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Shoot. What’s the point of Twitter? I have caught myself numerous times at meetings, seminars, and in casual conversations not being able to answer that question.
It goes something like this:
“Uh, well I use it for information gathering and well… some people use it to keep up to date with friends.. Yah, ya know… You might as well use it for 30 days and just figure out what it can do for you.”
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Comments
01.26.09
Interesting questions, Kyle.
When I get asked what the point of Twitter is, I simply ask them "What's the point of networking? Answer that question, you'll have the answer to the question, what is the point of Twitter."
Twitter is networking. Sure, you're not physically stood at a party or bar camp event. But you're still networking. Building friendships and business associates.
That's how I treat Twitter, and what I feel the main point is.
I'd say re-tweeting is a secondary point. Once you've networked and built relationships, your new friends start to spread your word via re-tweets. They won't do this unless you have networked and worked on building a relationship.
Jamie
01.26.09
I've been trying to figure out what twitter is and how I might use it. I checked in on the twitter posts some of my favrotie blog authers have and the stuff they are writing for their contacts didn't interest me and I can't figure out why their contacts would be interested either.
So far twitter is not for me and I don't see the value.
01.26.09
For those who are not sure Twitter and other social networking sites are for them, you may want to watch this video: http://www.tailored.com.au/2009/01/best-explanation-of-social-media-ive....
The explanation given by Perry Belcher is one of the best I've seen.
Jamie
01.26.09
I agree that re-tweeting is a powerful way to use and gain from Twitter. It blows my mind that Twitter hasn't incorporated an easy way to re-tweet (like their reply function). A simple re-tweet button next to each tweet would transform what is now a downright annoying process into something more widespread.
I'm also interested to know how folks feel about twitter feeds that are dominated by links versus link-free missives. I prefer a healthy mix, since there are a number of other places (Google Reader, Facebook, etc) where I come across links of interest. I get pretty fatigued by bloggers who ONLY self-promote and by folks whose Twitter feed resembles an RSS feed from their blog (especially when I'm already subscribing in a reader...).
To me, the folks who use Twitter best pose provocative questions, sprinkle in a few links to their own work and other stuff around the web, and provide a personal touch and context to their blogging.
I also love Twitter feeds that do one niche thing well, like @Twittercize: http://twitter.com/twittercize. Good idea, knows the audience, etc.
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