Why Should Anyone Use Twitter?

The social networking phenomenon known as Twitter has only been in existence for about three years. Although it has become one of the fastest growing social networking tools on the Internet, it still leaves most of the public wondering "what the heck is it and why should I care?" The mainstream media and celebrities have embraced it to the degree that it has become almost a household word throughout the world, which makes it all the more unclear as to what it really is.

There are still so many people who do not use the Internet to a large degree, so it is not that hard to understand the general confusion. Additionally, due to the popularity of Twitter, it has actually grown into so much more than even it's creators could have imagined. Twitter has become a fast method of spreading worldwide news and on the street reporting of major events as they occur. Reporting of news has become a blend of traditional journalism and eye witness reporting from anyone on the street with instant worldwide coverage. This has caused a deluge of various applications that have been created to work with Twitter, which adds to it's complexities. This is not an article to explain all of those complexities, but rather to speak to the phenomenon itself.

As the application has grown, so has the need for increased policies and security as the company struggles to keep up with the demands placed on the support of Twitter. Many times when a huge event or crisis occurs, there can be so many people throughout the world who begin to send out Twitter comments that the website can grind to nearly a complete stop.

As with so much of the social networking Internet applications and websites, I began investigating Twitter about a year ago, more so out of curiosity. There were fewer restrictions about following others. You just followed as many people who you wanted. I would just click on one person's profile, where you could see all of the people who were following them and I would just click "Follow" on each of them. More recently, Twitter began creating more restrictions on how many persons you began following, because spammers began hitting the website. As with anything on the Internet, as soon as something becomes popular, those who would take advantage to cause havoc or to gain profits, begin hitting the site with whatever they can think of to cause issues. This has caused the company to search more diligently for spamming, etc. As you follow others, they will most likely start following you. In fact, there are other websites with tools that will allow you to automatically follow someone when they follow you.

The way to think of Twitter, is to think of it as a neighborhood. You are connecting to groups of people who you can think of as your neighbors, who you can say "hello" to, or "what are you doing today", or just anything you may comment to neighbors about. They don't have to all be good friends. They are just people you are being friendly to. When you take a walk in your neighborhood where you live, you would likely say "hello" to anyone you pass along the way. That is how I think of Twitter, at least in the beginning. As you progress, you will learn many nuances about Twitter, but the most effective marketing aspect you can utilize, is by tweaking the list of people you follow. You will learn that there are tools and methods that can help you locate groups of people with common interests, perhaps of topics that are your hobbies or career.

I am a freelance writer and Twitter is one of most effect methods of letting others know when you have published a new article. I have particular groups of followers that I will send out a Tweet with a link to my latest article. These are the some of the reasons why Twitter is becoming so much more than it was first intended to be. As it is with so many new technologies, when exposed to more and more innovators, the original reasons and methods thought of by the creators can actually migrate the intent into many other uses. That is one of the great aspects of the Internet, connection with an almost infinite amount of human, thinking resources.

You can find and follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DLindberg49

Here are some great people that I follow:

http://twitter.com/Teri8D
http://twitter.com/PatBarone
http://twitter.com/MarshaHudnall
http://twitter.com/sherisaid
http://twitter.com/GetResults
http://twitter.com/Seniors4Living
http://twitter.com/jcarlin
http://twitter.com/kwidrick
http://twitter.com/MarcMiddleton
http://twitter.com/Nancy_Bobby
http://twitter.com/QueensOnly
http://twitter.com/Timberry
http://twitter.com/davidjhinson
http://twitter.com/BillShafer
http://twitter.com/JoeTheProducer
http://twitter.com/AgeOpportunity

Most of these, I have found similar interests with. I would suggest going to each person's link or profile, to view for yourself. Usually, Twitterers put a link to their website or blog, where you can get more of a feel about their interests.

Again, there are many, many ways and websites that will help you find persons of similar interests, but Twitter is something that you should take your time with. and take a week or so on each step you try. There are days of the week that have become known by Twitterers for special Twitter events, such as FollowFriday, when people will suggest lists of good people they recommend to follow. There are search terms where you learn to find groups of common topics. The aspects of Twitter are many and new things are being created every day. So if you want to find out what Twitter is all about, Go create your own ID at http://www.twitter.com and begin to follow a few people. Do a Google search on Twitter and begin to read other articles about it. It will take some time to "get it", but it is a great tool and can be a lot of fun as well.

There's much more to Twitter than "I am walking my stupid dog" and yet, if you want it to be, it can be as basic as that!

Now, I am going to Tweet a link to my followers about this article I have written. Don't forget to join my Twitter neighborhood at http://twitter.com/DLindberg49

and click on Follow. Then send me a Tweet telling me you found me from my article! See you there!