What’s all the chatter about Twitter?

If you haven’t already jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, you’re behind the rush. And if you’re skeptical about ‘following the crowd,’ you’re missing out! It seems like you can’t go a day without hearing a reference to some famous cultural icon’s ‘tweet’ update. And with the ability for anyone to ‘follow’ anyone else (unless they have locked their profile), you can literally keep up to speed with the day-to-day life of your favorite NCAA basketball coach, NFL football star, pop star, college English professor or best friend.

On October 14, 2009 University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calapari wished former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden a happy 99th birthday. Cincinnati Bengals wide-receiver Chad Ochocinco even used Twitter as a medium to stage the ‘Lambeau Leap’ against Green Bay on September 20, 2009, by connecting with four fans and purchasing them front row tickets near the end zone of his touchdown reception. You can even find out when your best friend is eating lunch and sometimes where or with who!

Aside from all the quote ‘entertainment’ unquote Twitter can provide to its users, it is also proving to be a beneficial business strategy for reaching customers on a completely different level than ever before. Many businesses are beginning to hire support staff to monitor social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook to handle the specific needs of valued customers and stop problems virtually before they even start. You see, a lot of the consumers who are using Twitter are considered to be early adopters with major influence in the success of new products, largely in part to their influence over the web via word-of-mouth information.

Take for example the success story of communication empire Comcast. During a time, when many changes were occurring in the communication field, Comcast began facing difficulty in customer satisfaction which ultimately meant bad news to their revenue growth in the market. To the rescue came staffer Frank Eliason, who joined Twitter in April of 2008 as @comcastcares in a means to connect with consumers who referenced the company whether it be positively or negatively. Whenever the company was mentioned, Eliason would tweet a response with encouraging tidbits of advice. Some customers really enjoyed the direct interaction, while others found it awkward. Whatever the case, Eliason’s proactive efforts propelled Comcast’s all-time low customer satisfaction rating to a manageable level among its competitors in the cable/satellite market.

This is just one of many success stories in the world of business. If you want a great read on other inspirational stories regarding Twitter success, check out Julio Ojeda-Zapata’s book Twitter Means Business.

So whether your using Twitter to catch up on the latest gossip, keep up with your favorite star, stalk the girl sitting next to you in class, or manage your company, taking part in this cultural social media shift has the potential to be one of the most beneficial, yet fun ‘investments’ of your life! Set up an account today at www.twitter.com and/or sit in on Twitter101 at Clemson NetworkBash! on November 4, 2009 from 2:15-2:45pm in the Hendrix Center. Hope to see you on Twitter and at NetworkBash! on the 4th!

Twitter 101 – Learning the Lingo

Following: ability for Twitter users to keep up with their favorite people and have a continuous stream of their ‘tweets.”
Tweet: a 140 character status update posted by a Twitter user meant to inform followers what’s on their mind.

@username: when a user makes reference to another user, they add an ‘@’ symbol before their tweet to acknowledge them.
Twitterverse: entire scope of Twitter users that understand and partake in Twitter activities.

DM or Direct Message: a private message sent exclusively to the users involved.

RT or Retweet: reposting another users tweet with an ‘RT’ before your tweet in an effort to agree with or share cool ideas with other users.

#Hashtag: categorizing topics on Twitter by posting a ‘#’ sign before your tweet.

Tyler Morey
NetworkBash Team Member