Why Twitter?
1. Conversation
2. Research
Conversation: There is a fair amount of discussion about why anyone should care about the ongoing “chatter” that is Twitter. The most common argument is about breakfast (Maureen Dowd’s “To Tweet or Not to Tweet”) But people talk about everything. Where else can a branding student in Alabama (@kleysippel) have a conversation with branding professionals in South Carolina (@thebrandbuilder) and Brazil (@GabrielRossi) at the same time? Then you can have a conversation about favorite TV shows, movies, musicians, products, or anything else.
Research: The conversation leads to research. As a small business professional, I am always looking for ways to research better. Because people are talking about likes and dislikes, businesses all over the world can get real insight into customer opinion. Amber Naslund (@ambercadabra) wrote an excellent series about creating social media teams in a corporate setting (Equipping the Social Media Team, Assembling the Social Media Team, Roles and Responsibilities, Listening, Plug In and Participate). As more people join Twitter, the raw material gets better and more reflective.
