Have you ever heard someone say something that absolutely made you cringe? Yesterday, I overheard someone say the following in regards to Twitter. “Twitter is just dumb. Who in the world is so important that they have to constantly update what they are doing? It’s just stupid.” The person that said this should absolutely “get” social media and I found it to be a bit disappointing.
Rather than focus on the obvious ignorance of the statement, let’s focus on why Twitter is useful and hopefully inform those that aren’t educated on the matter. It is a connector. It is a conversation starter. It is real time. It allows individuals to connect in ways that has never before been an option. It is a massive information portal. It is many other things as well, and it’s likely the list will only grow.
One of the folks I follow on Twitter is Lance Armstrong; I’m an avid cyclist so I’m intrigued by the goings on in his life. This morning when I logged on I saw the following tweets from Lance (start with bottom post).
By reading these tweets I quickly learned that the New York Times has included a story about Twitter in today’s paper. I’m sure I would have eventually seen the story, but by posting this tweet he shared useful information with me and thousands of other individuals. Then he went a step further to explain the value he sees in Twitter.
Twitter will continue to grow and I urge you to get involved sooner rather than later. Isn’t it rather insane to ignore a new form of communication, especially if you are a marketer? I say yes.
Follow me on Twitter. I’m @ryanshell.
