How to Decide if You Should Join Twitter

Twitter bears a resemblance to instant messaging and email--but it is also quite different. First, you are restricted to only 140 characters per tweet (messages are called tweets). Secondly, and more importantly, anyone can read your tweets. There is a way to communicate one-on-one, but most tweets are sent out to the whole world. Here are the pros and cons to weigh in your decision to tweet--or not to tweet.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Twitter account

1. Everyone can see everyone else's tweets. Normally, you don't want to read the tweets from everyone in the whole world. You select who you will read, or "follow" on Twitter. You follow people you know or who share your interests, or whose daily lives you want to pay attention to.

2. Twitter can be used in a browser, or on your phone, or using small applications that you install on your desktop. Two popular ones are Tweetdeck and Twhirl. You can ignore it or watch it, using any of these. If someone sends a message they want you to see, that's called an "at" message. If you start a tweet with @vdebolt, I'll get alerted that you are talking to me. I'm under no obligation to reply. Everyone on Twitter can see this message. You can tweet someone with a "direct" message. If you start a tweet with d vdebolt, it will come directly to me and no one else will see it.

3. A lot of what happens on Twitter is fluff, but there are also important things going on there too. When the plane crashed in LA recently, it was on Twitter first and friends were telling each other the situation and what was happening. The recent attack in Mumbai was on Twitter before the media had it. The fly ash spill in Tennessee was reported on Twitter long before the media got wind of it, and with better information too. When an event like this comes up, a special tag called a hash tag-for example #flyash (that isn't the real one)-is created. Then anyone who Tweets about that topic includes the appropriate hash tag in their tweet and it can be searched for using the Twitter search. In situations like this, you can really see the value of being able to read everyone's tweets. Most of the time-you don't want to-but sometimes it becomes crucial.

4. Most businesses are on Twitter. They have names like @Dell or @TheHomeDepot. You can send them messages and actually get a response and conduct a conversation about your concerns.

5. You can watch Twitter for a mention of anything such as the name of a book you wrote, a topic you care about, a movie you are thinking about going to see and so forth, and read what others are saying about it.

6. If that sounds like a communication tool you can use, it's easy and free to sign up for an account with Twitter.

Resources

• Twitter