These past couple of years, I have been watching before my eyes the evolution of social networking. I have even jumped on the bandwagon, joining MySpace before switching to Facebook four years ago. But then comes Twitter, the next big idea, and soon everyone is joining it. I just didn't see any reason for me to create a Twitter account and thought it would have been a waste of time. Was I ever wrong.
Twitter has proven a lot to me over these past two weeks. It's basically Facebook without all of the extra junk. It's just updating your status (tweets) and seeing what else people are saying. Never in my life have I seen an easier way to stay in touch with friends, family, and the entire World then through Twitter. It's communication made easy and fun.
Initially, I was dreading the fact that I actually had to create a Twitter because I had been so against it for some time. For the first couple of tweets, I put way too much thought into what I was writing and wasn't truly having fun with it like most do. But once I saw people tweeting about random events, facts and stories, I realized how fun Twitter could actually be. I looked forward to signing in and tweeting new things each day, knowing that many people would see it and take it in. Most of the time I would tweet about my day, but I also found time to tweet about random quotes which I am looking to do more of now.
Another unique aspect of Twitter is the popularity it has gained from celebrities, as people around the globe follow them and what they are doing. I even joined in by following various pro athletes and a couple Hollywood actors. It's interesting because they are doing exactly what we are doing: finding time to share with many people what is going on with them.
But the biggest thing I learned from this experience is the power of Twitter as a news source. Right when something happens, you can bet that someone is tweeting about it to get it out to everyone. The speed with which news can travel on Twitter is astonishing. I remember finding out about the "balloon boy" incident through Twitter just moments after the balloon had taken off.
All in all, it was a great experience. Twitter has shown me the power of social networking not only as a means of communication with friends and family, but as a means of news communication around the globe. That is the value I have found in Twitter and the reason I will continue to use it. It serves as one of my main news sources, keeping me up to date with things that are going on around the U.S. and around the Globe.
Just as a little side note, the event that I chose for my client is my older brother's Concert For Life. I'm sure I will be working with him to set up some promotional tweets along the way to get people to come out and support the American Cancer Society. So be on the look out.
