Twitter Marketing

Twitter is one of the many free social media platforms open to the public along with Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and various others. What sets Twitter apart is it’s shortened style of posts only allowing for 280 characters and a maximum of 4 pictures per tweet. This gives Twitter a fast-paced feel allowing users to be engaged whenever and wherever they are at. It also gives users the opportunity to participate in Twitter sanctioned events like live tweeting or getting involved using hashtags correlating to any number of things. McDonald compares it to “listening to all talk radio stations and all cable TV stations at the same time.” Twitter has so much information flowing all at once and it can be hard to keep track of it all if you don’t pay close attention.

Twitter can be a good thing for sharing news stories, getting a point across, pop culture references but it can also be very dangerous. There are no filters as to what can be put on what gets tweeted. This can lead to fake stories being shared, biases being spread and even as far as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has been a big issue within the Twitter community and the biggest issue is there is no way to monitor it all. The same goes for fake articles or tweets intended to be entertaining but coming off wrong and mistakenly upsetting someone or sharing false information. There’s no way to prevent it all but if users become more aware of what is being said and monitoring what they say, it can prevent any wrongdoings on your part. I am very conscious of things I put on Twitter for a variety of reasons like employers, friends, family and I’m not saying I would post anything explicit or obscene but it’s just a matter of being conscious of posting senseless stuff and hurting someone and having no idea. ‘

There are many pros and cons to Twitter and like McDonald says, you need to weigh those options before you decide if it is right for you or not. One of the biggest advantages to Twitter is you can pick what you see. You can follow as freely as you would like (unless the account is private) and you can shape your Twitter to how you want it to be. Twitter even gives options on promoted posts so if you like those ads (I’m not sure who enjoys ads but to each their own) you can keep them or even ask for more. But, they also give you the option to see less promoted posts such as ads, so it minimizes the amount on your feed.

Overall, Twitter can be a great tool for work or just for social purposes as long as it’s used correctly. Twitter was intended for a fast-access update source for friends, co-workers, public influencers and just a way to connect with others from all around the world.