I severely apologize for my late post. My life has become rather chaotic, and lately I have gotten the feeling that if my head was not attached to my body, I would indeed lose it. Rather quickly too. At any rate, I have found the time to submit my post about Twitter.
I must admit, Twitter seemed to be a useless tool, that just influenced the same idea as facebooks news feeds. When it came out, I did not sign up for it because I did not need another medium to use to let everyone know what I was doing every minute of the day. I am now stuffing my foot in my mouth for the fact that it seems to be a very beneficial tool, especially in the business area.
One of the first sites I looked up, I asked the question of how on earth could Twitter benefit a business. I need to work on my open-ness because it was hard for me to realize how a blog could help an industry, but now I am all for it. Twitter is a tool that can help communicate, in a quick manner, important information. Chris Brogan gave a different perspective on how to use and think of Twitter. He suggests rather than answering “what are you doing?” to think about the question “what has your attention?” (Brogan, Chris) He also suggests taking Twitter in stride. To not just put something out there just to be an active twitter-er (if thats a word). You need to really put thought into what you are posting. You are limited to the amount of words you can use, be sure to use them wisely. Another suggestion was to do what you want to use twitter for, and to not feel forced (by negative comments or by what others seem to be doing) to do it a certain way.
I found an interesting link that researched what people are talking about on Twitter. Among the most frequent are a users current status (I.E. I am eating a tub of ice cream haha) and users having private conversations. Among the next few popular ones though are links to blog and news articles, politics and current events. Twitter is a great tool to put out your thoughts and getting input by others. For instance, I could Tweet my opinion on why a certain law is downright atrocious, and I could receive feedback on why others feel the same way or have different view points. One thing I do find a little comforting about Twitter, is that users will post information and thoughts in a non-threatening sense. I don’t have to worry about being put in an uncomfortable position based on my thoughts. I can read others thoughts and take them as I want.
It is also a great way to expand out of your own bubble. Using Twitter to get others opinions could really broaden someone’s view. They no longer have to rely and their Democratic friends and relatives, the could get a post from a Republican and giving them a great way to look at a situation that they never originally thought of.
An amazing link I found was if Twitter was helpful for grieving. This blogger stated that they had a death in the family and had a hard time handling the situation. As a way to let it out, they Tweeted their difficulty in handling the situation. A few hours later, when they returned to their Twitter, they received multiple responses from twitter users offering support and well wishes. Aside from the information sharing, and helpful twitter has in business, it can also provide an emotional outlet and support for users.
Twitter is most defiantly a tool that can be very beneficial if users take advantage of what they have avaliable to them. I plan on tweeting about something political to see what types of responses I receive. I am very curious on what I receive. Although I am very excited for it as well. Sometimes you do need that third party opinion to set you straight.
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How Informative Is Twitter?
Twitter helpful for Grievement?
Darcy's Blog 