In the last week, the number of Twitter users in the UK has rose
1000 fold. This is incredible growth, fed by the surprisingly huge amounts of press coverage it has received in all major newspapers, magasines and websites. Fostered by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Russel Brand, Twitter in the UK is set to become huge.
Only last night driving home was the BBC's Radio 1 (with over 5 million listeners) talking about Twitter for a good half hour, joking as to how they should create their own rival site: twatter.com.
Yet what is all the fuss about? This is the one question every journalist asks, and few are able to answer in a satisfactory manner.
Twitter asks it's users one simple question: What are you doing? As you've probably heard over a hundred times, you simply write an update of 140 characters or less, and all your users get the update sent to their Twitter account. So what's the point? No one cares about whether you're eating a baguette, a Big Mac, or clipping your toe nails. But they do care about celebrities doing it. Thanks to UK A-listers joining Twitter (Jonathan Ross is a notable example here, and can be followed
@wossy), a new breed of celebrity culture has been created - the most personal insight we have ever seen.
Never before have fans been able to keep up in real time the whereabouts of their idols, what they're doing, latest news, updates, crises...and whatever else is tweeted across the web. Twitter is basically one big data stream, organised and controlled by
you. It takes some getting used to - learning how to use Twitter to some sort of benefit. At first the attraction is to develop as many followers as possible, it's contageous, telling people all about it and then adding onto the end of the sentence "...add me!"
There are books available dedicated to Twitter, strategies, plans, tactics, what to do and what not to do, it's almost like there is a Twitter etiquette. Yet here is my advice - don't follow people you have no interest in. As the service grows in the UK, I am looking forward to following more of my friends, giving it a more personal touch. But why might I want to cyber stalk anyone or anything? What are the benefits of this data stream?
Well, in two words:
Specialised knowledge. Twitter is great for literally spoon feeding you information that is relevant to your interests. If you're a politics blogger, then you'll be interested in following some of the latest Politicians who have joined Twitter - Barack Obama (
follow Barack) comes to mind here. Or if you're a weatherman, then you'll like to subscribe to the multiple geo-satellite tweets. Yet even if your interests aren't quite as specific, lets say you just like members of this forum, then you can follow quite a few of us including:
BobbySeltzer,
Daniel Becerra,
Tonatiuh8 and
Chikito.
As you've probably also heard, Twitter can be used from the main website
Twitter.com on your computer, or from any 3G service on a mobile phone. With the increasing popularity of iPhones, Blackberry's and other handsets (Nokia are boosting a huge range now with O2, not to forget Google's G1),
micro blogging as it's known is only going to grow. Although whether it's a large or small phase is still to be decided. Currently, I only use Twitter on my PC, and thus my use of it is quite limited. But I'm sure that once an internet enabled wireless device manages to find its way into my palm, I will be tweeting away.
***As I'm sure I would write on my Twitter, "going for lunch now, will finish this bothersome article after this 12" Subway Melt has been devoured."***
Tweeting With Friends
OK, so in truth this is just another form of communication. One where you talk about yourself and your actions. Maybe it's playing on the fact that a lot of us are selfish and like to boast to the world that we're watching the superbowl or pregnant. But when you use Twitter with friends, people you actually know in flesh and blood, it becomes a whole lot different. Rather than being quite a somber activity, suddenly these private jokes fly out of nowhere, and it's rather fun.
"Beefing it up in the gym again...as you can see." Is an adequate example, one that would provide humourous value to only those that know you for being in the gym all the time, and joke about you sitting there watching MTV Dance for the majority of your session. A Tweet at your expense, but one that would maintain interest. Yet for all the other 10,000 followers you may or may not have,
if they read this, it will be of no interest. And this brings me nicely onto the next point...
Decide who you're tweeting to and for, now. Success in Twitter terms is normally associated with the number of followers you have, but actually this means nothing. It really doesn't matter if you have twenty, or 226,000 as Obama has. I recently changed my Twitter policy. And the very fact that I just used the word 'policy' shows how easy it is to get couped up in all this stuff. Anyway, rather than tweeting about global events and my interest in them, simply to satisfy a broader audience, I've changed it to more specific things that happen in my life, for example opinions on Slumdog Millionaire I just watched.
When Tweeting with friends, it becomes more about geographical locations, which although is a dangerous security risk - robbers could know when you're not in - adds a great social opportunity tool. "Checking out Camden Market for some Kanye West sunglasses" would be a tweet, which may be picked up by your follower who might also be in the same place. A quick reply and voila, you have a new social interaction in place.
With no doubt psychologists will be analysing Twitter, trying to figure out some bloody obvious traits, "people convey themselves in a positive manner through their twitter posts". But it does raise a point, you can convey yourself in a certain way. Deep and philosophical, light hearted and kind, dark and humourous, or boring and bland. Although it's not recommended trying to come across as Terminator, or James Bond for you might be seen as a try'Ard, do think about what you write. Because it all honesty, even though Subway Melts might be quite nice, and the fact that the price of Gold has risen to $900 with ESPs is quite interesting, would you really want to feel a vibration in your pocket, and take it out just to read
that?!
No, probably not. Twitter gives everyone a stage to stand up on and perform. You have an audience you can either talk to honestly, or put on a bravado voice with a mask. You can walk in and amongst them, talking directly and hold conversations, or you can talk from a far, standing behind the reading position. You can even whisper in individual ears and give them resources through private messages. These are all choices you make. The stage gives you an opportunity, one that allows you to speak what ever you want, and thus it does give you some power, but as all lecturers will tell you, not everyone listens.
So, will you make your audience laugh, giggle and cheer? Or will you make them ponder the vast philosophical questions of the universe? Perhaps you'll make them cry (a remarkable feat with less than 140 characters), or like the majority of Twitter users, you'll talk about vaguely interesting topics with half thought out arguments. At first the service was used by a group of friends, then bloggers took hold, followed by internet marketers, then businesses and politicians, and now it looks like it's come full circle (in the UK at least) and the youths of the Facebook society are gonna give it some welly.
Oh, I forgot to mention, it's free.
Twitter Hits The UK
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