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Twitter was founded in 2006, but it was not until this year that it has reaped what was sowed the last three years. When I talk with people (who are not in social media) they often ask 1) what is Twitter and or 2) they are on Twitter, but aren’t sure how to participate in it, where “it” is “the conversation.” So I make an attempt to try to explain Twitter and I quickly get that glassy eye stare, like I get when I day dream. So I have decided to start making some Twitter tutorials to help the “Twitter Ignorant” understand “Twitter”, “Twitter Etiquette” and “Twitter Protocal.” This is the first in a series of blog posts on Twitter.

I currently have 3 Twitter accounts myself, manage 3 Twitter accounts for work, and through consulting I manage 1 more Twitter account. On a daily basis I am inside each of these 7 accounts, most more than once. Additionally, I manage two websites by myself and work a full-time job. So why do I tell you all of this? First, I understand Twitter and I will tell you there is more than one “Twitter Persona” one can have and I do. First let’s answer the question, what is Twitter?

Twitter is a what is called a “microblog” where you can update your status (this is the message box labeled “What are you doing” at the top of the Twitter home page) by typing a message that consists of only 140 characters. Due to the size of your status update called a “Tweet” this limits your ability to communicate your thoughts. But not to worry, there are tools like URL shorteners that can increase your communication by tacking on a web link in as few as 6 or 7 characters. Why do I want to update my status (tell others “what I am doing?” Many people are on Twitter for many different reasons and here are some of the most common.

Personal microblog: Called a microblog due to the size of your “Tweets” you can still inform, comment, share your opinion, shout out, rant, etc through the little box labeled “What are you doing.” You can think of this as your personal blog if you don’t have one and are new to blogging (much smaller scale in terms of blogs). Your “Tweets” are kept in a feed that you can always access by clicking on your own profile picture. This helps you keep track of what you have posted.

Communication tool: There are millions of different people on Twitter who are famous, ordinary, men, tweens, and from all over the world. Some of the most interesting conversations I have had on Twitter were with people from other countries. This is a great tool to carry on a conversation on anything you fancy with a total stranger. But, they don’t seem that strange after your conversation is over and in the end you will be looking for that person again to have another conversation. A very nice tool when you want to communicate privately with someone on Twitter is the “direct message” or DM. This allows you and another to communicate privately and you can access what you have sent and what you have received through the DM tabs. Public relations is also another key area that businesses are targeting Twitter for. Communication on Twitter can work both positively and negatively in regards to businesses (depending on the issue).

Marketing tool: An inherent use of Twitter is as a promotional tool for your personal blog, website, business, cause, organization, family, whatever you can think of by way of the live web link in the profile section that others can see (and you) when you click on your profile picture. The power of this live web link should not be underestimated. I used Twitter to establish by blog CrazyMikesapps by adding this web link to my profile and information about my web site as well to help explain why and what they link was they were clicking. By far this is probably the most common use of Twitter today. In the early stages of Twitter history it was cool to update your status to your followers. But now, unless you are Ashton Kucher you look like a dweeb when you do this. Instead once you start to get a healthy following say a couple of thousand (not too impressive) but none the less if you look at it from the stand point that 2000 people could potentially hear what you have to say (FREE advertising). That is the true power of social media as a marketing tool.

These are but a few of the reasons people are on and use Twitter. I am sure there are plenty of other reasons, but it all comes down to one common denominator, communicating with other people. No matter how you slice it that is why everyone is on Twitter. To get there message out, for attention, to be heard, to feel connected, to feel important, etc. As a human being most of us want and need daily interaction with others in some shape or form. Twitter helps to provide a new age communication tool that does much more than the mundane.

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