About two weeks back I posted a survey “Why do you or don’t you use Twitter?”. It was interesting to see how people responded.
Why Plaxo users Tweet
(Percents represent the percentage of Plaxo users who do use Twitter)
Why Plaxo users don’t Tweet
(Percents represent the percentage of Plaxo users who do not use Twitter)
The main idea being Twitter is a great resource to network and learn new things.
You can continue this comment stream here as well as post links back to your own Twitter accounts.
Comments
I’m surprised by the lack of Twitter users on Plaxo
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
I am one: http://twitter.com/godsent247
http://twitter.com/godsent247
Bogdan Wrzesinski
I have to add to my vote (I voted: Yes, to learn new things) – to learn new things about what’s happening with my friends, to learn new things by meeting new people and to find the occassioanl, amazing link.
http://www.twitter.com/chgroup
Sabine Pyrchalla
I’m glad to see the results evened out a little. I agree with you Sabine, i tend to use it less for marketing and more for learning and meeting new people.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
Jon,
I think Twitter is one of those sites that you “get†as you use it…if you don’t use it, don’t connect/follow others…you probably don’t see what the big deal is. So only by using will you find the benefits.
And if you don’t use it….well, you get the picture….
http://www.twitter.com/chgroup
Sabine Pyrchalla
Sabine, that’s exactly what I did. I actually stumbled across this site:http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/01/internet-marketing-experts-twitter.html and began following a few of them. Ultimately I have learned a lot through Twitter and now my following grows pretty regularly as i continue to use it.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
Twitter is fun. I especially like twittervision in 3D
www.twitter.com/CosmicHog
Mitch Aase
Jon,
Seriously don’t know that much about it … can you provide some definition of its dynamics.
Vernon Collins
I collected what I thought were some of the best resources across the web concerning Twitter here: Twitter 101
Here is a good article from MarketingProfs
Lastly I would just say that Twitter is a blogging service with many tools to help you access and update easily and because of the restricted number of characters you are allowed to post it is easy to scan and takes very little time.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
Twitter is known as a “micro-blogging†service. I have also explained it to others as a “platform independent text message service†— anyone can use that, I’ve not trade marked it yet 
That said, i think 90% of the twits on twitter are pointless, useless drivel and nothing but a waste of time.
Twitter makes it easier for no-bodies to feel self-important since they have “followers†and suddenly feel like everyone gives a hoot about what they ate for breakfast and how many emails they answered.
Worse is you never can tell just who will be a waste until you follow them – and then be prepared to be suprised.
Oh, yea, Im on twitter, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/mediamanx
I promise not to bore followers with the mundane and bombard them with the minutae of living.
http://twitter.com/mediamanx
Allan Sabo
Allan,
I believe its all relative to what you want to take out of using Twitter. I personally enjoy the mix of useless drivel and interesting tweets that make up my friends feeds. However I was very careful to only follow people within web development and marketing for a long time. I’ve only just recently begun looking for local Twitterers.
I also think you can tell who is going to be a waste of time by just looking over that persons tweets before you follow them, then, you can always unfollow them later.
That said, I am now following you on Twitter. Please do not bore me.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
lol. thanks Jon.
http://twitter.com/mediamanx
Allan Sabo
Jim Turner made me curious about Twitter and so I am very slowly learning about it and what people are doing with it. Thanks for the 101 on it, every little bit of information helps my brain!
It fascinates me how you can twit-twit there and it can turn up at Plaxo….well, my Plaxo thingy doesn’t tell me what everyone else ‘s status of what they are too anymore (usually on the right hand column) is anymore…puzzling….have they changed it again?
Marie-Dominique D
Plaxo should show all of your friends tweets that are both on Plaxo and Twitter. If you tweets aren’t showing up in your status, check your Profile Settings to sync it with Twitter. I have noticed tho that sometimes Plaxo will miss a tweet or two when updating my status but always catches it eventually to put in the pulse.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
I can see my status thingy even with my tweets but not anyone else’s anymore…. is this what you all are experiencing too?
Marie-Dominique D
Plaxo seems somewhat slow on occassion when it comes to updating Tweets….
http://www.twitter.com/chgroup
Sabine Pyrchalla
Oh ya they changed that…. i kinda liked it the old way, when you could see everyones status on the right.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
I am glad I am not the only one whose page has changed! How do we tell them (Plaxo) to change it back to the way it was when you could see everyone’s status?
Marie-Dominique D
Marie,
Hate to say this – but I dont’ think it’ll happen until ‘quite a few’ of us request a change…because until that happens…Plaxo will be convinced that it was a change for the better.
http://www.twitter.com/chgroup
Sabine Pyrchalla
Mini Blogging or Digital stalking – I started using Twitter at SXSW 2007 to connect with new friends to find our where the next party is. And while its a great too for conferences and festivals and finding out whats hot right then. But I am using it more and more to learn about what the latest cutting edge trends in marketing and technology are.
http://twitter.com/marcdole
Marc Dole
I use twitter for story ideas for The Responsible Marketing Blog (http://responsiblemarketing.com). It’s actually now my favorite applications.
http://twitter.com/patrickbyers
Patrick Byers
As much as I LOVE Twitter right now, I cant wait for when its a little more reliable. However at the same time, 98.72% uptime is not bad at all in the grand scheme of things. But all that said, anyone in here use FriendFeed as an alternative when Twitter is down?
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
Hi Jon….can you explain what is FriendFeed?
Marie-Dominique D
FriendFeed is a social media aggregator that brings all of your social media posts(digg, twitter, blogs, flickr, etc) into one stream. You can also post directly to FriendFeed. So kind of like Plaxo, except it has more sites you can add to your stream.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
Thanks for that, Jon.
So it would be like if I posted something on my Plaxo status and it also turned up on Tweeter and anything else anyone happens to have as well?
The simplest way I can visualize it would maybe be FriendFeed is like a cow’s udder, where the milk (post or writing) goes to the teats (this cow has more than four) where one teat is Twitter, another is Plaxo, another is digg, etc?
Marie-Dominique D
I was awarded ‘comment of the day’ on another site for this description…
“Twitter reminds me of deranged broken monologues, typically held in front of a medicine cabinet mirror while fumbling aimlessly for the brain medication.â€
But I’m still Twittering and love it!
Steve Nimmons
Thats the explanation for people who already know what Twitter is, and enjoy spending hours in front of that medicine cabinet mirror.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
I don’t know about every one else but I started using twitter but didn’t know too many friends who used it and i just kind of got bored adding updates that know one else would see. I also find that I just don’t have the time for so many Social Media sites. I use facebook for my social life, Plaxo and Linkedin for business related contacts and groups, I use MSN messenger, Gmail chat, Skype, Myspace sometimes, and then I have to work! I also use delicious and try to read as much as I can online, so I just don’t have time to put updates on twitter – unless I want to be chained to my computer 24/7 and get divorced 
Simon Burgess
Simon,
If you did really want to give it a shot, go to http://twitterpacks.pbwiki.com/ and you can find some like minded individuals who would be glad to follow you back.
Then download something like http://www.naan.net/trac/wiki/TwitterFox or http://www.twhirl.org/ to streamline your twitter experience. Using TwitterFox i never really have to stop working as i can scan quickly and reply even faster.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
Thanks. I’ll try it out but I think it’s interesting from a marketing perspective in that which social media site or network do you go with to reach your target audience? Do you try to cover them all? Is there going to be a fall out from social media when people just get overloaded with options? I gues that these sites need to keep adding new applications that make using them attractive again – I found that I just stopped using facebook for a good few months until they added the instant messaging system. Now, because I can instant message any of my contacts who have it set up I’m on it all the time. Interestingly (and I am in ad sales so I do try and interact with advertising) I have never ever interacted with any advertising on Facebook. I find it banal and completely untargetted and irrelevant to me. They really need to sort that out because it could be such a money spinner
Simon Burgess
I agree that facebooks ads seem to be untargetted still however I wouldnt rule them out for ads. Facebook is now one of the most used websites in the world … it competes with Google for pageviews daily. I think once they get their act together it would be a great advertising medium (thats not to say it isnt already).
Social media sites are already becoming centralized through services like FriendFeed and even Plaxo, and you’ll continue to see this centralization over the next couple of months. That said, don’t rule out any social media network if it seems to contribute some kind of value.
http://www.twitter.com/spazcer
Me
My website www.solutionsabroad.com is aimed at expats looking at moving to Mexico and having relaunched recently we are in the process of developing a social network in our own small way with a community finder where you can find and link with other like minded expats. I certainly believe that social networking is THE major development since search in terms of what it means for marketers/advertisers. Facebook is an amazing opportunity for advertisers, I just hope that (as a user) they start improving their targetting soon
Simon Burgess
Simon, good question. Thats where being part of a group like twitter or plaxo can help. You can ask people which social nets they have tried to get impressions of quality of audience.
Then, next step, join and lurk / observe. Poke around the groups, look at profiles, in all, investing 1 hour to evaluate is a good start – remember, keep an excel spreadsheet with your notes, user names, paswords etc (I also use roboform to rememebr passwords for me).
Belonging to up to 4 should be enough, more than that becomes difficult to manage without an aggregator – there are some early attempts to create profile aggregators but the jury is still out, but the good news is that soon, someone will get it right and make it possible to join and participate in many more.
But, your social media strategy should not stop there, it should also include other tools and services such as bookmarking, commenting, and articles
Allan Sabo
Twitter opened new horizons, make me meet new people, from new friendships and got me my new job. Good enough reasons to be on it I think?
Marloes Lammers
It may appear to be a waste of time, and can certainly become one. However, if/when used properly it can create new connections that lead to profitable relationships. After 1 month, I had created over 200 followers and created a number of valuable connections. Click on the “FOLLOW†beneath my photo on the Twitter link below and see what happens!
www.twitter.com/markgilbert
Mark Gilbert