Some call it an on-line social networking site , microblogging or peradventure even public text electronic messaging – it ca n’t be trap down because there ’s really nothing else like it . Twitter is a free elbow room for friends and strangers to send and receive short messages ( 140 character max ) via the Twitter entanglement web site , on a peregrine gimmick or with inst electronic messaging . Users are called " twitterers " and the messages they get off are called " tweets . "
More people are using Twitter than you may think . The most recent stats from Nielsen Online paper Twitter usance grow 1,382 percent from February 2008 to February 2009 , and more than 7 million new U.S. users signed up in February alone [ seed : Ostrow ] . Even with such impressive numbers , Twitter ’s consultation retention charge per unit is at about 40 per centum [ source : Wayne ] .
With such stake in Twitter , it ’s no surprise there are various myths swirling around about it . Who ’s perpetuate them ? The spiritualist , twitterer , maybe even you . We ’re go bad to search at five of the freehanded ones here .
5: Twitter Is Only Status Updates
Of course Twitter is status updates . The very thing it asks of you when you habituate it is , " What are you doing ? " Naturally , most people just suffice that question .
Twitter , however , is what you make it . It is condition updates . It ’s also look for ( Twitter Search ) , photo communion , mashups(a combination of Twitter data with info from another Web site such as a news organisation ) , unfastened API projects ( TwitPic , for photo communion , was one of the first),hashtags(a tag end appended to a tweet that makes it searchable by that shred ) and a marketing tool for celebrities , politicians and business .
Yes , celebrity have a quite a little of followers . But is n’t that reliable outside of Twitter as well ? As of issue , Ashton Kutcher has 2,286,717 followers on Twitter . That ’s more than CNN Breaking News ( 1,866,804 followers ) and Twitter ( 1,485,347 followers ) .
When you sign up for Twitter , anyone can understand your tweet and choose to follow you ( or not ) . If it ’s a circumstances of follower you ’re looking for , you ’ll need to puzzle out for it . Fill out the bio , share photos , use hashtags and keep on tweeting . Tweet about what you love , not what you think your followers need to hear . They ’re following you because they find you interesting , not a fake you . Retweeting(RT ) will also help propagate your name around .
Some Twitter users do n’t apply the instrument this way and prefer to keep their tweets individual . With a private score , you select who may or may not show your tweets ; it ’s sort of a velvet rope you apply to create your own private twitter provender . Who allege a lot of followers is a good matter , anyway ? Should n’t it be quality over amount ?
3: There Is a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Use Twitter
A right way of life or a faulty way to habituate Twitter seems like say there ’s a correct or unseasonable way to have a conversation . There are social rules , yes , but no one can say you how you should or should n’t utilise a production , and with millions of tweets per twenty-four hours , people are rebound to use Twitter any way that works for them .
Take for example following and followers . It ’s not unmannerly if you do n’t learn every tweet your follower post . The more following you have ( one C , thousands ) the more difficult this becomes . It ’s also not rude if you do n’t follow everyone who chooses to follow you . perchance you do , possibly you do n’t – it depends if you regain someone ’s twitter feed interesting or not .
2: Twitter Doesn’t Make any Money
Well , yes , this is actually true , though it ’s not such a sorry matter . How and when will it actually make any money ? Twitter ’s venture capitalist are n’t worried about it yet . To learn the co - founders and investors say it , Twitter ’s emphasis right now is on building an consultation and the revenue streams will come second to that – an " if you build it they will come " ( or " pay " in this lawsuit ) sort of scenario .
And that myth that Twitter will be acquired ? Twitter has had courting party . In 2008 , Facebook expressed interest in acquire Twitter for $ 500 million of its line plus a cash component but was turn down . In 2009 , rumor swirled that Google would acquire Twitter . cobalt - father Biz Stone , however , post on the Twitter web log that the " destination is to build a profitable , independent company and we ’re just getting jump " [ source : Twitter Blog ] .
1: It’s Only Mundane Details
Sure , sometimes you might want to let everyone jazz about how you ’re standing in line to get coffee , but Twitter has become what Time call off a " medium of the movement , " grow as an crucial communication tool and way to quickly internet people and information . Twitter has a few things in its favour to make it so . It ’s devoid and it ’s usable on more than one mobile platform , including the Internet , insistent messaging and SMS . This combining has activate users to go beyond the java talk .
In 2009 , for object lesson , Iranians used Twitter to organize political science protests – and in 2008 , twitterers kept the populace update on the attacks in Mumbai . They did so by create searchable tags , such as the hashtag # Mumbai , on Twitter to get the intelligence out around the world .
Find out more about Twitter on the next page .
