What is twitter?

I am asked this question often. Most people know I tweet a lot. At work a few weeks ago a discussion was had questioning why I tweet? No one got it.

I tried to explain it. I was confused as to why no one got it.

Then I realised the majority of people are on Facebook and understand that easily, so I broke it down like this:

Facebook: you update your status with something you are doing (or whatever) and then you get half a dozen comments back in reference to your status. You can have a little conversation in that status update space. But most people only update their status daily or weekly and on average the response to your status includes half a dozen comments.

Blogging: I think blogging is an extension of Facebook. You pick a topic (much like your status) and you get to elaborate on this status with paragraphs and photos. Your comments are the same concept as with Facebook.

Twitter: this is your status updated frequently and quickly. The comments you receive are considered ‘replies’ where you can start a mini conversation about that status you updated. So imagine yourself responding to every comment as soon as you received it on Facebook and on your blog. It’s a combination of Facebook and Blogging but is instant, fast and chatty. You aren’t made to feel silly if you update it saying “I ate a banana” like you would if you did this on Facebook.

Twitter allows you to talk to strangers and jump in on any conversation/status update as you please. You can update your status every 10 minutes if you like. I read once that “Facebook is for the friends you went to school with, but Twitter is for the friends you wish you went to school with.”

Another day I will blog about how to get people to follow you on twitter, what hashtags mean and how to find a group of people you can easily chat with about like-minded topics.

Click on the picture to follow me on twitter!