I really like Twitter. I joined in as an experiment, but I’ve found two benefits that aren’t mentioned that often (if at all) so I thought I’d share them.
Yes it’s easy to send out a message and yes it’s easy to keep my interest with such a short message, but there’s more to it than that. As ever, all your comments and thoughts are welcome too.
Twitter Benefit 1 – To Learn
Do you realise that you can learn using Twitter? It’s free and it doesn’t take long.
When I started to use Twitter I had no idea that choosing people to follow could be so rewarding.
If you choose people who have something to share that you want to know about, then you can learn – a lot! For example, I started to follow a few expert bloggers and wow have I learned a lot – in a really short time. Although putting it into practice and taking action is another story…
Of course the knowledge isn’t usually in the Tweets, it’s in the people and looking at their profiles, following the links they recommend and reading their blogs and websites.
So, find people to follow that know what you want to know – and you’ll learn from them.
Twitter Benefit 2 – No More Home-Alone Working
Working from home can be isolating. Being online with Twitter means you can have a ‘coffee break’ and connect with colleagues worldwide.
I work from home and although I do visit client sites, meet people, attend networking events and I’m not housebound, I spend most of my working hours alone, at home. That can be very isolating – and the scary thing is that sometimes I don’t even realise how long it is since I’ve connected with someone else. (talking to the dog – and waiting for a reply – is a sign!)
When I make a cup of tea or take a break, I can share a joke, pass on some info and find out who else is online and what they’re doing – without being interrupted and that’s the key for me. Twitter’s there for me to join in when I want to – not when someone else is interrupting me.
It’s not the same as meeting at the coffee machine – but then it’s not a bad compromise and I can walk away whenever I want without being rude.
So, if you work at home a lot, join in with Twitter and no more isolation. Follow dawnbwriter (that’s me).
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I agree with your second point Dawn. Its a good way of managing your interruptions – BUT it can get addictive – you can feel you are missing out if you don’t keep up with what everyone is tweeting about, so can become another ‘job’ to do.
The key is careful balancing of your time and exposure on Twitter and that is the problem for employers – they can’t control how long their staff spend on social media in work time.
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