Top 10 Reasons I Love Twitter (Remix)
Posted by Gabe on August 20, 2009 under Social Media, Twitter, Twitter for Beginners | 
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Back in March I wrote a post with the same title. Usually what I do is go back and update these posts with my new experiences sprinked in. This time I felt it was necessary for a major overhaul, so I am writing from scratch.
Another motivator is that I have been a bit negative about Twitter lately. Blocking spammers, unfollowing Mafia Wars and “gift-seeking” tweeps and listing reasons why I unfollow people. That has actually been my most popular post to date, but one person finally questioned why there were so many negatives in relation to the positives. I think he had a point.
So without further ado, I am listing my top 10 reasons why I do so love this platform.
#1 Exposure
As many of you know my number one goal for becoming involved with social media is to tell as many people as I can about Kids Are Heroes. Since I began in December of 2008 quite a good deal of people now know about us and that number grows every day. It’s important to note that there are no shortcuts to making this happen. Paying for thousands of followers and tweeting about your business constantly will do you more of a disservice than help you. But in my estimation it is time incredibly well spent. I recently received a phone call from a father of one of our heroes before he submitted her nomination. His daughter actually had a former president (yes, of the United States) escort her in his limo from her high school to be on Oprah. (Go @KidsCaring4Kids!) Now that is the Super Bowl of exposure. But Kendall’s dad mentioned that after a while all the hoopla eventually died down – he noted that what we are doing with Twitter is to “constantly prime the pump.” I couldn’t agree with that statement more. Because of this I get new people discovering us every day. (Oprah, if you are reading this, we will gladly accept your exposure as well. ;) )
#2 The Connections
It really is not difficult to connect with people on Twitter. This is a very social atmosphere and most of the people on Twitter are looking to make new connections. Yes there are spammers but you learn how to deal with them and minimize their impact. Make no mistake about it – the connections on Twitter are like gold. Seek them out and treat them with respect because without them you are wasting your time.
#3 The Relationships
After the connections come the relationships. This is when you connect with someone to the level that you meet with them either face to face or by phone, or simply connect with them often enough that you consider them a trusted colleague. Again, these relationships must be culled and don’t happen over night. But their value is immeasurable.
#4 Accessibility
I just love the fact that everyone is on the same plane. You can talk to celebrities you admire and sometimes even get a response back. Another great value is being able to access companies without having to talk to a customer service rep that has only a few canned answers to choose from. This may change as Twitter gets bigger, but it is so much easier to reach decision makers this way.
#5 People are Great
At risk of sounding smarmy I just love the fact that most of the time people are on their best behavior. And if they are not you simply block them, so everyone you follow will still be on their best behavior. OK yes you still get spammed but this is supposed to be a positive post, remember? And that’s what the unfollow button is for.
#6 The Cultures
Twitter is definitely a great place to learn about other cultures. The more I learn the more I see that most people are similar enough that they can connect with each other, no matter where they are from. But we must understand that at the same time people are different. In my case even with other countries such as Australia that also speak English, there can be a disconnect in the underlying meaning of what people are trying to say, and I believe that is culturally based. So please keep that in mind.
#7 The Entire World is in Your Room
This is just one of the coolest things that I always get excited about. Talk about a small world – how about a world that is the size of your office? Just last month I saw a tweet from someone who was interested in what we were doing. Within ten minutes of that tweet we were talking and seeing each other via Skype. He lives in Sweden and I in the US. Not too much longer after that I spoke to a man from Australia. It was the next day there! Ok those of you who have international jobs are laughing at me because you do this all the time and it is no big deal to you. But it still amazes me that I can tweet with almost anyone in the world at any time.
#8 The Entertainment
Anyone can use Twitter strictly for entertainment purposes, following comedians and celebrities and giving in to the games and shows that are circulating around the medium. If you follow that path that is certainly your prerogative. I do find the occasional tweet that makes me laugh and I gladly retweet it. The viral Youtube videos make their rounds without making you feel that you have to respond to someone who emailed it to you with something like “Ha Ha! Loved it!” You control which ones you click on and which ones you watch in their entirety. My favorite is still the Evian Roller Babies. Might not be your taste, but again, that’s what makes Twitter great.
#9 Things Happen on Twitter
People are very active on Twitter. I have discovered that besides blogging and tweeting people are very quick to take action if something moves them. The Iran Election is one great example where many people colored their avatars green in support. The Twitter powers that be were even convinced to reschedule their scheduled downtime because people did not want to see the support go away. I also have personal experience with this. In March we entered a contest (that we discovered through Twitter) held by Sir Richard Branson to get great exposure for our video. Thanks to our Twitter supporters we won and had the video featured first in his premiere episode of PitchTV shown on Virgin Atlantic planes during the month of June 2009. I still have a hard time believing that one.
#10 Everyone Helps Each Other
If you “behave well” on Twitter you will find people who go to bat for you. By behaving well I mean not being spammy and connecting with people. You will promote what others are doing as well as your own agenda and ask nothing in return. I have found that the people who are successful on Twitter are full of humility and they also are very generous with help and information. Think about that for a second. Isn’t that an incredibly desirable atmosphere to be part of? What if all people did was tweet such things as: “Hey you won’t believe how great I am! Come see my web site that you can buy stuff from!” If that was all you saw would you log on in the morning? I didn’t think so.
I would love to hear what you think makes Twitter great. Or if you haven’t bought in to the hype let’s hear about that too.
