Comments on: Why Do People Use Twitter?

By: lanh

lanh — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:14:34 +0000

I think the idea that people are following you makes twitter fun.

By: Twitter Manual: Top Tips for 140 Character Tweets

Twitter Manual: Top Tips for 140 Character Tweets — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:16:43 +0000

[...] Feature Supporting Longer TweetsTwitter Marketing VancouverPerry Blocks Some Reporters on TwitterWhy Do People Use Twitter?wanna add an extra 1,000 words to your 140-character tweets?Learn the Basics of Twitter with The [...]

By: Michele Underwoods

Michele Underwoods — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:00:44 +0000

I just wonder whether people bother reading all those tweets. Especially for those who are following more than 1,000 peope, how do even follow all those tweets? Are they even interested to follow all those they have chosen to follow or is it just a ploy to get more followers, through reciprocal follow?

By: jamie

jamie — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:15:11 +0000

hey all you twitter users! my classmates and i are doing a presentation on why people tweet and we would SO appreciate you taking 1 minute (or less) to answer 10 questions about your Twitter experience. just click the link below to answer the questions. thank you so much for your time!!!!!! — UCSB students in marketing research class

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N95FNQ3

By: What can social media do for you… « Samantha Chan's Blog

What can social media do for you… « Samantha Chan's Blog — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:17:38 +0000

[...] company. According to MarketingProf’s daily blog, Ann Handley posted in her article “Why People Use Twitter?“, that it allows for the company and the consumer to learn about each other. The [...]

By: 2.2 Het idee: nu « J1d2010's Blog

2.2 Het idee: nu « J1d2010's Blog — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:29:19 +0000

[...] De serieusheid van Twitter begint nu door te dringen bij de menigte. Het wordt gezien als de nieuwe koffieautomaat: onderwerpen waar normaal bij de automaat over wordt gepraat, worden nu besproken op Twitter. Het [...]

By: Rajat

Rajat — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:55:02 +0000

I nicely laid argument and a good conversation on “why-twitter!?”. Last year I was writing about twitter myself, http://www.techrust.com/disruption/tweeting-disruption.html and was asking similar questions.
One of the techniques to evaluate it was socio-technical aspect, which is usually missed out quite easily. To analyse it more closely, right from the acquisition of twitter to adoption of twitter several key points can be noted in back-drop of time. Dynamics of tool could be captured and impacts could be measured, but with utmost care as knowledge of systemic boundaries can change the answer in analysis. In simple terms, an organisation will look at twitter differently than an individual.
One of the most interesting pieces in evaluation of any technological tools is the “Value” it brings for the user. Now value is perception of the twitter to the user himself! To understand the entire concept, my prof. at B-School asked a simple question to all the students- What does my green coat mean to you? Strikingly, everyone came out with different meaningful answers. Some said they liked the colour, some liked the style, whereas many said it gave them a warm feeling. When all these answers are arranged logitudinally, a comprehenssive view to evaluate a technological tool would make sense. Definitely, common answers will hit the sweet spot- right now simplicity, interpoerability, and affordability.

By: Alexis

Alexis — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 03:37:39 +0000

I understand the absolute need to twitter. And for the most part in terms of content it is complete and utter dross – I’d rather read a book. At least its content has been tightly edited and is a wonderfully tactile object requiring no battery or mains power.
But now and then a nugget of useful information leeks out of the ‘twitter’ basket which is one reason for getting involved the other is its immediacy.
I have plans to occupy several months of annual leave doing other productive work and may include travel, house and pet sitting dare I say even butler or gardening duties.
Conventional sites with subscription services cater to conventional clients. It is after all a business.
In terms of security etc I understand the requirement for such a buffer. Aside from that a direct approach is much preferred. Comments please for those who genuinely need an unconventional home sitter available from July 23 to October 30 2009.

By: Skip Waugh

Skip Waugh — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:45:32 +0000

I’m very new to Twitter. Seems like all the rage right now, but I’m trying to figure out how it relates to doing business these days. Already on some of the social networking sites now. Tough to keep up. I’m giving it a try in hopes it translates over. I just remember it took awhile for a connection to be made to business communication with other social networking sites. Twitter may be no different. We’ll see.

By: Sarah Z Cordell

Sarah Z Cordell — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:26:14 +0000

I’m new to twitter. I kept reading about it and decided to find out for myself what all the fuss was about. I’m having fun with it, so I’ll keep going for a while.

By: Kris

Kris — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:04:21 +0000

I’m not on Twitter. Personally, I already have a hard time keeping up with my Google Reader and my Facebook newsfeed. Like others have mentioned here, I wonder about who you’re really reaching and the return on time invested. Once upon a time, it was all about Friendster and then MySpace, now FB. Is social media just a fad? Not saying that’s good or bad or that we shouldn’t be involved even if it is. It just seems like it’s a niche, early adopter communication tool. Professionally as a B2B marketer, I don’t know that I have enough content to make frequent and interesting tweets. Being boring on Twitter is probably worse than not being on at all, right?

By: Sharon Couto

Sharon Couto — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:30:51 +0000

I use Twitter because my 2 daughters encouraged me to use it. We own a product review site, and each of us has a personal blog, and Twitter is an easy, convenient, inclusive tool with which to maintain immediate and instant contact with marketing and PR companies, follow trends, gather news, participate in uncensored chat, build a “real” community and see it widen by the moment, share stories and sometimes even frustrations… and socialize. As a 56-year old woman and retired high school teacher, I never imagined the existence of this world. But I love it. I am a bit slower and more cautious at dipping in, but my daughters have grown wonderful followings/followers that have created opportunities that otherwise would be, I dare say, very improbable.
Excellent post. Excellent comments. I will be sharing your post and comments with non-believers!

By: Vicki

Vicki — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:40:50 +0000

I use Twitter for connections, for “people watching”, for “meeting” people world-wide, for learning how other people think, for finding links, for knowledge and ideas.
Yes, I have “real-world friends”. Why should they be “better” somehow than “online friends”? People have had penpals for decades. In the 3-D world, it’s difficult for many of us to meet people in other cities, states, and countries. On the Net, it’s easy. Twitter makes the world smaller.
Peter asks “how do you follow thousands of people?” The usual answer is “you are not required to read everything in your twitter stream!” There is no One Way to use Twitter.
Some people dip in and out at various times of day. Some use search.twitter.com, TweetDeck, or other tools to watch certain people more closely.
I use a reader I wrote myself (based on a Python library called pyTwerp) that grabs tweets 24/7. I read them offline during my commute or at night. I can skim. It’s up to you to figure out a prioritizing plan. How do you get “everything” done in a day? You don’t. It’s the same with Twitter.
Think of Twitter as keeping an ear on many people talking at once (like a party). You can’t listen to or converse with all of them. You can’t read everything. But you can be part of some of it and every little bit adds to what you learn.
Stay calm and enjoy the flow.
btw, Jan? Whether or not you think the Social Media Types are “taking over”, why would that cause your use of Twitter to decline at all?
If you don;t want to read what the social media folks have to say, don;t follow them? It takes all kinds to make a world and Twitter is a world. Follow what you like.I’m sure there are plenty of attorneys on Twitter too.

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:41:31 +0000

I’m a research attorney with a virtual office. I don’t like to talk on the phone because it takes too much time. I don’t like a lot of noise because it distracts from my research. I DO like to look at my computer and see what my friends are up to. Sometimes I’m alerted to breaking news. Sometimes Stan is having lunch. Sometimes someone has read an article that interests me (which is how I found this page).
So, I’m an “average” user.
My use of Twitter has declined dramatically, however, because the social media people are taking over and writing too much about social media. You guys better come up with some content that has broader appeal or you’re going to smother a good thing!!
(Not that I don’t love you social media types. I do. Which is why I’m being honest with you. Because I love you!)
8^)

By: kelly

kelly — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:32:16 +0000

I love Twitter after my profile didn’t stay at 17 followers!

By: Dat To

Dat To — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:36:31 +0000

I use twitter to find everyone who talks about the topics in the hospitality industry that I’m interested in. Then, I message the people who are saying anything interesting that I can be involved in the conversation. It really is like a party and just small bit-size small talk. Meeting people who do some type of work in the hospitality industry and have the ability to connect regardless of geography. You meet such smart and incredible people that you end up complimenting almost everyone on what they do, how they carry themselves or their business/websites, so it puts you in a great mood when you are making other people’s days brighter by being encouraging. It’s amazing!

By: Rodney Rumford

Rodney Rumford — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:59:41 +0000

Nice blog post Anne,
Saying there are 4 reasons why you use Twitter is over simplifieng your use case. If you read your blog post you actually have more than 4 core reasons stated. If I read your blog post correctly you actually use Twitter for the following reasons
1. Listening Engine: Reputation Management
2. Feedback Tool: for Marketing Profs
3. Brand Awareness Tool: Rais Awareness of Marketing Profs
4. Broadcast Tool: Distribution model of your content
5. Marketing Channel
6. Professional Networking: Meet Professionals that have a need for your products/services
7. Sales/Revenue
8. News Gathering Source
Additionally you stated “Tying results too precisely to a specific tweet or two makes me a little uncomfortable” Why? Actions are very measurable on Twitter if you know what you are aiming for.
As an example 1 simple tweet that I did a few months ago (when I had about 2300 followers) resulted in driving over 39,000 consumption points of that data, more than 45 retweets that in turn resulted in 700 people completing a 20 question survey. Measuring ROI on social media is not a bad thing.
I have a ton of other examples where the ROI is VERY measurable, even on a per tweet basis.
The reason you are loving Twitter is it is an amazing tool in its pure simplicity. It is anything that you want it to be.
Cheers!
Rodney Rumford
Author: Twitter as a Business Tool
http://www.twitterbusinessbook.com

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:13:15 +0000

I can understand following certain individuals when the subject matter they write/comment on is of interest. These ‘experts’ then have thousands following them.
But how do you follow thousands of people? I have trouble getting to a hundred emails a day. Not replying just reading them.
You have to admit there’s no way that you are reading all the posts from the thousands you are following. There’s not enough hours in a day to do it. My productivity would go way down if I added another communication tool.

By: Penny @bookgal

Penny @bookgal — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:11:47 +0000

Twitter is a terrific way to build community, share information and build your mailing list. Link to stuff that would interest your Twitter-peeps, share your own blogs, or articles syndicated online. It’s a fantastic way to keep a steady stream of helpful information out there – and we all know if you give more than you get you’ll do well online.

By: Mike Macleod

Mike Macleod — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:06:40 +0000

I use Twitter to learn. I do much more listening (reading) than I do talking (tweeting).
I find out what my friends and “real life” colleagues are up to.
I listen to what people are saying about my industry (market research)
I’m a tech geek and I get early (VERY EARLY) reviews and assessments of new products and apps.
The list goes on…

By: frontierblog

frontierblog — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:50:19 +0000

I cannot agree more, actually I wrote a similar post weeks ago
Edward
Frontier Blog
http://www.hwswworld.com/wp

By: Alan Wolk

Alan Wolk — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:51:03 +0000

Here’s what’s so interesting to me Ann: all your commenters gave very good reasons why marketers or people who work in a marketing related profession should be on Twitter.
Which, given that the name of this site is “MARKETING Profs” is to be expected.
I’ve yet to hear a valid reason for someone outside the bubble to be on Twitter.
Friends will ask and I’ll give some variation of all the reasons in your post and the 28 comments above, but I’d say most of them give up. There’s no one to talk to, the people who are talking aren’t saying anything all that interesting to them, and they’ve barely got time to talk to their real world friends.
I like Twitter because I know close to 100 people I can talk to daily, people whose professional interests coincide with my own.
But I’m beginning to think it has limited use for people until there’s a core group of others with similar interests on Twitter too.

By: Karen Talavera

Karen Talavera — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:40:59 +0000

Here’s a huge reason: Build Platform. That’s publishing speak for creating an audience of followers and credibility with them.
Before social networking it wasn’t easy to drive traffic to blog posts or a Web site. Maybe people were reading, maybe finding you – maybe not. Now tools like Twitter (when used wisely) become intentional feeder ramps to draw people onboard to us. I see plenty of solopreneurs, subject matter experts, coaches and authors using Twitter this way.
Not only do I get all the benefits you aptly pointed out, but I can quickly, easily, and most important visibly be of service to a large group, entertain, inform and share, plus cross-promote and link via Tweets to other legs in the platform mix – other points of presence online (site, blog, Facebook, etc.). In exchange for giving I receive readers, opinions, intel and maybe even a customer. Seems like more than a fair trade.

By: Sonny Gill

Sonny Gill — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:37:50 +0000

Twitter makes communication, easier than ever. There always isn’t time for everyone to jump on the phone or send an email, but it seems we all have the time to tweet throughout the day.
It allows me to stay close to friends such as you, Ann, and several others you mentioned that I’ve been lucky enough to get to know this last year. It also allows me to meet new and interesting faces that provide a mutually beneficial relationship – and of which I look forward to growing with a face to face meeting at conferences or tweetups.
These benefits far outweigh any time people may think we ‘waste’ being on Twitter so often.

By: Amber Naslund

Amber Naslund — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:35:37 +0000

You know, Twitter is like my mashup of the phone, email, and IM all in one. It’s where I get and share news, get mini updates from my friends, meet like-minded colleagues, and get to people-watch all at the same time.
And it feeds my chatterbox nature, the kind that makes me want to flit from person to person at an event because I want to talk to them all but geography doesn’t cooperate. Now I get them all in one place.

By: Katrina Hollmann

Katrina Hollmann — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:31:38 +0000

I signed up specifically on Donna Tocci’s recommendation. Twitter is a medium I’m experimenting with for my company, but I’m increasingly intrigued by the information coming at me. I’ve found that it’s a great opportunity for me to learn from others. Hopefully soon I’ll have figured out how to manage some of the things I’m working on and will be able to provide at least a portion of what I get from the community back to it.

By: sedef onder

sedef onder — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:29:53 +0000

Because I’m a news and information junkie, and Twitter is a potent and lasting hit.

By: Mary McKnight

Mary McKnight — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:47:16 +0000

I completely agree- Twitter is a listening, learning and communication device. All marketers should be a part of it- now can it be used for brands? Only when still used by people- it never works to use it solely as a one way communicator. I love it – and have done more business through the relationships I have built with it than through other social networks I use combined.

By: Beth Harte

Beth Harte — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:40:04 +0000

Ann, I had those exact same thoughts when I first started using Twitter. And, actually, I hated Twitter and saw no value or benefit to it. For months I would ask questions, share information and nada. I eventually realized it was because I didn’t respect the time it took to be accepted by the community. Whether on- or off-line it still takes people time to warm up. The first two people that ever did tweet with me were (you won’t find this shocking!) Amber and Mack.
But now, Twitter is my community and I have made and met a lot of friends and professional colleagues on Twitter.
Twitter is a place for news, to meet new people, to learn about new concepts, to see theories and thought leadership positions being flushed out, to learn about new services and products, and…to have a bit of fun.

By: Hospital Executive

Hospital Executive — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:28:02 +0000

Thanks for providing this information and really it is very useful.