Why Twitter (and a way to get new followers)


I’ve been actively using Twitter for the best part of 6 months. I think, like most people, I didn’t really see the reason of it at first. What’s the point of sending “tweets” of up to 140 characters saying what you’re doing?

However I’ve become a total convert and now use it on a daily basis to keep in touch friends, find out what they’re doing, etc. I meet a fair people at conferences and I’m normally a nightmare at keeping in touch with people (do you email old friends, like err ever), especially when people are in different time zones.

This year I expect Twitter to go totally main stream, think how texting is the standard way for teenagers to keep intouch, Twitter is that and more. It’s already being mentioned in mainstream media and I expect will continue snowballing in popularity through the year.

One of the important elements with Twitter is connecting both with existing friends and like minded people, so I want to copy borrow an idea from Duct Tape Marketing.

Add your comment to this post and keeping in the spirit of twitter tell us about you or your business in 140 characters or so and give people a reason to also click on your twitter ID to follow you. (Make sure you add your twitter ID in the appropriate comment form box.

You can follow Scott at MrScottJones myself at AlCarlton. If you’re new to Twitter and follow us make sure you send us a message so that we can follow you back. Have fun!

About Al Carlton

Al quit the 9 to 5 rat race in January of 2007, before then he was a software engineer and systems architect of financial system. Nowadays Al spends the days running his various businesses and experimenting with different ideas and opportunities.
Al can be found on twitter at AlCarlton.

Comments

  1. Al and Scott and SelfMadeMinds have inspired me to start my own website, http://freebestdeals.com. Check it out for absolutely free deals!

    Epicview’s last blog post..Epicview started a discussion called Get Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor SW, only $7.99 AR

  2. On my twitter account I talk about some of my (simple) web projects I’m working on.

    You can find me on http://twitter.com/improvingtheweb

    Wesley’s last blog post..Identifying and tracking MyBlogLog users

  3. On Twitter I (try to) amuse people with some funny stuff, tweet/retweet interesting links, as well as a bit of good old fashioned self-promotion 😉

  4. I usually talk about analytics, web development domains I buy and general Internet stuff love to connect with you guys on Twitter!

    Doug from Nullvariable Web Consulting’s last blog post..Don’t Despise the Hammer

  5. Been using twitter over the last few months although I think I registered a couple of years back.

    You mentioned it going main stream… My boss at work (well, boss for just 11 more days ;)) saw me on Twitter the other day and said to someone else “Matthew’s on that twitter website that we were talking about the other day”. For her to know about twitter shows it must be going main stream as she wouldn’t be the type who would know it existed.

    Also, the local radio stations around here keep mentioning it now.

    Matthew’s last blog post..TouchPark MultiTouch Display - Amazing!

  6. Just arrived to Ukraine’s Silicon Valley 2 work on my startup. Will post tales from Wild East & tips on outsourcing.

    Branden’s last blog post..Google’s SEO Starter Guide

  7. I’ve been on-and-off using Twitter. To be honest, I haven’t been all that successful with it yet, it’s just not as widely adopted as I’d like it to be. None of my friends use it, and no one following me are really my friends oddly enough!

    Justin Cook’s last blog post..When digital theft is a good thing!

  8. I don’t think the concept of Twitter is quite as foreign as many people make it out to be and certainly no more foreign than the idea of instant messaging was not all that long ago.

    Holiday Villas’s last blog post..Explore the quaint markets of Brest

  9. I tweet mainly about WordPress and Affiliate Programs as well as sharing other resources.

  10. I normally use twitter to keep people informed with the latest wordpress themes which are hitting the market with my website. I also like to recommend wordpress themes to people look for a new theme for their site. Twitter is fantastic!

    Brandon Walker’s last blog post..Gamezine - A Professional Gaming WordPress Theme

  11. I’ve looked at twitter pages and I must be thick because I don’t see how you read down them… How do you actually follow a conversation. Do you have to flick in and out of pages?

    • Ian, you follow a bunch of people and all of the updates are displayed on the home page of those you follow. You can click reply next to someones tweet to reply to that person. Down the right hand side you can then click @Replies and see any messages sent to you. Messages sent to people have @username in them (although they are all still public).

      I do agree that it can be hard tracking stuff sometimes and especially as you get a busy profile. I tend to just read what’s on the first few pages only and reply to those messages and any that have sent messages to me also on the @Replies page.

      Direct Messages can also be used to communicate privately but I believe you both need to be following each other for that to work.

      I’d recommend just to start using it and see how it goes.

  12. 4media is a network of sport related minisites to support my flagship site http://www.4freebets.co.uk - I’ve joined Twitter to network with other affiliates as I am new to this game and have loads to learn! Maybe a useful source for credible, relevant link exchanges too ;>)

  13. I tweet about life in Nottingham’s digital scene, digital content and social media industry stuff, a bit about gigs and life but not what I had for breakfast.

    Susi Oneill’s last blog post..Networking bonanza: NottTuesday, Nottingham Twestival, TigerSpike and Nottingham Creative Business Awards

  14. Still following technology with great fascination. Blogging about gadgets on Gizmos for Geeks, and having trouble sticking to 140 characters!

    @Ian - My $0.02 on Twitter and info in general: think of it as sipping from the firehose; you can’t drink it all in.

    PS> Al is hilarious on Twitter when he’s had a few 🙂

    Khalid’s last blog post..House Buying Info & Research Resources

  15. I’m an SEO consultant currently working at BBC Worldwide, and I tweet about the stuff I’m working on. Also I tweet about launching my own startup websites…

    Follow me if you want to connect.

  16. I run a website about loft conversions and have an interest in building websites and SEO. As for twitter Im a bit of a noob but starting to get the idea!

    John Essex’s last blog post..Preparing for a Loft Conversion

  17. All the D’s - datafeeds, domains, development.

    martinwood’s last blog post..Old App Traffic Spike

  18. Fairly new to Twitter - my tweets tend to be moaning about Affiliate Marketing, moaning about Plymouth Argyle FC, or moaning about life in general. Real motivational stuff.

    Lammo’s last blog post..Beat the Recession: Invest in YOUR OWN business!

  19. Matthew from gadgetvenue.com got me started with twitter and thanks goes to him for that.

    Twitter is great, it’s a nice way to get a pulse of what’s happening within the blogosphere and you can see a lot of mainstream news sites are now using this product to convey information to their readership.

    Mike

    Mike’s last blog post..Nuclear Grade 3M Duct Tape

  20. I’ve still not discovered any value from using Twitter…

    Dan @ PowerDosh.com’s last blog post..Feedburner Unverified Email Subscriber Tool

  21. Apparently micro-blogging is getting more and more popular by the day and consequently its biggest platform on the web, Twitter, is rapidly growing as well.

  22. I cannot grasp why twitter is popular. I could not imagine anything worse than a constant stream of boring updates as to where people are or what they are doing - how often am I going to really care? That said, i will be using it on my sites to let people know of fresh updates, but surely it’s similar to RSS feeds in that way?

  23. Yes I’m also not too sure about the whole twitter idea. It’s definately used by a lot of people, so some people must like it. I think it does come into the category of “big brother is watching you though”. These days, everyone can find out what you’re doing, where you are etc.. not sure if I like that!

  24. If you’re into science, you cannot avoid me on the net, I’m trying to make myself ubiquitous, so you might as well follow me on twitter too!

    David Bradley’s last blog post..Baffling Fluid Dynamics

  25. i was the exact same way about twitter - i didn’t get it until i joined. IT is a powerful networking tool for connecting with like minded people and staying in touch with people. I am totally converted and have tweeted over 1000 times in under 1.5 months. I am a twitterholic - that’s the first step acceptance.

    Online Marketing BLog’s last blog post..Free Advertising for your Web site?

  26. I have so far resisted using Twitter. Nobody I know is using it and it seems rather uninteresting to me. I’m sure that it IS a great social marketing tool however, and I’m probably missing out. Maybe I will give in one day…

  27. Haven’t jumped in yet - although I’m sure I’ll have to soon. Too many people saying what useless thing they’re doing right now or blatantly trying to sell me when they don’t know me. Doesn’t entice me. However, the few that do use it well for interesting, thoughtful or pertinent posts - they make me realize they are staying in the Top of My Mind….

    Tari’s last blog post..Prospecting for Your Home Based Greeting Card Business

  28. The buzz around twitter ahs been nothing short of astounding, with it being touted as the successor to Google! I for one am still slow in coming to grips with it, but it definitely is time to pay more attention to twitter, and its possibilities, or get left behind.

  29. I’m finding Twitter to be very useful in helping me increase traffic to my blog. Very easy to use and simple. When I am short on time, I would just focus on networking with people on Twitter.

    Kai Lo’s last blog post..My Weekly Report: Week 3

  30. marc lohan says:

    Twitter is the best social media.here you can share everything about your work,job,projects,meeting etc.i love to use it.

  31. I too had doubts about twitter… Started using it a little and haven’t seen the point from a business perspective… We’ll see what this year brings!

  32. I tend to tweet about random things that interest me like veganism, bodybuilding, and technology. A pretty random assortment, I know. I’d love it people followed me.

  33. Meeting Al at a networking event finally gave me the push inspiration I needed to get my site up and running. Giving Twitter a go too.

    Dan’s last blog post..Palm Pre videos pulled from Youtube

  34. Like most I didn’t get Twitter at first. I’ve since found it very useful for keeping up to date with the latest news on the industries in which I work. I’ve also just discovered hootsuite.com which is a pretty cool tool for managing multiple twitter accounts from one place.

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