I'm confused about Twitter

[fs_tigre]

Hi,

I have seen that more and more people are using Twitter, in fact a lot of them are using it for business purposes, I was going to open up an account but I still don’t see the point. I have used Facebook, mySpace… but never Twitter.

Excuse my ignorance but can someone explain how Twitter works or what is the main purpose to use it?

Thanks

[Ruben K.]

Twitter is microblogging, it's essentially tiny bits of updates posted to the web like what you're doing right now or random thoughts!

[Dan Grossman]

Want to know what the CEOs of the top 50 technology company had to say this week? Follow them on Twitter and you'll see it all on one page.

Want to get some design advice from the authors of SitePoint's books? Follow them on Twitter and you'll see it all on one page.

Want to find out what your friends are doing today? Follow them on Twitter and you'll see it all on one page.

Twitter is like a forum where, by default, you have everyone in the world on ignore. You selectively unignore people by following them, and now you see all of their posts, chronologically and interleaved with each other, as they make them. Like a forum, anyone can see what anyone else can said, and you don't have to be online at the same time to read what's already been written.. but unlike a forum, you only see posts by people you want to read.

[dropshipper]

why not add your twitter to your facebook and people can link up with you on there. also have rss feeds going from twitter to facebook or the other way round. when you sign up they will ask for your hotmail user name or aol password and user name and then you can add all your friends with one click.


its worth a punt

[r937]

Originally Posted by Dan Grossman

... you only see posts by people you want to read.

that's the problem in a nutshell

even the people i want to read post CRAP on twitter (what they had for breakfast, which line they're in at the grocery store, ad friggin nauseam)

it's gotten so bad i don't even bother any more

[Shafar]

Twitter is a microblogging platform where you can tell people what you are doing now!
If you have any website/blog, twitter is a great tool to promote it. Moreover, you can get plenty of friends and their updates via Twitter!

[fs_tigre]

even the people i want to read post CRAP on twitter (what they had for breakfast, which line they're in at the grocery store, ad friggin nauseam)

This is what I don't know understand or don't see the point if someone will read the comments probably days later why even bother writing this kind of stuff.

Want to know what the CEOs of the top 50 technology company had to say this week? Follow them on Twitter and you'll see it all on one page.

Want to get some design advice from the authors of SitePoint's books? Follow them on Twitter and you'll see it all on one page.

Want to find out what your friends are doing today? Follow them on Twitter and you'll see it all on one page.

How is this done? Can someone explain or reffer me to where I can find more info.

I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here.

Thanks

[Dan Grossman]

Originally Posted by fs_tigre

How is this done?

You go to the profile of the person you're interested in and click "Follow". Now their updates appear on your Twitter homepage. Nothin' more to it.

[Shafar]

You will easily get how to use Twitter once you join. It's interface is really simple.

For more info about Twitter, visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

[johnch]

People use it, I mean people who are trying to promote their site, since its a very effective way to get traffic. But you won't be getting any traffic just my signing up an account. Some try to follow a lot of people hoping those would follow them as well or at least check their site. But either way its just another way of getting quality traffic if used properly. =)

[wordgeist]

in my experience using twitter is helping me to have some extra traffic but for me the real secret is getting more followers. if any of you knows a trick please let me know

[coachhire1]

Twitter is one of the best social bookmarking site. It gives good traffic. You can do directly link from facebook to twitter. All social networking sites having link to twitter.

[epathchina]

Originally Posted by fs_tigre

Hi,

I have seen that more and more people are using Twitter, in fact a lot of them are using it for business purposes, I was going to open up an account but I still don’t see the point. I have used Facebook, mySpace… but never Twitter.

Excuse my ignorance but can someone explain how Twitter works or what is the main purpose to use it?

Thanks

I also have this trouble, one of my friends have many followers in a few month.
I have a few followers and i didn't do any business purposes, but my accout banned.

[ClaudiaMitch]

When you make your account on Twitter and in due course of time, you build your network & hundreds/thousands of people start following you. Suppose you want to pitch about your newly launched product, you can tweet about the same and people across the world come to know about your upadte instantly. This way, you market your product successfully.

[Anat]

Originally Posted by Dan Grossman

Twitter is like a forum where, by default, you have everyone in the world on ignore. You selectively unignore people by following them, and now you see all of their posts, chronologically and interleaved with each other, as they make them. Like a forum, anyone can see what anyone else can said, and you don't have to be online at the same time to read what's already been written.. but unlike a forum, you only see posts by people you want to read.

I really like your definition. It's quite accurate. Unlike Facebook, your tweets are open to the world, or at least to anyone who bothers to read them. They're available to search engines as well (not suggesting this as a way to build backlinks or anything - just saying, what you say there is less private than your Facebook posts).

I find Twitter fascinating in the way social networks are created via the platform. I see my favorite people there respond to others, and so I follow those other people so I can keep up with the conversation. Soon enough, we all get to know each other. It's like expanding social circles. I've also met a bunch of very interesting people from Twitter in local real-life tweetups.

Originally Posted by r937

that's the problem in a nutshell

even the people i want to read post CRAP on twitter (what they had for breakfast, which line they're in at the grocery store, ad friggin nauseam)

it's gotten so bad i don't even bother any more

I guess that depends on your level of interest. With some of my twitter friends, I actually enjoy listening to what they had for breakfast! It can make for an interesting cultural exchange to hear what someone you like has for breakfast on the other side of the world. Of course, anyone who just routinely logs in the content of their meal on twitter is boring - you have to know how to make it interesting

I love the social interaction available through Twitter. I do promote my sites on it, but for me it's about the people there first and foremost. I find that this approach goes a long way. When I actually tweet about a new blog post or a new website, people are kind enough to help by RT'ing. When it's actually a very interesting post (linkbaiting anyone?), it's awesome to see how it gets RT'ed across accounts.

ETA - if you want to see my regular tweets, visit my www.twitter.com/israelimom page and feel free to follow @israelimom . The twitter link in my sig is for webmasters stuff and my webmasters blog only.

[Adney Ryder]

Twitter is smiler to face book, but less featured as comparative to face book.

Yes people uses Twitter most just because of its simple design and easy operational feature.

[kirsky]

Twitter let's you post your updates as well as see others updates.

[ellush]

Twitter is a very powerful social media tool, in the right hands. Anat above had some great points, but above all it depends on what you want to get out of it, like most things. If you are looking to just promote your site and don't interact, you'll soon be noted as a "spammer" by others, who won't click on your links. However, if you start socializing with others, however briefly, it becomes a lot more powerful, and interesting.

[Jon Tiffany]

I've breifly flirted with twitter but found it all a little pointless. Most of the people I followed where posting boring stuff or random links. I guess if you find some good people to follow, or post interesting enough stuff that people follow you, then great. Not for me, but twitter is getting so big its kinda hard to ignore. Maybe I'll have another go at it and see how I get on.

[r937]

Originally Posted by Jon Tiffany

... twitter is getting so big its kinda hard to ignore.

the pacific ocean is kinda big too, but that don't mean you gots to try and drink it

[cecille20]

I don't like twitter before but I find it addicting when it comes to your friends. And the big factor that I enjoyed in twitter is you can earn money as long as you follow the right procedure. You can use this to boost your traffic in your site... There are many people who already succeeded in twitter

[Moofball]

twitter lets people stalk "follow" you as you post regular updates about whats going on with you

[joelchrist]

You should have more followers on twitter, they will fllow your link and provide more traffic.

[barebebs]

Twitter is good for getting traffic to your site. You can use it to update people about your business. Since it's a social media and people originally post updates of what they are doing, posts like "I am having a great breakfast at this restaurant " is natural especially when they are using twitter for personal.

You can always unfollow people that you find posts that you feel are not worth reading.

Just like facebook. I hide newsfeed of friends that I find not to my liking.

[laq0811]

Originally Posted by barebebs

Twitter is good for getting traffic to your site. You can use it to update people about your business. Since it's a social media and people originally post updates of what they are doing, posts like "I am having a great breakfast at this restaurant " is natural especially when they are using twitter for personal.

You can always unfollow people that you find posts that you feel are not worth reading.

Just like facebook. I hide newsfeed of friends that I find not to my liking.

Yep. Totally agree with you. Besides if you don't want to read personal stuff like "I'm having pancakes for breakfast" then you can just go ahead and unfollow that person. It's totally up to you.