Ive tried twitter but for the life of me cant see its purpose. Maybe im missing something. Can someone shed some light on the subject and am i missing something
Posted by Preston McCall (Member # 351) on :
I agree, Kevin. Who cares what you did this afternoon right after making a sandwich and walking the dog? Are people that desparate for entertainment?
Posted by Sonny Franks (Member # 588) on :
I gave Peggy implicit instructions that if I ever "tweeted", she should kill me immediately.....
Posted by Dale Manor (Member # 4858) on :
never looked at it....facebook already wastes enough of my time!
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Kevin,
Ye auld fuddy duddy. Twitter's purpose is to... um... well... waste time and say nothing in 140 character chunks... like I just did. Got it?
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
Funniest thing I ever saw....A guy was tweeting someone while taking a leak at a urinal in our local arena. There was a lineup of other guys waiting to make room for more beer, and here's this idiot standing there manipulating his texting letters with one hand while his other was occupied otherwise. From a guy in the back: " Hey buddy, nobody is really interested to hear that you're taking a ****"
With that, the tweeter tapped, zipped, and left rather red-faced.
Posted by Gene Uselman (Member # 2508) on :
Entertainment for twits?
Posted by Nevman (Member # 332) on :
I will agree that there is a lot of crap on Twitter. People tweeting their lunch menu, Foursquare locations and the like. I will usually unfollow those that abuse the platform in that way.
That being said...
I have actually made some valuable contacts through Twitter. We have local 'tweetups' where we get together and actually meet face-to-face. They are usually held at a restaurant with light finger foods & a cash bar (loosens people up). The group has actually morphed into a fundraising group for local charities. All of our tweetups have a non-profit recipient that we raise funds for. http://getsocialbrevard.org/
Twitter (locally) is really about forming relationships, albeit virtually. We solidify these connections by meeting once a month in a informal networking atmosphere. We have also met at the local baseball stadium, the zoo and a theme park (go carts, lazer tag, mini golf etc.).
I would say that by meeting these folks, I have produced about $ 2000.00 (gross) worth of work in the last 6 months or so. That's after attending about a year going to the tweetups. It takes time to build the trust required for someone to hire you. Also, just by being there, people will realize that they need a sign, banner and/or truck lettering. I just did a truck for a member last week who probably wouldn't have gotten it lettered at all if we hadn't met.
The average age of the folks who are members are in their mid 30s. There's a lot more potential for future work with these types as opposed to the 50-60 year olds that attend chamber, Elks - or whatever - events.
Twitter is also a great way to keep up on current news too. You can choose your local news as well as any national news outlet to get the current happenings - good & bad. I found out about the tragedy at the Indiana State Fair about 3 minutes after it happened. I know that's not exactly a happy thing, but other (good) events are also sent out. Even though I was at work (not near a TV) and ESPN didn't stream it, I followed the College Baeball World Series on Twitter, play-by-play.
Another thing that I find valuable about Twitter is the availablity of information regarding ANYTHING that you would like to find out about. I follow folks that tweet about social media, SEO, business issues and even a chef who tweets new recipies. You can be very specific in whom you follow and don't have to get all of the other crap.
The majority of my outgoing tweets are for community non-profit events (those who follow me on Facebook know this). It puts me in a good light as a source for upcoming events in the community. I've actually picked up Florida Instute of Technology as a client because of my involvement with their events and my contributions to others around town. When I meet people around at social events or network meetings, inevitably a few people mention to me that "you're always on Facebook/Twitter" or "you do so much for the community" or something like that. Being 'on' isn't really true as I schedule my posts using an automated app but the point(s) still get across and marks me as an 'expert' on local happenings - someone to reckon with.
All-in-all, I find it beneficial to stay on the crest of social media. It's not 'going to happen' - it's happening now.
That's it for today. If anyone has any questions, either post here or give me a call and I will gladly share any information that I can.
Hope the rest of your day is a great one!
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
good post Pat!
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
So, twitter can be a handful of tools, either way you look at it.. Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
Ditto what Pat said. I actually prefer Twitter to FB these days. It's a great way to follow an event happening in the right now.
I tell people all the time, FB and TW are just like TV. It's what YOU make of the info on there. You can waste your time playing games on FB or you can follow insipid celebutants on TW. Like on TV, you can watch a reality show or you can watch PBS or anything in between. You get to choose what you use it for.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)