There’s something scary about social networking. Plenty of people don’t want too much of themselves potentially accessible to everyone in the world. I’m a bit of an exception to this, as I’ve been online since 1999, chronicling my life on my old website and continuing through blogging and microblogging.
It took an excessive amount of urging to get some of my friends and family to join Facebook. After that, they considered themselves to be done. They can connect with the people they need to and that’s that. Twitter? Fuhgeddaboudit.
The idea that Facebook provides all you ever would ever need for social networking is a major misconception. And honestly, one I personally had to overcome. Back when, before my tweeting days, I could not understand why I needed to be on Twitter. It just seemed like totally public Facebook status updates.
I eased into Twitter slowly. As with most online portals, it has its own vocabulary and etiquette. There’s a lot to learn when it comes to Twitter, but it’s worth learning.
Why?
Facebook connects you with people you know to whatever degree. You can still talk to these people on Twitter, but you have a much broader pool of other folks you’ve never met, some of whom are guaranteed to share the same interests as you.
For many years, there have been online forums, with discussions about cars, fashion, celebrities, video games or whatever else. But these are localized and specific. Twitter is a massive forum where you can talk to everyone about anything, getting specific when necessary.
In years past, people would gather around their television sets during important events. They would watch news commentators talk about the JFK assassination, the moon landing and 9/11. With Twitter, you’re right there with the news. As the major wires (Reuters, AP, UPI) are all on Twitter, you’re getting the news while the outlets are. Not only are you getting news as fast as a network, you can also chime in. Instead of watching CNN during the Japanese tsunami/earthquake, royal wedding and Bin Laden killing, millions of tweeters were sharing their opinions, interacting, asking questions, being part of the event.
You can keep your exclusive relationship with Facebook, if you’d like, getting surprised that your high school friends just had a kid or that your old co-worker got divorced, or you can broaden your horizons. Get involved, talk to people around the world about the things you care about. And share yourself with them. Because that’s what Twitter is: a very, very big community.
This post was made for speakUP. The audio version is below.
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Thank you for this article that I’m definitely gonna share. I never understood the power till last month. I’m glad I joined to explore it and understand it!
Hopefully my Twitter posts will be of help.
I am always being asked “I’m on Facebook, why do I need Twitter?” You answer that query perfectly Roni!
Thanks so much. :)
I’ve been trying to get people as excited about Twitter as I’ve been… Just not sure how best to reach the masses.