Twitter with its 10 million users has been a hot agenda in the media, as the rate of adoption has gone through the roof. Awareness of the microblogging service has undoubtedly reached the masses, but understanding what it does, how it works - from a consumer or business perspective - is perhaps less understood, unless you get stuck in.
I was giving a few friends the Twitter overview recently and realised it wasn't the easiest thing to explain. After much conversation about RT's, follow friday and other Twitter language, I advised my friends just to get stuck in and have a play, which is basically what I did back in December.
Twitter is not hard to use, it's very simple to set up. It's more of the why?, what do I get from it?, that requires some sort of explanation. Although the many different platforms available (TweetDeck, Tweetie etc..) do also add a slice of complexity to the situation. Most brands would inject a considerable amount of investment into explaining how to use their service, but Twitter has thrived from doing the complete opposite.
In my mind, the beauty of Twitter is the discovery element. Not just connecting with like-minded individuals globally, sharing information, thoughts and learning new stuff, but using different applications and tools to create and enhance your own experience. It's nice not to be guided, to be told how to use something, but to have a variety of options and customise your own way to use Twitter. A great example of ceding control to the user in the most purest form.
For those who want to know more about Twitter, there are a trillion websites out there covering it, but this visual representation by Applicant.com (full credit to Ritu) speaks volumes. It looks at how Twitter can be used from a business/brand perspective. Be interesting to see one from a consumer perspective if anyone knows of one?
