10 Reasons you should use twitter

Back in the spring I decided to give twitter a test drive for the first time after hearing all the hype. Now I must admit, my first reaction when I learned of twitter close to two years go was that it just seemed to be a bit useless to answer that one simple question: “What are you doing?” – I kept wondering who in the world would care. But, I still decided to give it a try. So, a few months after experimenting with a few social web sites, I must share with you 10 reasons I’ve found twitter useful.

1. It keeps you connected
The most obvious reason I enjoy twitter is that it keeps me connected with those I choose to “follow”. In the few months I’ve used twitter I have maintained connections with colleagues, alumni, students, industry professionals, family and friends.

2. You’re not chatting or emailing – you’re twittering
There IS a difference. In a chat you have to be on the other end at the same time and you never know how long someone may end up wanting to chat for. Similarly, email conversations could end up becoming a long draining part of the day, especially if you find yourself in a job where email is one of the primary forms of communication. Hundreds of unnecessary emails can get quite frustrating to filter through. That’s where twitter comes in. You have 140 characters to type. That’s it. You can use it to tell others what you’re doing or perhaps use it to ask a question. The best part is that, unlike email, in most cases you don’t have to respond.

3. It’s cool to have “followers”
Similar to adding contacts or friends, in twitter you choose to “follow” other twitter users. Yes, this sounds creepy. I know. In fact, one of the top responses I get when I share twitter with someone who’s never heard of it is, “so people stalk you”. Ummm, no not stalk – follow. You can make your twitter account private if it concerns you that some stranger might follow you. You can even “block” twitter users if you fear they may be some strange person stalking you. However, if you have followers, usually, it’s a good thing. It means they value what you have to say and they want to keep up with what you’re posting in twitter. Twitter is not a site you join to use alone. Twitter thrives when you have followers. The more people you know on twitter, the better the experience.

4. It lets you learn, share your knowledge, and help others
Perhaps it’s the teacher in me, but I must admit that I really enjoy being able to help others through twitter. I have had the opportunity to answer other twitter users questions. If you happen to be the one with the question it’s a great way to work through problems that may arise. In fact, through twitter I learned of a student who twittered their way out of an Egyptian jail! So you never know when twitter might come in handy!

5. It gives you endless resources
Twitter has become so popular that many companies are starting to use it. In fact, you may find that following NAPP, Layers Magazine, or Head First might share with you some great resources.

6. Twitter has RSS
RSS lets you share twitter through RSS Readers which can be useful if you want to share your twitter account through other web sites. Even sites like facebook have applications to share your twitter account with facebook users.

7. A little distraction can be good
One of the biggest comments I’ve gotten from new or potential twitter users is that they fear it may be too distracting. Some describe twitter as “addictive”. Well, I’ll be the first to tell you that it may be both distracting and addictive – but to be honest, a little distraction in moderation can be a good thing. In fact, twitter could be that nice break away from something you’ve been slaving on all day. I don’t find it to be time consuming at all. Some days it’s that little distraction needed to keep me moving onto the next task.

8. I prefer to say it’s fun, not geeky
Okay, so yes – to non-twitter users twitter might seem a bit, well, geeky. But really, it can be fun. You’ll just have to join and try it out to believe me on this one.

9. You never know, you may win FREE stuff.
Yes, I never thought I’d happen on twitter, but NAPP gave out free lightroom books this week through twitter. A big thanks to NAPP because I’m super stoked that I just happened to check twitter on a break during training and my free copy of a lightroom book is on the mail. I never thought I’d win anything on twitter! (Awesome, right! So don’t forget to follow NAPP!)

10. All the cool kids are using it, even the future president…
Now, I’m not one to publicly side with Barack Obama or John McCain, but not only are all the cool kids on the web using twitter but both presidential candidates are on twitter too. Have I convinced you to use twitter yet?

Final thoughts…
As promised, I’ve officially wrapped up my thoughts on twitter. I wasn’t sure if twitter was worth my time back in the spring. Several months later I must admit that it is far more useful than I had imagined. Of course, if you end up joining twitter you all are welcome to follow me in twitter. And if you’re still not so sure about twitter I encourage you to check out the twitter resources I’ve bookmarked online.

Have I convinced you to use twitter yet?