I still remember the firm line I drew when social media and small business coach, educator and advocate extraordinaire, Martin Brossman, told me I needed to get on Twitter. I said a flat out no. I was stretched enough. It was a waste of time. Absolutely not. Don’t even bother talking to me about it.
A year later, with four twitter accounts, (and HootSuite) for four different streams in my life – a general one, a publicity one, a creative writer one and a massage therapy one – it’s been more fun than any of the other social media sites combined.
Here are my top reasons, in order of priority to me.
Reason before all Reasons: Martin Brossman told me I had to be. (Truth be told.)
Reason 1: I get more access to more interesting, dynamic, intelligent, creative and cutting-edge people on Twitter than anywhere else. Authors and well-known people have responded more to me on Twitter than on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Reason 2: I get to participate in streams of conversation with people from around the world if I want. I can post my views, my frustrations, my inspirations and my humor. I get to participate in a pretty real time environment. During the Hope for Haiti Telethon, tweeters I did not know answered my questions about the singers and songs!
Reason 3: I get to learn a lot. While some tweets are mundane, and others are outright spam, many tweets are links to fascinating articles, often the tweet itself informs me of a new trend or development or news. I get to choose the areas of news I want to get by choosing the people to follow. Each of us becomes our own news feed – that’s amazing.
Reason 4: I get to find out what is brand new and what people think about products, trends and companies. I like to search for trends. When I learn of new products or companies, I first search Twitter to see if it’s made it there or not, and if so, what people are saying.
Reason 5: I want to be found. If people are looking for someone like me, a creative writer, an internet publicist, a massage therapist, or an American who speaks Mandarin Chinese, French, pidgeon Italian and less Spanish, I want them to be able to find me on Twitter.
Reason 6: I like to share what I find with others. Followers really value getting the latest scoop from others, short cuts, heads up, new information… I want people to save me time and point out important things, so I try to do that for others.
Reason 7: Did I already say I get access to more interesting people on Twitter than anywhere else? Oh yes, that was Reason 1.
Reason 8: I get to study different ways that businesses are using twitter to give me new ideas for my own Twitter communications, as well as that of my clients.
Reason 9: It’s FUN! It’s like talking to strangers in line at a concert, as just one example.
Reason 10: I like the challenge of fitting communications in the constraint of 140 characters. It’s like playing a game, and good practice for poets too.
Reason 11: I get to create lists and help organize the Twittersphere, making it easier for people to find each other.
Reason 12: I am a writer. I like to write. I like to respond. I like to engage. It’s like sport-writing. It’s like a game of Racketball compared to Facebook which is like Baseball, compared to LinkedIn which is like Fencing. (Oh and yes, inSideNetworX (919) which is like playing Frisbee, where everyone has one.
Does any of this mean you have to be on Twitter? Not at all, it’s just exposing the value that I’ve found for me.
Guest contributor Anora McGaha
Follow her on Twiter at: http://www.twitter.com/clearsightpr
Her website: http://www.clearsightcreativeresources.com
On Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anoramcgaha
Thanks Anora for both writing this and the kind mention. – Martin
Posted on Professional Business Networking On the blog by Martin Brossman
http://pronetworkingo.wpengine.com
