Twitter Is Sustainable

Rebecca Churt asks whether the growth rate of Twitter is sustainable in her post, “Twitter and the Biggest Loser Effect.” Lots of Twitter users join but then quit or don’t do anything with the account.

This reminds me of the buzz around SecondLife? That social media technology flared up and died down again after a while. I think people tried out the technology, and for most the technology required too steep a learning curve to be usable.

Like any technology, you have to know some of the secrets of twitter to get the most out of the technology, here are a few:

1) Use a client. Set up a client like Twirl or Tweetdeck to make it easier to use Twitter, group friends or find topics through search.

2) Engage people. Like most social media technologies, it’s not all about you, but all about the community. Follow people's content, reply to them directly, and retweet their tweets.

3) The basics. Reply is open to the world. Direct message is private chat. Post a picture and a bio to give some color to your account.

4) Search.twitter.com. You can look at the public lifestream (everyone's tweets) or your followers, but for pinpoint those conversations and communities you most want to follow use the twitter search engine.

5) Hashtags. #amaB, #journchat, #prsadi: These are all hashtags used by people when tweeting to pinpoint conversations on twitter around a community or theme: #amaB American Marketing Association in Boston, #journochat conversation about and between journalists; #prsadi, the Public Relations Society of America's Digital Impact show.

I think it takes some time to understand how to use twitter, for example without Search.twitter.com it’s tough to find conversations and community members.

Unlike SecondLife the ramp-up time for Twitter is a lot less, while Twitter will not be for everyone. I think the social media technology really is here to stay.

I’m convinced that Twitter usage will become sustainable. Once you pass the hurdle of the basics, and start using the technology its utility is just too great. 

I also think the technology is a real competitor to Google, why? Well I currently look at search.twitter.com more on a daily basis than Google.com, my search engine of choice; I have a number of searches set up in my Twirl client popping up all day long.

FaceBook and other social media technologies are all adapting their designs to become more twitter-like. Current stats suggest millions more users, an amazing growth rate.

Twitter is revolutionizing social media usage; I think peer use is really what encourages people to learn a new technology.  And the learning curve on Twitter is definitely a lot less than SecondLife .