Design Rangers Camp Blog

Design Rangers has the pleasure of posting this article written for us by Tammy Oler – our dear friend and awesome wordslinging partner. Enjoy!

Twitter for the People!

My last post on Twitter focused on how organizations can use micro-blogging to develop customer relationships and build communities, but what about individuals?  What can people possibly get out of a social network limited to 140 characters? And why bother with it if you’ve already got a Facebook account?

The distinction between Twitter and Facebook is a useful one. On Facebook, your objective is to find your friends and share with them.  On Twitter, you find people to “follow” and you cultivate “followers.” Facebook is primarily a social tool that focuses on reaching out to people you already know.  Twitter, on the other hand, is a tool for finding and communicating with people well beyond your circle of friends.  Because of that, Twitter is a very powerful tool for social networking, talking with people who share your professional or personal interests, and getting real-time news and resources.

But a lot of folks never make it past their first experience with the Twitter. Tweeting feels pointless or narcissistic — or both!  Most people don’t know what to expect, what they can accomplish, or how they can use the tool.

So until there’s a new Dale Carnegie training course on how to use Twitter to win friends and influence people, I’ve decided to share three ways you can use and enjoy Twitter.  It DOES require time and energy, but it can totally be worth it.

You can:

Connect with people in your field and find people who share your interests.  Twitter is a dynamite way to find and follow people who share your professional or personal interests.  Do a Twitter search to find people who tweet about your interests, or check out who other people are following.

Share knowledge. Twitter is great way to find tips and links to resources.  You can ask your followers questions and get feedback and advice – right away.  Post your own tips and links to articles, blogs and resources. This is an excellent way to position yourself as a specialist or a leader in your field, and essential for freelancers and consultants. Make sure to retweet valuable information and posts from other people!  I also like to use Twitter to curate the Internet for me: I follow smart people in different fields to take advantage of their expertise and read their links.

Get real-time news. Twitter has become the first choice for many people looking for breaking news online.  It’s also fueling citizen journalism.  If you’re looking for eyewitness accounts of anything, check Twitter first.

Promote yourself. If you’ve got something to market, you can do it on Twitter.   Just don’t go overboard!  Too much self-promotion, and your followers will disappear pretty quickly.  And make sure to balance your self-promotion with interesting and valuable tweets to keep and build followers.

Talk to people! Yes, have fun!  This IS social networking, after all.

Above all else, think about what you’d like to get out of Twitter when you start using it.  It’s not intuitive, and it’s not necessarily easy.  But if you’re looking for another way to increase your network, expand your knowledge, and share good stuff with the universe, Twitter is a great tool.

Tammy Oler is a freelance wordslinger, consultant and member of the Design Rangers Auxiliary in Brooklyn, NY.  Follow her on Twitter here.