The web is just normal life with new tools.
This sentiment is correct, maybe even trivially so but I think it’s missing something critically important. Whether it’s the horseless carriage or the high energy particle accelerator, humanity is uniquely defined by its tools.
That was my motivation last week as I took some time to explore one such tool, Twitter. What I wanted to know is how, if at all, it was effecting the way people worked. Here are some of the responses I received.
From The Field
First, thanks for asking me to participate. While I am relatively new to Twitter, I’m a ‘believer.’ Here’s why:
As Founder of SavvyAuntie.com and an “Auntrepreneur” in online community building, I naturally try to connect with social media experts so I can learn best-practices and keep current. Offline, I attend networking events where I have developed valuable relationships. Online, I follow the experts closely through their blogs. The Twitter Community is the perfect hybrid as it enables me to Follow - and Friend (!) all of my offline and online expert connections, enabling me to learn from them in a very direct and personal way. And sometimes, they even remark that they’ve learned something from me!
Twitter is a very powerful and invaluable tool for those who understand that business is about relationships and community. 140 characters has never been more meaningful in business. Even if it often doesn’t always feel like “work.”
I think Twitter is a great tool if used correctly. Because it’s opt-in to follow, you know right off the bat those following you are likely to be engaged in your service or brand, and that comes with both responsibilities and opportunities. Your responsibility is to listen to them and act on what you hear, but your opportunity is a chance to engage you customers on a personal level and get involved in the conversation.
I use Twitter at work as an information tool- It’s a great way to get up-to-the second news from people in the know and allows you to see a different facet of people. No longer are you pitching a name, that typically covers a topic, but you can see what other news interests them, what music they listen to, or what their kid is dressing up for Halloween. I look at it as the “seen and be seen” of the social media dukes and duchesses.
Web 2.0 Roundup
If the web has turned everything into the product, then Social Media has turned us all into marketers. This is necessarily a “bad” thing. The Internet has always been a strange amalgam of information and commerce, why then should we expect the Social Web to behave any differently?
Now the question goes to you. Have you found Twitter, or any other Social Media platform useful in your work? If so, how are you using it?
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