Thursday, July 9, 2009

Is Twitter for Twits?

Do you Twitter? Should you Twitter?

The debate rages on about whether Twitter is a legitimate communications tool with staying power, or simply a passing fad that lets the ADD generation think they are having meaningful conversations with the world. The "Pet Rock" for the new millennium.

We won't know about the lasting value of Twitter for quite some time yet. But that does not mean you can afford to ignore it. Anything that exhibits such extraordinary growth (475,000 users to 19 million users in less than a year!) must have something to offer.

And, be honest, if you are 45 or older you thought this e-mail thing was just a passing fancy, too.

I believe that Twitter can be effective when used in concert with other communications tools, such as Facebook, blogs and web sites.

For example, I am big fan of blogging, as it fulfills the role once played by newsletters, only with more frequency and timeliness. (Not to mention less paper and ink and postage.) Whenever I post a new entry to the blog you are reading (www.agoodmind.blogspot.com), I alert my "followers" with a "tweet" and link to the new missive.

Similarly, every new blog entry gets posted to my Facebook page. I want as many people as possible to have access to the information I am sharing.

So Twitter is not necessarily limited to inane, voyeuristic, nihilistic updates about every waking moment in a tweeter's life. Used properly, Twitter can serve as another channel for distributing information and ideas, quickly and efficiently.

Tweet that!