Twitter became a public company last week. Share prices rose 73% in one day, from $26 to $45 – at the close of the day the company floated at $31 bn - making overnight billionaires of its owners. But just how useful is it? Can getting it right on twitter have the power to launch your career? Or does it merely reflect our fast food consumption of information and not translate into anything of substance?
Twitter numbers are often used by the media, and seen by record labels, as a benchmark of success. They represent an unrivalled power to share information with millions in seconds. Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber have over 40 MILLION followers a piece. They can reach 40 million mobiles - right now; in your pocket, in your handbag, with one click. Tweets are perfect marketing tools – short, sweet, sharable, personal…
Everything from single releases to break ups, pregnancies to natural disasters are posted up on twitter first. It is at the forefront of news – both trivial and more serious. The Syrian Revolution has a twitter page, as does Pippa Middleton's bottom.
It is unavoidable modern phenomenon. It encapsulates every thing that is wonderful about the Internet – freedom to express opinions, immediate global communication and an easily way of sharing all mediums of information. Of course that also exposes the worst side of human nature. From attention seeking celebrity twitter ‘spats’ to more sinister ‘trolling’ – it highlights just how some people will use being able to anonymously air their views online.
So after you have taken into account the ‘haters’ and trending pictures of cats in pyjamas , is it possible to effectively use twitter to your advantage if you don’t have the platform of 40 million followers? Are you just another sheep bleating to deaf ears? Bob Lefsetz … has argued that ‘Twitter doesn’t build, it (only) enhances those with significant traction.’ Which to a degree is true. The more followers you have the more waves you can create, which in turn generates more followers – that is the nature of hype. But I believe that you can make Twitter very useful - IF YOU USE IT RIGHT. It should be a real CONVERSATION, not just a billboard bombarding people with the next thing that you want them to buy, but an insight into your 'world' and therefore a real interaction.
Twitter is at its most effective when it is seen less as a market place or a way of monetising your 'product' and more as a message board for sharing ideas. Then it can be a very powerful tool for anyone to use.
This feature was written exclusively for Female First by Lydia Baylis.
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