Twitter: The Art of Micro-Blogging
May 30th, 2008 by Dan Sauter 
Twitter. You’ve probably heard the name before, perhaps you’ve heard a little bit about it, maybe you’ve even checked out the website. But you may still be somewhat confused as to what Twitter is, and more importantly, how it is used. Well, we’re here to give you a briefing, and show you how the service is a powerful tool to enhance your online identity and expand your connections. Take note, registering and participating on Twitter may be the easiest and most beneficial thing you can do: and it just takes a few minutes each day. We’ve had fun with our dynamIt Twitter so far, and we hope we can show you why you’ll want to join the party too.
What is it?
Twitter is a micro-blogging social network that seeks to connect friends, colleagues, and strangers through user’s updates. The only restriction? Updates must be 140 characters and under. This is a drastic departure from blogging, in which writers can ramble on for pages and pages. On Twitter, however, participants are forced to shrink their information. Updates must be concise, to the point, and they must create some sort of emotion or activity in just 140 characters.
Twitter is a diverse community. While the service may still be populated by everyday users giving constant updates on their mundane activities, there is a growing movement by companies and organizations that are starting to use Twitter. Powerhouse players and Fortune 500 companies have hopped on the Twitter train, and their reasons for involvement are numerous. Here’s a sampling:
JetBlue - The airline uses Twitter to keep passengers updated on major delays, and to keep followers aware of the companies newest promotions and offerings.
Sure, JetBlue could only rely on their website to update travelers - in fact, both delays and company news are posted there, but the company sums it up best in a May 9th update:
“Twitter matters because our customers matter. Brevity enforces honesty, and honesty breeds loyalty. The market IS a conversation”.
JetBlue realizes that by taking small steps to keep fans updated on Twitter each day, they are creating a following, and they are breeding a corporate culture of openness and honesty which will only result in positive benefits and an increased dedication to the airline.
Zappos - The internet shoe giant’s CEO Tony Hsieh regularly “tweets” for the company. His updates are more personal and often delve into his personal state.
A May 26th update reads:
“Just finished a long meeting that lasted 7 hours… Went through 7 cans of red bull and 7 slim jims today — That’s a new record for me! :)”.
What’s the point of this? Simple: It builds brand loyalty. How? It brings customers closer to Tony, and builds a culture in which the customer begins to feel like they know CEO’s and workers on a personal level. People buy from who they know, and who they trust. Tony understands this, and he has begun to try and spread Twitter to others in the industry.
On May 27th, Tony writes:
“Trying to convince Skechers president to join twitter. He wants to know if there are any Skechers fans out there.”
Later that night, Tony updates:
“Skechers president says first 10 people to show up in Manhattan Beach Skechers store before 830 PM and say “zappos” get 1 pair of free.”
How did the Twitter test go? Success:
“Skechers president impressed by twitter, gave away first 9 pairs of shoes in Manhattan Beach store in 30 minutes. He is going to sign up!”
Tony’s Zappos Twitter is followed by 6,534 people (as of May 30th). This is a huge audience, and since Twitter users tend to be active and constantly checking their activity streams, one simple update has great potential to create activity. In this case, it sent a flood of Twitter users and Skechers fans to gobble up free shoes.
On a smaller scale, in local markets, organizations are taking advantage of Twitter to stay connected. A perfect example? The Columbus, Ohio news market. In recent years, newspaper and television groups have branched off from their traditional formats to offer online news and updates. But now, even this format can become time-sensitive as stories break in real time. So now they ask themselves, what is the fastest way to deliver up to the date, in seconds, news? Twitter, of course. A sampling of the news industries activity on Twitter, in the Columbus market:
NBC4 Television recently introduced the service, saying:
“There is a never-ending amount of news in Central Ohio and no way that we can be everywhere as it happens. NBC 4 Now will allow us to tell you about things that we would not necessarily put in a newscast or on nbc4i.com.”
In addition to a corporate Twitter, numerous reporters and broadcasters also use the site to allow followers to peek in on stories they are working on, and to be alerted when their favorite broadcasters are out of town following stories.
Columbus Dispatch- The Columbus newspaper, with 141 followers, uses Twitter to post news stories as they break throughout the day.
The Lantern- Ohio State University’s newspaper, The Lantern, utilizes Twitter to keep students and interested readers posted on happenings at the nation’s largest university. It mainly links to its own new site and the university’s main web page in an effort to keep followers connected.
Why it works?
Twitter works because although it is different, it is still familiar and simple enough. Let me explain. Here’s one way of thinking about Twitter’s service: it’s just an organized list of your friend’s Facebook status notifications. Why then, does Twitter need to exist, and why does it work? Think about it: YouTube and Craigslist still thrive, even as Facebook offer similar services in their videos and marketplace applications. Perhaps people need dedicated sites and services for some things? Perhaps they don’t want to have a one-stop-shop website? Think about it…. In theory, an average internet user could really get by having accounts on one or two websites: say Facebook and Google. Facebook would allow them to connect with friends, share updates, share pictures, share videos, and play games. Google, on the other hand, would take care of all their other needs – Search , Shopping, Mail , and Maps . With this being said, do internet users spend the majority of their time on one or two sites and only have a few accounts? Of course not. They naturally migrate to new websites that offer slightly different, yet familiar services. Trends show that people who began their social networking on Myspace are slowly expanding to new, fresh services like Facebook. And people who once only relied on Hotmail are prone to switch over to the cleaner, more organized interface of Gmail.
Twitter isn’t revolutionary, but it’s taken the best of blogging and Facebook notifications and blended them together into something unique, useful, and just plain fun. And, by placing limits on the length of updates, it has changed the game and forced users to be creative, quick, and concise in their postings. This creates a heavy stream of activity, and encourages users to both actively follow Twitter streams and constantly update their own messages to stay atop the pile of their friends streams.
So, now that you know what Twitter is, and how useful it can be, join the party and start Twittering. Join , and don’t forget to follow dynamIt’s Twitter.
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The trip really was an unbelievable experience and something I will remember for the rest of my life.”
to have him on your side (or at least in charge of your financial well-being).