Friday, December 5, 2008

Twitter

Lets talk about Twitter for a bit, how many folks use it..raise your hands. How many know how to use it? How many enjoy it or see it as another PITA of a social networking tool?

About a year ago I sat in a lunch meeting with Guy Kawasaki and he talked about Twitter, and I thought he was nuts. Why the heck would I waste my time using Twitter, do I really care that someone walked into their kitchen for a glass of water. Do folks really care what I am doing during the day..

Anyway, since in PR the world is turning to online I decided to sign up for Twitter and barely used it for six months. Then about 3-4 months ago something clicked..I started following companies and not just people. Companies such as BestBuy, Walmart, Zappos (love him) and a few others ..in addition some of the people that I believe influence the world of social media and journalists that I read and pitch regularly.

What I started to love about Twitter is that I felt it brought me closer to the reporters, what do I mean, I started to understand them better. I started to know a little more about them what they were reading, what they wanted to hear about from their voice and not a printed article about a product.

Additionally, what I got from following companies, I learned more about these companies. I follow the CMO of BestBuy, he actually helps customers and the CEO of Zappos asks for opinions on shoes and other things that make the company more successful..

I also follow bloggers, mostly mom bloggers but a few others as well..this has helped me with my own blog and again, I felt like I learned about these individuals which I believe has helped me grown in social networking and in PR as well..

So..if you wonder about using Twitter..do it..but follow those that get it and use it right…

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