Honestly, I'm not an expert when it comes to Twitter...I think I've written just over 40 posts (tweets) on Twitter since I joined last summer - although, many of those have come in the past month or so, as my general fascination with social networking has reached an apex.
So the other day when I sat down to lunch with some coworkers, I was pretty enamored when the topic of conversation turned to social networking and Twitter - and without regard to my office reputation, I foolishly and proudly announced the fact that I was a newly devoted fan of the service.
I sank a little lower in my chair, and I'm sure my face turned red when everyone around the table raised their eyebrows and seemed to harmonize: "Why?? What's it for??"
"Ummmmm....yeah, I don't know. It's, you know....microblogging."
"Micro-what?"
Since then, I've been feverishly trying to figure out how to explain the utility of Twitter, and social networking in general...so I don't feel like an idiot again the next time I'm faced with the question - especially by coworkers.
What I've decided is that there are 3 basic kinds of people that use Twitter, and likewise 3 basic utilities:
1) The people who like everyone to know EXACTLY what they're doing at a particular moment (or they think that you want to know). This category includes the people who write about what they just ordered from Wendy's, where they're going to watch the game, and what home-improvement projects they're working on today.
UTILITY: Updates on life.
2) The people who use Twitter to post things that interest them. This includes bloggers, activists, and people who spend a lot of time reading.
UTILITY: Spread the word.
3) The people who use Twitter to ask questions.
UTILITY: Collaboration, Crowdsourcing.
I'm sure there are things I'm missing, so feel free to comment, and make suggestions, or let me know if I'm completely off the mark.
2 comments:
you forgot about the people/organizations that are using it for social/viral marketing...
Yeah, good point. After I wrote this post, and got around to using Twitter more often, I've since realized that in fact many companies and online marketers use Twitter to reach their customers. Thanks.
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