WHAT IS: Twitter?

Twitter’s not a difficult to tool to explain. Like the status update on Facebook, users notify their “friends” (i.e. those that have chosen to follow their updates) describing what they’re doing or thinking via text-based posts. The main characteristic of Twitter is that members can only use 140 characters per update – so messages have to be to the point. The difficulty with Twitter lies in trying to explain why over two million people use it.

“Microblogging” is the generally accepted term describing sites such as Twitter. Updates can be sent/ received via the Twitter Web site, instant messaging, RSS, SMS or other Twitter tools such as Twhirl and Twitteriffic. The ability to send and receive updates or “tweets” via mobile handsets is also key. By being able to communicate using a device as ubiquitous as a mobile phone, members can send their instant thoughts to their followers. 

“I’ve just had a jam sandwich. It was great”

The most common criticism generally levied at Twitter is that tweets are pointless – why should you care what @GilesS has had for lunch?

And in many respects you wouldn’t care. Twitter is small talk; like discussing the weather or asking how someone’s weekend was (or what someone has planned for the weekend if it’s after Wednesday). It’s about getting to know someone when you haven’t got time for a proper conversation.

Devil’s in the detail 

Think about times when you pitch a journalist. You greet them with a redundant: “Hi, how are you?” for them to reply with an equally grey answer. Then you go into your spiel about how Pete’s Papers is revolutionising the printing industry with a new type of paper (it’s slightly whiter).

But what if you began by asking how their story on network infrastructure is going or how they got on at the conference they attended? It’s a nicer way of leading up to the pitch and this information is often freely available on Twitter. Some journalists are known to approve of being pitched through Twitter because they believe a pitch that can interest them in 140 characters is worth writing about. However, PR’s would be well advised to build some sort of relationship with the journalist on Twitter before asking whether it is fine to pitch them. 

Initial thoughts

Many bloggers are also on Twitter and it’s here that they often break stories or communicate their initial thoughts. By using Twitter search engines, such as Twitter Search, TwitterTroll or Flaptor PRs can evaluate what people are saying about their brands.

A large number of media outlets – from The Financial Times (@financialtimes) to ITPro (@itpro) have a Twitter account with stories posted as soon as they’re live. Twitter users have been known to break stories before the mass media. The recent earthquakes in China and Los Angeles were both on Twitter first.

Each Twitter, differs

Everyone uses Twitter differently. Some use it for networking, others as a glorified chatroom. As with much of social media, just imagine you’re in a pub. You wouldn’t say anything slanderous, libellous or stupid because people can hear you. Once you have spent time using the platform, you’ll find your own voice. There’s no right or wrong way.

Tweet what you sow 

As with most forms of social media, Twitter is free but it can take time to get started. Remember the first time you used Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, QQ or any other social networking site? You dipped in and out and it wasn’t until you spent time on it properly that you found a use for it. Twitter’s the same – the more time you spend on it the more you’ll get out of the community.

Comments

[GilesS]

I had fried egg on toast...

Here is the first tweet about the last earthquake, quicker than blogging and mainstream media -
http://twitter.com/nckhwks/statuses/871799161

[tim hoang]

yeah but the point is no one cares. :) Thanks for the comment Giles.