I’ve been a bit of a heel-dragger on this Twitter thing. My mind would rebel, “Aren’t Facebook, LinkedIn and blogging enough already?
I couldn’t wrap my head around how the whole process worked. And what was the deal with tweeting about the burrito you just ate?
So to test the waters, I set up an experiment to see how long it would take to open a Twitter account and send a tweet.
11 minutes – start to finish.
I wanted to give other heel-draggers a boost; to show that if I can venture in these tweet-infested waters, you absolutely, positively, without a doubt, can.
In those 11 minutes, I accomplished the following:
1. Goggled the Twitter site – http://twitter.com/.
2. Created a username and password.
3. Selected several areas of interest (to potentially follow other tweeters).
4. Sent my first tweet. For those who are new to this, tweets are short messages limited to 140 characters.
Why bother with Twitter?
Twitter is a powerful social media tool that allows short bits of information to be sent to large groups of individuals. Those with similar interests can connect, learn from each other, and network.
Here are some examples of how Twitter is being used:
Job searching and networking
Physicians connecting with patients
Disaster alerting and response
News-breaking stories
Diagnostic brainstorming
ER’s broadcasting wait-times
Locating missing children
Dr. Kevin Pho, social media’s leading physician voice, encourages physicians to start using Twitter, but adds some words of caution:
- Do not violate patient confidentiality
- Do not give medical advice
- Keep your content professional – once it’s on the web, it’s there to stay
What I’ve learned in my short toe-dip into Twittering, is that it will take some time and initiative to use it effectively. Yet I see the potential power and usefulness of this real-time, micro-blogging tool.
If you want to get started, my advice is to start now and take a “Twitter-like” approach. Learn a little bit each week, give it a number of months, and see what the benefits are for you.
You may be interested in these posts:
Ways to Leverage Twitter to Expand Your Social Network
Good Luck!
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