ResourcesMaking the most of TwitterGuardian Online [published May 8th 2008]Making the most of Twitter Real-time micro-blogging is gaining in popularity. But if you're wondering what's the point, here's Charles Arthur's guide to the benefits of Twitter - and how to get started. An American student is arrested in Egypt, and manages to send a brief text with a single word - "ARRESTED" - which is picked up around the world, and leads quickly to his release, helped by a lawyer hired by his university back in the US. In Britain, the prime minister's office decides people should be able to find out what their premier is doing; as of today, more than 2,000 people do. During an interview at the SXSW festival in March, audience dissatisfaction with Sarah Lacy's interviewing style with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spills over into silent but powerful discourse among the audience: one calls it a "train wreck". People fleeing from fires in California say where they are; that proves more useful and timely than official goverment information. The common factor? Twitter, the free (at present) service which lets you send a 140-character message, or "tweet", to a site where anyone can read it, though it will only be sent directly to those who have chosen to "follow" you (though if you want, you can pick and choose who you allow to follow you). Twitter's first prototype was built in two weeks in March 2006 and launched publicly that August. It has only been a company since May 2007, but its growth has been explosive - so much so that it constantly struggles to keep running as a growing number of people sign on, sending more and more tweets. One of the first questions people ask is "what is Twitter for?" As with any social network, the answer is the same: whatever you make of it. Some think that its immediacy makes it ideal for spreading news. Others find it useful to ask questions of their peers; still others, for following what people or topics they're interested in. The BBC and the Guardian, for example, already offer Twitter services for breaking news (check out the Guardian Technology Twitter feed). It will be surprising if IBM does not offer a Twitter service with results from the All-England Tennis Club Championships in July. To see how Swimming Hippo Digital can help twitter accounts aimed at improving SEO, click here. |
