Twitter is all over the news, from technology publications to recruiting webinars. Here is a the blurb from the Twitter website: Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
So after hearing all the hoopla and receiving enough invitations from friends, I decided to take the plunge and create an account. Suddenly, I found myself "following" and "being followed" through a world of trivial details and mundane occurrences. Unfortunately, in this virtual world, I died of boredom.
"12:30PM Going to Chili's for lunch."
"2:00PM Changed the kiddo's dirty diaper."
"3:30PM Going to the grocery store to pick up some bananas."
Are you kidding me? Who has the time or the interest to regularly update one's Twitter account with these kind of details? Perhaps I'm just self-absorbed or perhaps I'd just rather write a boring blog posting than write about what I had for breakfast, but it doesn't make any sense to me that people actually use this service.
From the perspective of a recruiting tool, I could see a recruiter publishing the different searches they are working on and having their horde of "followers" submit resumes and make referrals. But that begs the question - are the top-notch candidates regularly taking time out of their day to jump on Twitter and participate in this senseless exchange of triviality?
If you're getting some good use out of Twitter, please share your comments. I'd love to hear something redeeming about it.
4 comments:
I have been using Twitter for a few months now and it is incredible for me for networking and to do a core part of my job - research. I have made a ton of new connections that are not on my LinkedIn network and we share all kinds of info.
You need to follow the right people. If you're doing nothing but reading about people's lunches - that's not going to work. I have a few people I follow for fun, alot of people I follow professionally - like fellow bloggers at FistfulOfTalent, sourcing peers, industry vendors (like David Manaster), etc. I also follow a bunch of techies and right now I get my info quicker from Twitter than from my Reader. And the ability to connect with international peers is amazing.
I've also figured out how to locate people/job titles on the site - it's nice that the Twitter bios call for that info and usually ask for a website from the member so you have another way to dig even further for them.
But - here's a question - would I use Twitter if I didn't have an api like Twhirl? Probably not - that's why I'm semi-resistant to Plurk. I like having Twitter on in the background - I don't need it owning my p.c.
Want to chat more? Find me at www.twitter.com/sourcerkelly
Have a good one-
Kelly
I think it is a joke! But than again, way back in the 80's when I bought my first Radioshack Tandy TRS 80 computer, everybody else thought I was nuts. They are proven to be right! So one day I will use twitter or plurk or whatever it is called.
Jos
Hi Bill,
Must chime in here, because I've enjoyed Twitter. (I'm "mediastory" on Twitter.)
As Kelly said, it really does depend on who you follow.
I like having the New York Times on Twitter - they post stories as they come in.
In addition I built my website/blog using Wordpress, and have since benefited from the comments of Chris Brogan (he's on Twitter, also his site chrisbrogan.com) and others who share great information about the social media.
My business is Media Training, and I frequently work with PR folks and their clients. The PR people enjoy "tweeting" about their projects and their opinions.
And then there's the trivia -- yes, it's a distraction, sometimes welcome, sometimes not!
Cynthia
I didn't know what to make of Twitter at first, but I am starting to see its value statement. Here's why. One friend, an active user of Twitter, enabled a non-profit blood bank to get donations.
Second, I am a public relations guy, and I monitor the comments of the writers that I am linked in to with this service.
So, if you can see from the viewpoint as a promotional tool and a research application then it's a great tool.
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