Should You Twitter?

By Ryan Williams, TechBetter.com - Many of you have probably heard of Twitter, but for those who have not, I will provide a couple sentences to describe it. Twitter is a micro-blogging site, which means that each post is less than 140 characters. You can update your Twitter status by sending text messages from your phone or via Twitter's web page or via several other methods. Updating via text messages is the most interesting method, however. By its very nature, Twitter is less formal than traditional blogging. Most people who regularly blog (at least those who do it well) spend time thinking, planning, researching and fixing grammar (actually my wife does this part for me). Twitter, on the other hand, is a spur of the moment, off the cuff, and unvarnished communication medium. It is whatever thoughts enter your mind at any given moment. And, since it can be updated via text message from a cell phone, there are no limitations on the frequency with which someone can update.

So what's the fuss about? Glad you asked. Twitter is mostly about communicating with a lot of people (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) in an instantaneous and informal fashion. Business has always been about relationships first and foremost. We all know that we are more likely to do business with people we know and like. So for me, Twitter (as with Facebook which I mentioned last week) is about building and maintaining relationships with many people at once.

There are people on Twitter who have over 20,000 followers (that's right twenty thousand). That means that when these people rant or rave about what they see around them, 20,000 people hear about it within seconds. That's pretty powerful stuff.

I think Twitter and like services really are going to change the world as we know it. I think Twitter will become as ubiquitous as the telephone. If you don't have an account on Twitter, you'll be considered a hermit. Lest you be considered a hermit, you can create a Twitter account here: http://twitter.com

Lest I be considered a hermit, you can follow my Twitter here: http://twitter.com/ryanwill

Happy teching,

Ryan Williams

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ryanwill
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanwill
Website: http://www.techbetter.com
Blog: http://blog.techbetter.com