Tweet Tweet

by Don Harkey

Fear is a pretty "heavy" topic, so I thought I'd end the week with something a little on the light side.

Have you used Twitter? If you are reading this blog, you obviously have enough internet "chops" to find and follow a blog. If you are using Twitter, skip to the next paragraph. Twitter is basically a "microblog". People post short updates regularly and publicly. Some post information on what they are doing. Others post jokes. Others put links to useful (or not) websites. You can search the posts (called "tweets") for content or you can choose to follow specific people whose posts you find interesting. It's pretty simple, but the implications are amazing.

Twitter delivers a different and "more pure" level of social networking. Rather than limiting you to a set of "friends" like Facebook, Twitter allows you to interact within a community of people simply looking for information. I've only been on for a week now, and I have already found (or been found by) users who have connected me with video on how to string a guitar (from Rainn Wilson - "Dwight" from "The Office"), lots of information on writing blogs (from bloggers_guide - very useful and helpful), and connected with new resources from the Springfield Business Journal (from deedee_jacobs).

The best part is that it doesn't take a lot of time. Twitter allows you to "tweet" from your phone through a simple text message and the information is easy to access. There isn't all of the bells and whistles associated with Facebook. Sure bells and whistles can be fun, but they can also make that clock move incredibly fast!

I think the most exciting part of Twitter is that I am still finding applications for this new (to me) tool. This is truly a new way for our society to function. It carries lots of benefits and some potential dangers, but it is an extremely powerful tool for anyone who wants to find 3 people to play golf with on a Friday morning or for someone who just needs some advice on how to write a better blog.

Whether you are new or old to Twitter, you can visit my profile and follow me on http://twitter.com/donharkey. Enjoy your weekend! Next week's topic, Nonprofits!