automaticable

A few weeks ago I joined Twitter not knowing why it existed or what purpose it would serve in my life. I was pretty skeptical, as a 140 character message limit in my mind meant people would only be sending messages like “Going to the bathroom!” and “I am so sleepy right now :(”  While many people do only use Twitter to this extent, I’ve found alternate uses that fit my needs.  Below are the benefits I have seen through Twitter:

• Twitter is social, but not that social.  What I love about the social aspect of Twitter is that there is no obligation involved with following someone else’s life.  Unlike Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc., I do not have to take the social leap and call you my “friend.”  Beyond that, there is no obligation for me to follow someone who follows me, and vice versa.  This, I think, might be my favorite aspect of Twitter.  I don’t have to act like I know you.  You don’t have to act like you know me.  But we can still have an interest in what each other is saying.
• Twitter brings like-minded people together. The majority of the people that follow me are internet marketing or SEO professionals.  They have followed what I have to say in an effort to better themselves in their own work through any pearls of wisdom I may have to say, and they have also extended their professional network.  Because of the type of people that have followed me so far, I have actually tailored many of my messages to include more of my professional happenings than I probably would have otherwise.  I consider this a good thing, as I don’t want to be limited to “Going to the bathroom!”
• Twitter is easy. Although a 140 character limit is, well, limiting, it also means there is no pressure to expand upon ideas.  This makes it easy to form questions and responses since there is not the expectation of a fleshed out response that cover every aspect of a topic.  What also makes it so easy is how accessible it is.  Since I started using Twitter, I have also started testing the FireFox-based Flock browser.  I will go more into detail about Flock in a future post, but at this point, the ability for external programs to feed Twitter information in and out of the system is super convenient.
• Twitter is a promotional tool. Like it or not, a ton of people join Twitter so they can promote their own content.  The great thing about Twitter as a promotional tool as opposed to Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and others is that there is no negative connotation involved in self promotion.  Because people can choose whether or not they want to follow you, Twitter has no problem with people promoting their own content.  I know I have thrown up new automaticable posts as they are published, and this has added value to the people that follow me.  I have also read some amazing posts I would never have found if I had not joined Twitter.

Although there are plenty of other reasons I enjoy Twitter, those cover the main aspects.  At first I didn’t think I would stick with Twitter, but now that I have gotten the hang of things I think I will keep tweeting.  If you are on Twitter, or would like to jump in and give it a try, you can find my profile by clicking here.  Leave your profile link in the comments so I can follow you too.

Also, on a totally unrelated note, I’m doing pretty well on my one week promise, huh?  Stay tuned throughout the next week for even more posts.

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