Why use twitter?

[Casinomeister]

Why use twitter? Is there a way in which this can be incorporated within one's viral marketing?

[Alexandre]

First of all, you have to learn Twitter's social rules (remembers me someone giving advices to forum newbies...I think I've seen in on Youtube ).
It is not acceptable that you didn't already add me to the people you are following because:
1/ I'm a member of your forum
2/ I added you in Twitter
3/ I'm a good guy

Seriously, my advice would be that you go in the Find People engine, and that you type the name or pseudo of every person you know and that you start following them.
See what they do, and you'll get it very quickly.
That's the magic of Twitter, it's so easy to use.
FriendFeed is much better, it has crazy useful features, but very few people use it because it's way to complicate for the newbie.
Then, you will have to ask yourself if the time you'll have to invest in Twitter worth it.
I don't have time to write a long post now but Twitter is definitely the most powerful social marketing tool available leaving Facebook far behind.
And when I mean social marketing, I mean marketing....monies
I'll give more info tomorrow.

[Casinomeister]

Okay, what's with the "following" and "followers" thing? It sounds like stalking

If you are follower, do you receive a message every time I post something there? Is that it?

[maxd]

No, the tweets (aka posts) from the folks you are following show up on your Home page at twitter. It's as if you're listening to them so only their stuff shows up for you.

The 'culture' at Twitter is supposedly to gain lots of followers .. my wife uses it a lot and she says the 'lots of followers' thing is just a pain, far better to follow a few good people than a bunch of wankers. It takes some time to find a good crowd. You usually find good folk by looking at the followers of people you follow and like.

Another, less reliable, way to find good folks to follow is to search for terms you are interested in. Then you'll see all the tweets on that subject (supposedly) and be able to see who's posts you like, you follow them, they follow you and on it goes.

It's generally thought to be good Twitter etiquette to follow anyone that follows you. Another good way to get a Home page full of crap if you ask me.

As to the viral marketing aspect of it .. dunno, I'm too much of a dullard when it comes to those kinds of things to say. What I can say though is that most folks are on Twitter to be entertained with little snippets from other people's lives, hobbies, whatever. Most folk that I've seen that are purely into the self-promotion thing get dropped pretty quickly. On the other hand there are a lot of marketing whores on Twitter too so .. like I said, I'm not exactly the go-to guy on things like this.

[Alexandre]

6 Twitter Tips for Dummies…er…Newbies

[rochie]

There's an interesting article about the value and growth of Twitter http://weblogs.hitwise.com/robin-goa...iage_mean.html.

We've recently started using Twitter to quickly broadcast our promotions, Money Back Specials, winners, tournaments and sign up offers of our various products. It's quick, it's easy, it's a one stop shop.

You can view our page here - www.twitter.com/PaddyAffiliates.

As you can see, we're still learning! I found that 6 Twitter Tips for Dummies really useful. We've not really actively sought followers - that's next! Feel free to join us and of course, we'll stick to the rules/etiquette and share the love by following you back!

Cheers,
Jess
Paddy Power Affiliates
Sportsbook - Casino - Poker - Bingo - Games

[maxd]

Thought this might of interest: When NOT to Use Social Media.

These days, everyone is talking about social media and discussing what services and tools to use, how to use them, why you should use them, etc. In fact, if you listened to all the advice out there, you would probably think that no matter who you are, whether an individual wanting to build a personal brand, or a large multinational corporation intent on communicating with customers, you should be using social media. But is social media for everyone? Are there times when you shouldn't be using it at all? .... (more)

[jetset]

Read yesterday that Google is about to make a $250 million offer for Twitter.

Regarding Twitter's intrinsic value, I can see the possibilities, but some of the inane stuff posted by celebs and avidly reported by the media puts me off somewhat. It's also likely to keep you glued to email or your hardware for even longer each day, which doesn't really appeal even in a social context.

[brucefinaldi]

Great article Alexandre! I am still a Twitter newbie, so this really helps.

[maxd]

... some of the inane stuff posted by celebs and avidly reported by the media puts me off somewhat.

Yup, no doubt that there's a tsunami of worthless shit on Twitter, but there's other stuff too. If you manage to tap into the right crowd it can be worthwhile, and entertaining. Takes time though, like all these kinds of things.