Is Twitter a Verb? Why an Interesting New Social

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Actually, "tweet" is the verb; it's what people who belong to the Twitter network do. Based on recent stats, I am guessing that 50% of the people reading this don't know what I am talking about, 40% of you have heard of Twitter, another 8% know all about it, and perhaps about 2% are actually participating. If only one person in 50 is participating, is there really any value to know more? Well, here's my take: when a prime-time sitcom, Bones, includes a mention of a particular technology in the show, I think it's something we should sit up and pay attention to.

For those 50% of you who don't know what I am talking about, Twitter is a software application used for micro-blogging. You can send messages of up to 140 characters to those people who "follow" you or are otherwise in your network. You can communicate online or on your mobile device.

So what's the attraction? People are using it as a way to connect, communicate and build relationships with a network of people. If you think about all the meals, events, phone calls and email you already participate in to connect with people, this is just one more vehicle for doing so, and you can participate whenever and wherever it's convenient for you. This is important, as time is increasingly pinched with personal and professional demands, and it gets ever harder to physically attend networking events to keep in touch with your community. However, when there is a seminar or live event and you're debating the value of attending, you can tweet ahead of time to learn the answer to the question, "is anyone going to ... tomorrow night?"

For some businesses, Twitter is an effective way to build credibility in their industry and keep their name top-of-mind. The ACLU has a Twitter account, for instance, as does the Cleveland Public Library and the large PR firm Fleishman-Hilliard. However, the latter two have very few followers -- so who is receiving their message? For it to be effective, the Twitter account needs to have followers. This is where the difficulty lies. Just proposing a strategy for a client to use Twitter to convey information isn't enough. That strategy will only be as effective as the corresponding plan for getting the Twitter community to follow the client and thus receive their messages. When determining if a technology is right for you, first determine if the users match your clients' core market. At the moment, at least, Twitter has a very specific demographic.

Although I do not fit the typical demographic, (I'm not a guy) I've gotten more out of Twittering than merely connecting. I have learned about a lot of interesting things when people share links to music, industry stuff, blogs and opinions. It's been a fun resource. It was really great when I went to a conference on podcasting, and everyone was tweeting where to meet for beers afterward. When one bar would fill up and the group relocated, thanks to the tool, we knew just where to go as we were walking the streets of Toronto.

Finally, for any of you who are tired of listening to politicians' long-winded responses during debates, you can read a debate between McCain and Obama on Twitter, where no response is longer than 140 characters. The debate responses were no doubt provided by campaign staff, since I'm pretty sure politicians aren't used to providing such concise responses. Maybe, like the rest of us, they'll get there eventually.