[leb123z]

Hello all,

Some little birdies have been tweeting about Twitter lately, and I'm wondering what it's all about. I went to the site and watched the video, and it seems a lot like Facebook to me.

Is anyone using this regularly for their online business and if so, what are you doing, and how is it helping? Would love to hear from all you Twits! hehe!

Liane

[Alan Mater]

Hi Liane,

I use Twitter to give updates on what I'm doing. I have built a following, and every now and then I get replies to something I say.

I have my Twitter account linked with my blog, EzineArticles and Squidoo. That's a great help, and does provide some traffic.

Of course, other people have had more success than I, but it's not all that bad. I'd say it's way different than Facebook, though.

Alan

[Matt Helphrey]

I use it strictly to bookmark my blog posts. Twitter has a high PR and will carry some weight for your own PR ranking when you submit your links to them.

Matt

[DebraConrad]

Use Twitter only if you like to be social. Really. If you like cocktail parties and joining in conversations ... you will love Twitter.

It takes getting used to... and it can be a great tool.

But just joining Twitter to post links an not joining the conversation... isn't going to get you the real benefits.

I'm just saying....

[Alan Mater]

Originally Posted by DebraConrad

Use Twitter only if you like to be social. Really. If you like cocktail parties and joining in conversations ... you will love Twitter.

It takes getting used to... and it can be a great tool.

But just joining Twitter to post links and not joining the conversation... isn't going to get you the real benefits.

I'm just saying....

Very true. It can be time consuming as well. I use Twhirl, which is a desktop app that I can view everyone I'm following, see all new tweets and send my own, all from my desktop. I totally love it!

It helps save on time as you don't need to have a browser open. You can just go about other things, and you'll receive updates when people tweet.

Actually, sometimes just having EzineArticles tweet that your article is accepted will get noticed and will start a conversation for you. I've had that happen. Of course, someone has to click on the link and read your article. But, the benefit is there. Same goes for tweeting Squidoo updates, using Tweet My Blog to tweet new blog posts, etc.

Those methods are not time consuming, so why not take advantage of it? You have nothing to lose.

Alan

[tommen]

The search feature on Twitter seems to be disabled at the moment, but searching for people in your niche and adding them as friends should be a working strategy.

[mymarketingsecret]

I use twitter to bookmark my blog posts and just to talk about what I'm up to. This is a great way to get people to respond to what you're doing and some give advice. Not at all like Facebook to me.

[talfighel]

I am also using Twitter and I have a good amount of people who are follwing me.

If you want others to know what you are doing, then use it.

Tal

[leb123z]

Thanks to all for your replies! I'm a private person so don't really like others to know what I'm up to, but PR is always nice, traffic is always nice, and link exposure is always nice. If I'm going to chat with others, it's likely going to be in my favourite forum home, right HERE! I was just looking for something that might boost my traffic I guess.

Liane

[icjackson]

Twitter is all about communication and transparency if you use it as a networking tool. It's most effective when you open up a bit ;-)

However, some companies use Twitter as a news aggregate, which is cool, but only if people care :-P

[hirohurl]

I think you should probably mix in social stuff with no links and not have a link in every single post... just as you shouldn't vote for your own posts on Stumbleupon every time...

What do you think?

[Malcolm Tindle]

Hi Liane.

If you are using Twitter then you have to be prepared to open up to as many people as you can so that you are following others and they are following you. I have only been involved for a few months but I use it for Internet Networking and not social purposes so that is something you have to decide upon.

Facebook in my opinion is a better site socially for sharing chat and pics with friends but unless I am wrong, you have to pay to advertise your business on Facebook or if not you have to join or create a group of your own to share information whereas with Twitter you can send a quick note with a link to any site you like which goes off to all your followers immediately but will not be read until they sign in.

If this sounds a bit confusing then please put me right because this is only my perception after a couple of months and I don't know yet if there has been any benefit for my business but as with all new ideas we have to suck it and see.

p.s. I would be interested to know from all members what you think is the effect of social networking, which ones are the latest fashion and which ones are tapering off as this industry as we know can be very cyclical..


Mal.

[gareth]

I use twitter vewy twupidly.

Um no but yes I like to be social and rant and joke on twitter. I also like to be rude and make fun of other people on twitter.

As well as that I like to give people useful information and hot tips sometimes.

I often get info days ahead on twitter before other people find out - thats why twitter is good.

I first thought it was crap as many people do, once you start using it it becomes addictive.

I dont like facebook much - has my twitter feed on it anyway.