Happy birthday Twitter. Why do we tweet?
Twitter is eight tomorrow. Its my favourite form of social media because it is, ad products aside, truly democratic and social. In the last week or so I asked my network to share favourite moments from Twitter in recent years, and reasons for tweeting.
I should have known that the response would be enthusiastic and noisy. It included business development, connecting and conversation, job hunting, news, research and much more.
I've included a selection of the responses below. Thanks to everyone that joined in the conversation and apologies if I have omitted your response.
If you don't use Twitter there'll almost certainly be a reason that you should based on these responses. In fact you might want to print out this web page and share it with Twitter deniers.
Em Murphy-Wearmouth's tweet is one of my favourite ever.
Twitter has 200 million active users, or thereabouts. It has a market capitalisation of around $30 billion but let's not forget it has still to make a profit (net loss of $511 million Q4 2013) and continues to build an ad-funded business model.
We'll find out in the next eight years whether its successful. In the meantime happy birthday Twitter.
Your best bits
@wadds best bit was moving to Oz and integrating quickly to my industry entirely because of twitter. Oh and finding husband.
— Em Murphy-Wearmouth (@EmVicW) March 14, 2014
@wadds My most fascinating experience was the live tweeting during the Raoul Moat standoff in Rothbury. Breaking news had changed!!! — Angela Carrington (@thisisthebigpic) March 14, 2014
@wadds How it helped connect people following Boston Marathan bombing. Worst: Lord McAlpine rumours. Use it for all sorts, incl fundraising — Sarah Hall (@Hallmeister) March 14, 2014
@wadds Lord McAlpine ref: moment that represented threat to an innocent man but also to thousands who had no idea they were breaking the law — Sarah Hall (@Hallmeister) March 14, 2014
@wadds Faves: Olympics ceremony, funny #tag games, Arab Spring, save 6music, getting a job via Twitter, Giggs scandal, @danbarker goes viral — Adam Cranfield (@adamcranfield) March 14, 2014
@wadds It was that time that @EamonnHolmes told me to piss off. — markpinsent (@markpinsent) March 14, 2014
#1 Conversation
@wadds I run Teawitter a teaparty for people on twitter. It's a really great tweet up, great atmosphere helped by copius amounts of cake! — Trix Regis (@Beks78) March 16, 2014
@wadds It's my primary means of keeping up to date, and of discovery. Odd to think I'd never have met many people/gone to places without it. — Sharon O'Dea (@sharonodea) March 14, 2014
@wadds twitter has introduced me to so many people in#northumberland since moving here and my new life here is because of those connections — PootleNorthumberland (@PootleNorth) March 14, 2014
#2 Business development
@wadds Dipped my toe in the water in 2009 for fun. Quickly had recommendations so kept going. It gave @ProfImages a MASSIVE boost. #loveit — Simon Apps (@simonapps) March 14, 2014
@wadds I use to promote our business & communicate a bit more of my personality than LinkedIn etiquette allows - I could do better though? — Paul Barron (@PaulBarronEO) March 16, 2014
@wadds Business-wise, I truly build my business on Twitter. Can't imagine life without it now :-) — Angela Carrington (@thisisthebigpic) March 14, 2014
#3 Job hunting
@wadds so far, Twitter landed me two jobs, some true friends and countless good connections in three cities and two continents #twitterbday — Serena Mariani (@social_serena) March 14, 2014
#4 Building networks
@wadds For me it's opened up undreamed-of opportunities to connect with people. I'd say it's the most powerful networking tool in the world! — Damian Corbet (@Damian_Corbet) March 14, 2014
@wadds News. Networking (both for work & play). Finding out about random stuff. Eg people's opinions/'reviews' of opera I went to last night — Sarra Mander (@SarraMander) March 14, 2014
@wadds best bit of twitter: getting to know and building relationships with people may never meet; some lead to biz — Northern Lights PR (@nlightspr) March 14, 2014
@wadds I love Twitter because it's much faster-paced than other social networks. Also very useful for finding people, news and information. — Matt Reilly (@_MattReilly) March 14, 2014
@wadds @AsifChoudry To learn and to network - because in-person events are hard to get to and never have this reach. — Clare Haynes (@WildfireSpark) March 16, 2014
@wadds before I joined my colleague said, "Facebook makes you dislike the people you know, and Twitter makes you like people you don't know" — Alicia Custis (@AliciaCustis) March 16, 2014
@wadds serendipitous content, niche insight, community building + borderless comms — Scott Guthrie (@sabguthrie) March 16, 2014
#5 Information sharing
@wadds Warning and informing - and helping public have their say on our service - http://t.co/M5EhOWrpam has lots of our examples :-) — Sam Thomas (@samontheweb) March 16, 2014
@wadds professionally: to help us get important info to people quickly & as a result, support / deliver the work of our organisation. — Bridget Aherne (@BridgetAherne) March 16, 2014
#6 News
@wadds it's the ultimate instant news feed. People talk about the mood of the nation, well you get the world's view on topics in a click — Craig Noonan (@cwjnoonan) March 16, 2014
@wadds I use it to keep up to date with the news. — Viv Butcher (@supermammio) March 16, 2014
#7 Listening
@wadds I use it mainly as a listening tool - it's an echo chamber for marketers, journos and techies in the Czech Republic. — Honza Felt (@honzafelt) March 14, 2014
@wadds it's like all the Sunday papers every day, updated instantly and with added reactions to all the opinions. — Tim LeRoy (@Timleroyis) March 16, 2014
#8 Learning and development
@wadds professional development. I get access to a great reading list curated by the people I follow. — Chloe Ingram (@chloeingram) March 14, 2014
@wadds when there's little money for travel or conferences it's vital in sharing best practice & connecting esp in far away Northumberland. — Ross Wigham (@RossWigham) March 16, 2014
@wadds being able to learn from peers from all over the world, as well as stay abreast of developments in my sector and breaking news. — Debra Daglish (@debradaglish) March 16, 2014
@wadds Personally I love the amazing random stuff and interesting people. Professionally I value the sharing of ideas and best practice. — Seashell Comms (@i_seashell) March 16, 2014
#9 Research
@wadds research primarily; but also news, networking/ connecting and procrastinating (like now when I should be writing PhD!) — sarah williams (@sasbongo) March 16, 2014
@wadds it's my no. 1 research tool #madforthehashtag — Claire Burroughs (@BurroughsClaire) March 16, 2014
#10 Sport
@wadds and… The live football results updates run 15sec ahead of BBC, which gives me an unquantifiable advantage — Phil Stewart (@i15minutes) March 14, 2014
@wadds networking, building personal brand and newcastle untied banter. — Steve Cole (@schtevey) March 14, 2014
@wadds connects me to fellow football fans and updates me on all information to do with @AFCWimbledon , couldn't imagine life without it lol — Dons (@WimbledonFanz) March 16, 2014
#11 Brainstorming
@wadds Love it for quick & dirty opinion polls, brainstorming ideas with followers, and getting inspiration from others
— Sallie Bale (@secretivesallie) March 16, 2014
#12 Organisational communication
@wadds In the right hands, it's opened up a new, direct channels between companies and their customers. @btcare @virgintrains examples.
— Robert Gage (@Welsh_Wings) March 14, 2014
