Twitter Bug

These days, Twitter seems to be all the rage. I, being somewhat of a love it or leave it kind of person, first messed around with Twitter when it first launched. I work for an interactive marketing agency, so when Twitter began to gain some hype, it was a company-wide assignment to "get on Twitter!" I made an account and explored a little bit, but found the site to have absolutely no purpose. None of my friends were on Twitter, and I really don't like to update people about what I'm doing every second of the day... essentially what the entire concept of the website is. Remember, though, that this is when Twitter first launched, and not many people/companies/brands were using it. I stayed on the site for oh, I don't know, max 15 minutes, signed off and never returned again.

A few days ago, Twitter was brought up in my Marketing on the Internet class. I listened to the rave reviews it was getting from my classmates and professor, and was utterly baffled. I just didn't understand it! In my experience, Twitter was simply another stalking tool for the obsessive compulsive, who need to know what complete strangers are doing on a daily basis. Did I miss something? Did something change? Were we even talking about the same website?! I hopped on the Internet right then and there to have another look. I had to know what was going on.

But nothing had changed. It looked and functioned exactly the same as it did many, many months (maybe even years?) ago. By now I was getting angry. I hate being left out of the loop. So, I spoke up, and frankly asked my peers, "What is the big deal?! I just don't get it." Thankfully at this point, some others were clearly thinking the same thing, as a few "I don't knows" and "good questions" whispered around the room.

What I learned was that Twitter, for most, is not for keeping tabs on your friends. It isn't for stalking other people, and it certainly isn't only for the obsessive compulsive. I now know that Twitter is (at least for my friends and peers) the quickest and best way to get updates on your favorite brands, products services and companies. They update their status daily, if not multiple times a day, to update customers or fans of recent news, upcoming sales or discounts, or any other announcements they want to broadcast to consumers.

Of course, as soon as I learned this, I went to the search box and became a follower of US Airways and Continental Airlines, some of my favorite clothing, shoe and handbag retail stores, Blackberry, Apple, and duh...Uconn Huskies athletics. Now? I can't get enough of Twitter. The constant updates are awesome, and go right to my phone. I think when I first got on Twitter, there weren't too many other people using the site yet. It had some growing to do, and the creators needed to convince people of its purpose. Now, it has attracted people who see the potential it has, and has developed into a very successful social networking tool.