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In 2006 people were asking “What the heck is a Twitter?!”  It was such an unusual idea that internet surfers flocked to the site in droves to try to figure out what this latest novelty was.  Now that the dust has settled and Twitter appears to be here to stay, it looks like a social network with a lot of potential, helping companies who do social media marketing and website design.

You might wonder how in the world you can say anything meaningful with just 140 characters.  That’s only about as long as this paragraph, including punctuation!

You’ll find that you can say a lot in just a couple of short sentences.  One advantage of “tweeting” is that you have to really think about what you are saying.  The old truism “less is more” really applies here!  By choosing your words carefully you can cram a lot of information into that 140 characters!  Tweeting actually helps you develop verbal organizational skills and encourages vocabulary diversity.  Plus, it doesn’t take a lot of time to bring yourself up to date on a person you are following.

Twitter has become a force to be reckoned with when it comes to current events, too, especially since you can set it to send you tweets on a smartphone.  It proved invaluable in the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008; rescue workers and others were getting the word out about hospitals that needed blood donations and passing along news to relative abroad.  It helped ease fears during the California fires of 2007 as relatives in other states could keep up with the fire’s progress and know their family was safe-or not.  With 100 million users at last count, you know there’s a LOT of information there if you know where to look for it!

Even our president uses Twitter as a way to keep in touch with his millions of followers.  You can keep up with congressional activity by following the politician of your choice and know what’s happening on a bill you are following before conventional media gets hold of it.

Are you looking for a job?  Use Twitter to help your search!  Let’s face it, the job market is dismal and we can use all the help we can get.  By using the 160 characters allowed for your bio, you can post a brief synopsis of your qualifications.  Tweeting about your job search progress will help employers see what kinds of positions you’re looking for.  Why would an employer be looking in Twitter for a prospective employee?  Simply because they can see the quality of your language skills, the clarity of your thinking and how dedicated you are to getting a position.

Tweeting can be entertaining, informing, fun and profitable!