What is everyone Tweeting about?

There can be no doubt that 2009 has been the Year of Twitter – everyone’s doing it from celebrities to  government ministers (not to mention the US President) and there’s even talk of making it part of the national curriculum.  This previously unknown term is now part of our daily vocabulary – although, do be careful not to make a social networking faux pas, the verb is ‘to tweet’ not ‘to twitter’ regardless of the fact that the latter may sometimes seem more appropriate…  If you’re not part of the Twittersphere you are seriously uncool (if not ‘lame’ according to my ten year old son), but what is it all about – is it just the latest teenage fad or does micro blogging have a useful role to play in the world of business?

As a 40-something, I am only too aware that I am a digital migrant rather than a digital native – embracing new technology has not come naturally and the whole concept of social media, sharing my thoughts with people I don’t even know, is anathema to me.  However, with numbers of Twitter users continuing to grow exponentially (Twitter’s US traffic grew from one million in January 2008 to six million a year later), I have had to overcome my innate reluctance and jump on the Tweetdeck. 

Twitter is the latest buzz media technique.  It’s no longer a geeky techie toy, but a mainstream communications tool, so take advantage of it because your competitors will be.  It’s a great way of keeping in touch with what’s going on in your industry – you can use it to listen in to conversations and keep track of the latest issues, or you can take it a step further and start adding your voice to the discussion. 

Brands which are making the most of the social networking opportunity are those which are using it to engage with consumers, the media and other key audiences.  They are creating a dialogue and sharing knowledge rather than overtly using it as a sales technique.  One of the joys of Twitter is the limitation of only 140 characters – it’s quick to scan messages and senders are forced to be concise (a useful discipline for PR consultants targeting busy journalists with news stories!). 

Take a look at Twitter’s new guide for businesses published last week   or read this guide  for some tips on getting started.

 Twitter isn’t complicated to use, that’s one of the keys to its success.  So don’t hold back, jump in the Twitter stream and you’ll be re-tweeting before you know it.  Happy Tweeting!