Twitter anyone?

Twitwhat????

Yes, that is exactly the reaction I get from most people when I ask "do you Twitter?" So what is twitter and why should you twitter?

The what:

We all know the popularity of social media websites such as Facebook and Myspace. Teenagers and youths "network" with friends predominantly on these sites. www.twitter.com is another such site. There are many more, but this is a fun one to start with.

The why:

These sites (also known as Web 2.0 sites) are no longer just for teenagers. Businesses and career professionals are leveraging the power of these sites to communicate, network, and basically gain visibility. So you should twitter so that you can create visibility for you, your company, your pet projects, etc. etc.

Beware:
Employers are monitoring social networking sites so be very careful about what you post and how you word it. If you are a business owner, again be careful so that you don't alienate potential clients. I know during the elections that I got turned off by many who posted very opinionated content on twitter, they are no longer people I follow.

The how:

Here are three simple steps (with tips) on how to get started:

1. Visit www.twitter.com and create your profile (Tip 1: It's always good to create an ID that will generate visibility for you. So rather than creating a random username, see if you can find one that will brand you).
   
   
2. Send an invite to a friend or associate to ask them to follow you. (Tip 2: This will give you your 1st few followers. Then you can see who they are following or who their followers are)
   
   
3. Once you add a few people, it will become easy for you to find others who you can begin following. (Tip 3: Try to follow people who will also follow you. I believe networking should be a 2 way street.)
   
   
4. Now begin posting messages that give people a glimpse of who you are or what you do (Tip 4: Focus on networking, not selling. Yes, there's a fine line. The ones who post good content are the ones who get good followers).

Finally, Tip 5: Can't find a friend who is on twitter.com yet? Begin by posting a message to @mibazaar & @jenesysgroup and we'll add you. Then you can check out who we follow and add more. That should get you started...As of 10 minutes ago, I'm holding steady at 99 followers so you can be the next one to make it 100 followers for me.

And no, Twitter doesn't pay me to promote them. Catch you all again soon....with something else that is interesting for me to talk and you to hopefully read.