Twitter Benefits

 

Tell me what you’re doing in 140 characters or less. Is this a challenging question? Well, people are answering it every day (sometimes multiple times in a day) because of Twitter.  

When I first heard about this social networking gadget, I thought it was silly. People sit at their computers letting the world know how they feel, what they’re wearing and whatever else they think is important. Who cares? 

Then, it hit me. We’re always taught to write simple sentences in our journalism courses. What’s better than using this tool to send people the latest news in one or two sentences? No one cares about the fluff; your audience wants to know the core of every message and move on with their day. This is an interesting alternative to getting news compared to what I origionally thought.

Nedra Weinreich also made a great point in her “Twitter for Health” blog that non-profits can use Twitter to benefit others. The site quickly gets messages out to the public to provide motivational support, respond to disasters, publish information, etc. An example of this is when the Los Angeles Fire Department used Twitter to post news about the October 2007 California wildfires.    

I guess it’s time to stop thinking this social networking tool is a joke and embrace it for the quick information people can receive. I hear it’s also fun to play with. I just joined (follow me @jvoth1).