The Greatness of Twitter

Share this:

twitter-bird-wallpaperMy recent acquaintance with the rapidly growing and truly addictive micro blogging platform, Twitter, has presented me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I have been spending endless time tweeting and reading other people’s tweets. I am learning new things every day, such as the effective use of Hashtags on Twitter, and the various URL shortening services, some of which introduced us to a whole new method of infecting PCs around the world.

What also amazes me is that Twitter really facilitated the birth of an entire industry to support it. From the desktop clients (I have reviewed em all, and will share my conclusions with you in a later post), iPhone apps (in one word, TwitterFon), and plugins, to the stat sites, twitter design tutorials, and user analysis tools, the possibilities are endless, and I am presented with new ones every day.

As I am writing this post, I came across a new and interesting Twitter tool, a Twitter dictionary, or Twittonary. Yes, there is a whole new Twitter language, with words like Tweets, Tweeple, and Tweetaholic becoming mainstream, I really cannot get enough of Twitter.

twittonary-ui

I met a few of the people from my Twitter followers at Mobile Monday last night. I have to say it was a little strange to put a face to all the tweets. Some of my followers have already added me on Facebook after we tweeted back and forth a few times and realized we have a lot in common. I am reading new articles written about the Twitter phenomenon every day, and it seems like the interest in Twitter is only getting greater.

tweetdeck_12seconds_column2

However, Twitter also presents me with a challenge that I have yet to overcome. I am the type of person that likes to share my experiences with others. When I am excited about something, I need to pass it on to friends and family. Whether it is via the blog, my Facebook, email, or just in person. Somehow though, I cannot do that with Twitter. As much as I love it, I cannot relay the genius behind it, to my peers. Every time I try to verbalize how revolutionary Twitter is, I always get the same few answers; “I don’t get it”, or “So basically, it’s a chat room”, or “Why is this such a big deal?”, and of course the answer I get most frequently “So they stole the idea of status updates from Facebook, and this is exciting, why?”

I have tried to pinpoint what is so amazing about it, but have had no success so far. I wrote in my last Twitter post that the ability to follow anyone and not just people you really know, is what separates it from other social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, but as cool as that is, that does not do Twitter justice. I thought maybe it was the ability to get real time news, like we saw in the famous Hudson plane crash, but that too does not seem to impress the people I speak to.

us-air-hudson-full

What ended up happening is that when I am trying to “sell” Twitter to someone, the conversation always ends with me saying “you just have to try it”.  The below video is the closest I have come to finding an explanation that might satisfy some. So I will conclude with a request. If any of my readers can think of a good explanation of what makes Twitter so great, and what caused its numbers to increase 850% in 2008, or to explode with 20,000 new users every day, I would be greatly appreciative. Not only would your suggestions help me explain Twitter to others, it would also help me justify my strong addiction to myself.

-Hillel

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine


Share this:
 

hilzfuld

Hillel Fuld is a global speaker, entrepreneur, journalist, vlogger, and leading startup advisor. He brings over a decade of marketing experience with leading Israeli and Silicon Valley startups, and currently collaborates with many global brands in an official marketing capacity including Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Huawei, and others.      Hillel covers the dynamic local tech scene for many leading publications including Entrepreneur magazine, Inc, TechCrunch, Mashable, The Next Web, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Venturebeat, and others. Additionally, Hillel mentors startups across Israel in different accelerators including The Google Launchpad, the Microsoft Ventures accelerator, Techstars, The Junction, and more.    Hillel has been named Israel’s top marketer, 7th top tech blogger worldwide, has been featured on CNBC, Inc, and was dubbed by Forbes as “The Man Transforming Startup Nation into Scale-up Nation”.       Hillel has hundreds of thousands of followers across the social web and can be found on Twitter at @Hilzfuld. You can learn more about him on his website: www.hilzfuld.com

 

5 thoughts on “The Greatness of Twitter

  1. Great Article! And I can relate.. big time! Here I am.. a Twitter Dictionary and my own family and friends are still yet to be fully convenienced of its true value.

    Being a bit Twitter obsessed myself, I am a bit biased, but I do believe that is such a unique and powerful tool not just for simple connections, but for interaction, business, development growth, and understanding (just look at the people from all over the globe you can connect with in seconds!)- its really an amazing little thing that wields quite a lot of power!

    Glad you are enjoying your time on Twitter. Love your blog here and be sure send me some new Twitter words 🙂

    -L

  2. Thanks for the feedback Twittonary. Love your site, hope you enjoy mine. Bookmark it if you do, check back often, I will be writing a lot about Twitter, as I have fallen in love.

Comments are closed.