5 Reasons I Love Twitter
Posted by Melissa Wiley in Reviews on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 10:00 AM
1) Speed and Ease.
It’s the fastest, easiest way I’ve found to jot down the funny things my kids say, the delicious moments that flit past so quickly: the things I want to remember forever—but won’t, if I don’t record them. I used to use little slips of paper stuck to the fridge, or notebooks that were never at hand when I needed them. A friend recently referred to these home-life tweets as “the art of Twitter-as-time-capsule” and that’s exactly it.
I do try periodically to scoop up these kid-quips I’ve chronicled at Twitter and deposit them in a more permanent archive. For me, that’s my blog, but a Word doc would work just as well. But I like Twitter’s interface best for the immediate jotting-down.
2) Answers.
When I have a question, I can get immediate feedback from real live people. Search engines are great, but there’s nothing like being able to converse with an actual person with expertise on the subject at hand. When I tweeted the question above, with a link to a recipe I’d found via Google, I got a reply from a bona fide expert on Indian cooking, the author of several well-known cookbooks. She was, needless to say, a gold mine of information. So there you go: Twitter is making me a better cook.
Wondering what kind of cough medicine actually works? Are you standing in the library looking at a row of audiobooks, wondering which one might hold your kids’ interest on tomorrow’s road trip? Twitter makes it possible to pose your questions to a panel of experts—on just about any topic—who are eager to share what they know.
3) Real People.
Direct interaction with businesses—again, with REAL LIVE PEOPLE, not automated voice recognition systems that make you press numbers on your phone until you want to scream. I once tweeted a gripe about a mistake I made with a Lands End order—my mistake, not theirs. Within minutes I was surprised by a helpful and polite response from a Lands End rep who had noticed my tweet. That’s impressive customer service.
Of course, not every business is going to respond impressively, or with grace, as we witnessed in the recent kerfuffle between filmmaker Kevin Smith, who was treated with outrageous discourtesy by Southwest Airlines. He tweeted the tale as it unfolded, and Southwest responded with a defensive blog post (snarkily titled “Not So Silent Bob” in reference to Smith’s famously laconic movie character). So much for “the customer is always right.” The airline wound up with egg on its face—and hopefully learned a lesson from the appalled roar that resounded from a vast Twitter audience.
4) Dialogue and Connection.
Every Tuesday night, children’s book writers, illustrators, agents, and editors from all over the world meet up on Twitter to discuss publishing-related topics. I may not be able to attend conferences and workshops at this busy season of my life, with children ages 1 to 14, but thanks to social media I can still be engaged and connected, part of the ongoing dialogue about books and publishing.
Actor and writer Wil Wheaton recently described “how Twitter fundamentally changed [his] world, and how grateful [he is] for that.” Because Twitter allows him to communicate directly with the thousands of people who follow him, he has been able to share news of upcoming books and other endeavors, resulting in sold-out shows and higher book sales. Wheaton is quick to point out that his success isn’t about Twitter-as-marketing-tool; it’s about the way social media has allowed him to directly connect with people interested in his work. Those connections have made a tangible difference in his life.
5) A Real Difference.
We saw with the Haiti earthquake, and now the Chile earthquake, that Twitter can be a powerful conduit for humanitarian efforts. Tweets from Haiti helped the world know exactly where and how to direct relief and rescue efforts. After the 2009 Iranian Presidential elections, protesters turned to Twitter to coordinate demonstrations and to spread worldwide their concerns about election fraud — earning the protests the nickname “the Twitter Revolution.” Far from being an echo chamber filled with idle chatter, Twitter has become an important vehicle for communication about matters of life and death.
Next up: how to make Twitter a blessing, not a blur
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