I read somewhere that with Twitter, people either love it or they don't get it. There are a few brave souls in Missoula on Twitter but we haven't reached the numbers you see in other areas yet.
I didn't "get" Twitter at first but realized I was hooked last week when I sent my husband the following email on our anniversary to get him to check his Twitter account:
I tweeted at you from the Tweetdeck and blipped you some songs :)
So what is Twitter and Why do you Care?
Simply put, Twitter is a Social Networking and a Microblogging tool. It allows you to send status updates - similar to Facebook, and read others status updates - called "Tweets". Tweets can be up to 140 characters and are more "real time" than what you find on Facebook or other Social Networking sites.
According to Wikipedia, "In November 2008, Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester Research estimated that Twitter had 4-5 million users.[2] A February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranks Twitter as the third largest social network (behind Facebook and MySpace), and puts the number of users at roughly 6 million and the number of monthly visitors at 55 million.[3]"
The site Twitter is not overly impressive but they have written the software in a way that others can develop applications to use with Twitter. This is where it gets interesting as there are hundreds, and possibly thousands of application you can use for Twitter - including Tweetdeck, Twitterberry (for Blackberry), Tweetie (for iphones), Twitterific, and Tweetbeep.
A few of my favorites include -
- Tweetdeck (use on your desk top to better organize Twitter)
- Twellowhood (find out who is using Twitter in your area)
It's also helpful to be able to search Twitter at www.search.twitter.com.
Twitter is a great tool to stay in touch with friends, family, business partners, and is also a tool to network with potential clients and others in your industry. It's also a great way to organize Tweet Ups (meetups in Twitterease) and fundraisers. A fundraiser we attended in Seattle was Twestival that raised $3787 for Charity Water.
You can follow events or topics if a hash tag # is set up such as #twestival for Twestival and #Rebcsea for RE Bar Camp Seattle.
Twitter is a powerful business tool once you understand it - just ask @Raillife's Nick Bastian, a brilliant marketer who is able to use Twitter to update the community about its new LightRail system, and sell real estate.
Photo: Seattle Twestival - Stacy Harmon, Nick Simonsen, Andy Kaufman, Nick Bastian
Oh, and once last thing, I blipped my husband two songs for our anniversary using Blip.fm where you can be your own DJ and send your Blips across Twitter, but that's another post.
Some of my favorite Missoula Twits:
Clint Miller - Real Estate Client Referrals
Missoula Freecycle
Missoulian
Missoula Sustainable Business Council
Kenny Dow from The Grizzlies
Judy H. Wright - Author, Speaker
Are you in the Missoula Area and on Twitter? If so, post below.
Helpful Posts About Twitter
Tweet It Forward, Building a Twitter Community
How to Use Twitter for Lead Generation
So You Think You're Using Twitter, No You're Not
ActiveRain's Twitter Feature
Kevin and Monica Ray are Missoula Real Estate sales and marketing professionals for Access Realty in beautiful Western Montana. For more information on Western Montana, they can be reached at 406-207-1185 or online at www.YourMT.com.
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Hi Nick - thanks for the Reblog - it's our first one :)
Monica