re: Twitter… why?
Hi Steve,
It’s all in how you twitter, and why.
Yes, people use Twitter to tell others they are going to the bathroom -
hello, don’t need to know that. So – don’t follow people like that.
Others use it for political purposes – to have political discussions with
others (the advantage here is one of education). While you are “fighting”
the good fight – others are listening and learning.
Others use it to promote their blog or their business. By asking those who
are following you to “re-tweet” your 140 character message, it is going out
well beyond your scope of influence. So, you build and build…and then…
“Looking for documentation projects – telecommunications, etc. Contact
WritePoint” – works.
Or – one of our staff is traveling to the States and looking for kosher
rest. in Indianapolis” – and the information comes streaming through.
“Anyone know if there’s traffic on the Ayalon” and a few minutes later
“Office overlooks Ayalon. All clear to Rokach”
And…”just posted to http://www.israelisoldiersmother.blogspot.com check it
out” – you can alert hundreds of people (even thousands potentially) of new
blog posts, new sites you designed (ask them to give their opinions…but
what you are really doing is calling attention to your abilities).
And then you get, “I’m late with my #followfriday. @ASoldiersMother to learn
what the personal side is of having a son in the Israeli army.”
Which means not only have you touched your base of people (your followers),
but touched others.
Finally, a tool like TweetDeck goes a long way in making Twitter a more
usable tool.
HTH,
Paula
Paula R. Stern is the CEO and founder of WritePoint Ltd., (http://www.writepoint.com) a leading technical writing company in Israel. WritePoint’s offerings include a full range of documentation services as well as a wide range of training courses. Paula is the list owner of Techshoret, the Israel technical writers list, as well as MarcShoret, a list for MARCOM professionals. She is an Adobe Community Expert and moderator of an international list of help authors. Her most recent endeavor includes the launch of two publishing houses, one focusing on Jewish/Israeli books and a second one that has a diverse and international flavor to it. Finally, Paula is the mother behind A Soldier’s Mother, a blog about her experiences as the mother of an Israeli soldier. (http://www.israelisoldiersmother.blogspot.com)
