In case you have somehow missed it, the microblogging site Twitter has reached the "tipping point" and is exploding it popularity right now. According to this Mashable article "Twitter Now Growing at a Staggering 1,382 Percent", which cites a report from Nielsen Online, Twitter's year-over-year growth was 1382% in February, with over 7 million unique U.S. visitors. Just about everywhere you look people are either using Twitter or talking about it.
Of course, I, the friendly Internet marketing Czar, am on Twitter (you are welcome to follow me: http://twitter.com/robbunting) and on Monday, thanks to a tweet from fellow Twitterer ShannanB I joined a database list of Cincinnati area Twitterers and that list has quickly grown to over 100 folks.
Of course Internet marketing and social media professionals are the "early adopters" of social media and most of us are into Twitter, but there are also lots of famous people in various walks of life using Twitter. The list includes athletes (Shaq), actors (Rainn Wilson from The Office, Wil Wheaton) and comedians (Jimmy Fallon) just to name a few, twittering along with the media outlets reaching people with news, companies using Twitter to disseminate PR and for customer service and ordinary people staying connected with friends.
Twitter is a whole new mode of communication, not just a social media site. Twitter and Facebook updates are in some ways replacing email and instant messaging, with people banging thoughts to each other during an event or discussing the hot topic of the day. Want to see the hottest topics right now? Simply check out the Trends button at the top of Twitter and see what people are saying in real time!
If you haven't joined Twitter yet I encourage you to do so. It's free and you don't have to post much at first or follow a whole bunch of people your first day if you choose not too, simply take your time, poke around and use it your own way at your own pace. I have provided a few tips to folks in presentations and laid out a few basics in my previous post Twitter 101 but while I may post some more tips and Twitter resources in the future, I am not going to provide a list of "hard and fast rules" for Twitter. This great post from Wil Wheaton's blog is recommended reading for folks new to Twitter with advice on following celebrities and understanding what to expect in following people.
As a marketer, I would encourage you to think about what you want to achieve for your organization and develop a social media strategy. Having at least a basic strategy will help guide how you use Twitter and other social media channels.
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