Many people think that Twitter is just a way for celebrities to post what they ate for breakfast or their latest selfie…and a way for crazy celebrity followers (some borderline stalker-ish) to get a kick out of knowing what this or that celebrity ate for breakfast. Granted, I do follow a few myself…and I did find this tweet from @usweekly so funny yesterday that I guffawed, alone, in my apartment (no offense, Selena): Oops! Selena Gomez falls offstage during her concert… and YES, THERE IS A VIDEO.
But I digress…
Despite the onslaught of celebrity and non-celebrity useless snippets (a.k.a. Tweets) on Twitter, there are actually some very valuable things about this booming social networking site – here are 10 of them (plus a few bonuses – like the infographic below)…
Current events. There have been several times that I have learned something about current events from Twitter before other people I knew were aware – simply because I saw a tweet and read the attached article; the best part is, searching almost anything is as easy as #whateveryoursearching…and will instantly bring you loads of tweets on whatever topic you’re interested. One in particular that recently caught my eye: @nprnews Thousands of Miles from Shutdown, Mars Rovers Keep Working
Inspiration. I follow lots of graphics, design, art, font, and other people who inspire me regularly like this tweet from @psdwordpress showing 20 very cool retro and vintage logo designs.
Friendly praise. Saturday, I was MORE than pleasantly surprised when @CU_athletics replied “@olive_shoe that’s possibly the cutest way we’ve ever been wished a happy gameday!” in response to my tweeting a graphic I created, “Gameday Balloons”, along with “Happy Gameday! @ClemsonNews @CU_athletics @clemsontailgate @clemsongirl @Clemson_Tigers @ClemsonWomen #GoTigers”… Sure made me feel good! …as if Saturday, gorgeous fall upstate weather, and a home game weren’t enough…
{Gameday Balloons graphic from last week}
Guidance. A simple hashtag search #blogging tips brought me to this tweet from @jeffbullas “50 Ways to Promote and Market your Blog Posts bit.ly/15jEZSn #socialmedia #marketing #bloggingtips”
Humor. Because sometimes you just need a laugh. @Mindy Furano is pretty funny, if you need a starting point…here’s one of her latest tweets on 10/11/13: “Workout: 20 push-ups, 10 face slaps, 30 crunches, 5 air guitar solos, 15 pull-ups, cry, 10 squats, 10 screams out the window”.
Sports, music & other special interest or hobby tidbits… a few of my hobbies – Clemson tailgating, photography, scrapbooking, cooking, wine connoisseur-ing, travel… you get the idea. I can follow all of these different interests on Twitter. Pretty nifty… like this one: @ClemsonBuzzz “They’re…Back…Get UP tigers @CollegeGameDay #Clemson #BeatFSU thanks to @TTGrafx pic.twitter.com/p02fKK3mFK”
Technology news. This is a no brainer. Twitter IS technology. There are all kinds of geeks sharing LOTS of info. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article from The Wall Street Journal on the history of the hashtag, tweeted by Tracy Corrigan on 10/4 at 12:18 PM.
Industry. Twitter is an EXCELLENT tool for finding out new things about your industry. Right now, along with graphic design and painting, one of my other main focuses is learning all I can about what’s going on in social media…so I found this article from Forbes, “The Top 7 social Media Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2014”, particularly interesting and tweeted it on 9/24/13. Whatever your industry, I’m 99.5% sure there’s something on Twitter you’d probably find interesting; try searching any number of hashtags…or just click one of these: #veterinary or #education or #manufacturing or #insurance or #marketing or #IT or #corporatetax.
Cool stuff…this is self explanatory. I watched this time-lapse video of the Boston Ballet that @HuffPostArts tweeted 3 times, and then I retweeted it.
Bonus: If you’re not a sharer, you don’t have to actually EVER share (a.k.a. “tweet”) anything. You can simply peruse as you feel froggy…err…chirpy?
Happy tweeting (or just tweet reading and re-tweeting)!
Oh, and P.S. Michael Hyatt gives an excellent tutorial in his post The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter. And just in case that’s not enough…here’s a few more links:
Tech Watch: Five Reasons Why You Should Give @Twitter a #chance
My Top Ten Realized Benefits of Twitter
5 Misunderstood Great Benefits of Twitter
Always a treat to see some of my favorite women enjoying life to the fullest. And the bird poo pic is awesome as we know how Claire luvs the POO.
LikeLike
Hahahaha! Hugs from SC to Wisconsin!
LikeLike
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Donna you crack me up!! Hugs and love from South Clarolina!!
LikeLike