exactly sure if that is going to come through work, or through the relationships I make with others, or in some other completely unexpected way. What I do know is that social media and social networking have only just begun to scratch the surface, so I'm going to jump on now in hopes of building relationships and creating social networks that I can draw upon in the future if/when needed.
I know the above paragraph seems pretty vague, but just think of Twitter like this: At the end of the day, you can basically use it in one of so many different ways (or a combination of ways). It's an example where you get out of something what you put into it. If you choose to follow a handful of athletes and celebrities only to periodically check in on what they're doing, then you're probably only ever going to think that Twitter is used for that purpose.
I'd urge anyone to just give it a try for a few weeks. Follow some people, throw out some tweets, and if it's not for you, fine. But really give it a shot, and I think you'll find the whole experience a lot more worthwhile than you thought.
By the way, you can follow me at @SLaReau7.
