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Twitter for Non-Twits

Don't know how to twitter (or tweet)? Sick of seeing that little birdie icon without having a clue what it means? This short article will explain what you need to know to not be a nitwit when it comes to Twitter.
 

Twitter gets a bad rap as nothing more than people talking about what they had for breakfast—and that can be true.  For business, however, it also has some pretty great functionality. First, let's define some information to get you started.
 

The basics: Twitter is a web-based service that publishes small running announcements from anyone who chooses to send out a message. Individual Twitter messages are called "tweets" and they can be a maximum of 140 characters long.
 

You sign up for an account and this becomes your Twitter channel. You can think of it like a radio station or a TV channel. If someone isn't tuned in to you (or "following" you), they can't "hear" what you're tweeting. Likewise, you only hear from people whose "Twitter feed" you are following unless you do a search for a specific topic. Depending on how you set up your preferences, you'll hear from them as often as they tweet, or whenever you go out and check what they've said.
 

To visualize a Twitter feed, think of something similar to the ticker tape headlines running at the bottom of any news station. The trick here is you've picked which information you're interested in by opting in to channels. This is where Twitter can make a great business tool. What if you set your Twitter feed to capture what the AP stylebook is saying, Adobe's Photoshop updates, or the latest from the news services of three of the biggest companies in your industry?
 

You don't even have to tweet to be on Twitter! In fact, if you just create an account and follow a few people, you'll quickly get the lay of the land. You could start by subscribing to the FriendsofMMPA's Twitter feed.  Take look at how other businesses are communicating, and you'll get ideas for how your tweets can be of use to your target audience of followers.
 

So hop on to Twitter and see what the little birdie can do for your business!
 

Comments (2)

Beautiful

Posted by Sherry Collins at 9:47 PM (5/19/10)

The new site looks so great!

Connecting with Intern

Posted by Aileen Hough at 8:32 PM (5/28/10)

Has anyone had continued success linking up with sources to locate and keep in touch with potential interns? We've found our success by word of mouth, but there has to be a better way?

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