The importance of Twitter

It may sound unprofessional or techy, but next time you're at work, in a meeting/at a conference, out to lunch, or even in a classroom, ask the person next to you if they tweet.

Take that statement as you may, but both colleagues &students need to understand and utilize the power of Twitter. It's probably fair to assume most college students don't have an active Twitter account or know what Twitter is. So the battle of bringing people to "the light side" starts with knowing what this tool is.

According to Twitter.com, "Twitter is a real-time information network, powered by people all around the world, that lets you share and discover what's happening now."

By limiting the number of characters (only 140 can be used) one can "tweet," information much faster than in a news article or television broadcast. (Just give us the gist--we don't have time to read a dissertation--nor do we want to! Cliff Notes please!)

Students' use of social media tools outside of Facebook is drawing critics and supporters, and both have strong arguments. On one hand, there is an argument that people don't need another website to distract them from "real-life," although the common response from students is that it is stupid and only for geeks. (uhh, super smart & innovative geeks, then!)

Anyone who says the latter has never heard the expression that they will work for one of those geeks someday. Not to mention the young entrepreneurs that brought us myspace, facebook, twitter, etc.

When you boil it down, it's not about being a geek, or being ignorant, but about building a post-collegiate future. The reason Twitter is such a great tool for students breaks down to three main points: marketing, breaking information and finding a job. Wouldn't you agree those same points relate perfectly to those owning their own business, or work for a company that would greatly benefit from these outlets of "online exposure"... We think so!

Marketing

The most asked question on any twitter message board is, "how do I get more followers?"

The answer is to follow people on Twitter. There is an un-written rule in Twitter that if someone follows you, you follow them back. This allows more people to see your tweets, in turn getting information to more people. Follow by genre or topic. Get sucked in to Twitter by reading the status updates if you will.

When it comes to starting a new business, the best way to create a buzz is to have an active Twitter account with as many followers as possible. Our opinion would be to follow the top 500 tweeple (found here @PedersonPR_ ) Granted there aren't 500 tweeple in that list (yet), but every Twitter User is a catalyst for your purposes of being on Twitter. You should be following these innovators even if they don't follow you back; however we can guarantee more than 50% of them WILL follow you back. Also? When you do sign up with Twitter? Make sure you fill out the Name, Website, Location, & Bio area of your profile... this usually differentiates you from Twitter Spammers, especially if you're lacking any tweets. People need to know you're REAL!

Breaking information

On Feb. 10 a staff member at Inskip Elementary School in Knoxville, Tenn., shot and injured the school's principal and assistant principal. So what does this have to do with Twitter?

During the shootings, the first report of it happening was not in a newspaper, radio show or news broadcast, but a tweet.

Imagine if something on the level of a Virgina Tech shooting or some other emergency happened on your campus. Twitter would spread this information faster than anything else.

Finding a job

In 2008, Mark Luckie, journalism blogger and author of "The Digital Journalist's Handbook," sent a tweet from his account (@10000words) saying, "I JUST GOT LAID OFF. Anybody have a job?"

By marketing his twitter account, this message was passed on by a few followers and eight months later, Mark was hired as a multimedia producer at the Center for Investigative Reporting. He now has OVER 11,000 followers. How's his online presence?!!

So the question is; "Are you on Twitter?" . ...If you aren't, you should be! You're missing out! Get an online presence..if not for you, your company! And if not now, WHEN!???

If you have any questions, please ASK US!!