Keyword Strategies | SEO Top Keywords

How Does Twitter work for you?

I asked the few Twitter followers I have this question ON Twitter but didn't get many responses. I'm not sure if that's because I haven't been on it for very long or because no response confirms one of my thoughts that I'm about to share with you.

I asked them what their thoughts are about Twitter--with respect to their businesses, personal life, or search engine optimization etc. Or, if they {or you} think celebrities or the famous who need millions of followers drive it and will sustain it. I actually didn't phrase it like that because I didn't have enough space but that's what I was thinking.

Last year when someone asked me why I wasn't on Twitter, I answered that I didn't really think it was for me but rather for those posting random thoughts, rhetorical questions---perfect for politicians, celebrities or narcissists who really can accomplish a few things. They stay in touch with their fans, (customers?) and can get their message out without committing to much with only 140 characters to respond. Frankly, once you follow someone and are seeing only one-side of a post or thread, it's mind-boggling to me. How to respond to a question without the context of other participants, their responses? Who am I joining? Remember when chat room and mail lists first came out. That's really all I can compare it to but at least I knew who was who and what I was participating in. I'm just saying.

Is twittering conversing? Do business people collaborate? I see this at times where some are trying to converse by posting 3 or 4 related tweets in a row but I got lost in the shuffle.

I'm finding a mix of difference scenarios. I follow a dozen or so political comedians and celebrities, businesses and SEOs in my field and a few others.

The well-known and famous are telling us where they are, what they're doing, sharing random thoughts, anecdotes, quotes and sending us pics of their latest experience. I would imagine that others are doing the same but I don't know because if I don't care what the famous are doing, I certainly don't care what strangers are doing. (And for those I know, I choose to hear from and speak to them.) And yet others are posting with certain followers in mind and many of the business people are posting updates and the latest news.

OK, so it's real time. But what is so urgent that I need an immediate response to? This makes sense for businesses, collaborators, stock buyers and sellers. I do like the news updates but aren't these coming from news sites that people have tweeted or retweeted that I most probably have in my google reader anyway?

I've heard some say they love how they can gain knowledge so quickly about so many different topics of interest. Well, sure. But I have to say it's not much longer to go to my search engine of choice where I can laser-target my searches so I know once I click on a link it's going to be fairly close to what I'm looking for. Usually, it's exactly what I want. I'm also starting to see a lot of duplicates of news and retweets that I'm having to filter through.

I've also heard others say that once you make connections and gain trust, you can market and gain business. I wonder who's actually seeing this. Are you?

Frankly, I do think the whole thing is a gas and a lot of fun but I'm very curious what others think about the big Twitter picture. How long will it last--? Where do you think Twitter will be in 10 years? This, by no means, is a post to get down on Twitter. I just have many Twitter questions. Who knows. All I know is that at 50 million tweets a day, it's pretty powerful and probably not changing anytime soon. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.