Why I Am On Twitter?

Its been almost 2 months that I have been on Twitter and I already have tweeted 659 times.

Why am I on Twitter when I am already on Facebook and LinkedIn?

1. Twitter is instantaneous information - Any information that you want is on your finger tips. It is faster than text messaging. Use twitter search and you get information that YOU NEED probably faster than Google. There are user scripts also available for this.

2. It lets me focus on my areas of interest - While Facebook and LinkedIn are great Social Networking sites, accessing the information that I need is not an easy job. People who are on Twitter are so passionate that the information shared is valuable and authentic.

3. Great way to be listening to influencing people in Social Media - Twitter lets me "follow" people like Ron Tolido, Evan Williams, Robert Scoble, Tim Oreilly, Guy Kawasaki etc and organizations like Google, Capgemini, Yahoo and Accenture and be updated with what they have to say on a minute by minute basis. I get to learn a lot from people around, not just the guys mentioned about, but also around 125 people that I "follow" on Twitter.

4. Dynamically filter out information that I want at runtime - There are talks about Twitter search being a Google killer. Here is why. Google has indexed contents and any search will pull that information to the surface based on the relevance of the keyword. Twitter, at the same time, relies on what is being talked about the keyword and pulls out a repository of information which was posted even just 10 seconds back. Twitter Search is the way to go.

5. Twitter as a content aggregator - For me, twitter is much more flexible when compared to bookmarking sites and RSS readers. It gives me the option to interact with people whom I have never met (and are not in my "friends" circle). I can make conversations on a particular content with people where as RSS readers let you just aggregate the information and read it.

6. Spread out and be heard - Its said that people meet people through people. I would never even listen to 125 people in less than 2 months and that too people I have not met. For Facebook, LinkedIn and Orkut, the circle stays within the people I know. I am never heard outside the circle and neither do I get to hear from outside my circle. Twitter gives me an audience who are interested in what I talk about and the kind of information I share.

7. Its only 140 characters - You do it quick and short.

8. Multiple desktop clients - Makes it so easy to access twitter. Tweetdeck, AlertThingy and Twhirl to name a few. It helps you with consolidated information instead of having to click all around the web page.

Here is a small video on why and how to use Twitter on a personal level (Courtesy: CommonCraft):



I could give lot more reasons, but I will stick to just one and the last one:

8. Its a party. IT IS FUN!