TechMiso

Over this weekend CNN was running one of their “Quick Vote” polls and the question was, “Do you use Twitter?” The overwhelming majority of respondents, approximately 94%, answered either “No” or “What’s Twitter?” compared to the meager 6% who stated they do use the micro-blogging service. The CNN audience reflects the average user, most of whom have no clue what the service is all about. So this begs the question, what benefits can the average user appreciate from using Twitter?

I spend a lot of time fielding questions from family, friends and co-workers on the various newfangled web services that seemingly appear, and disappear, on an almost daily basis. Twitter, while not new to those of us who yearn for the web, seems to be the talk of the town these days, and for a couple of really good reasons.

First there was the Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN fracas, with both accounts fighting to be the first with one million followers. Then there was Oprah, who only a few short days ago interviewed Twitter Co-Founder Evan Williams and then ultimately screamed out in ecstasy as she succumbed to the Twitter phenomenon. Twitter use has been steadily increasing for quite some time but both of these events are helping propel the service in to the mainstream stratosphere.

Average users learning about and seeing celebrities using Twitter helps spread the word about the micro-blogging service. With celebrities like Oprah, Ashton Kutcher, Shaq, Greg Grunberg and others using the service it is no wonder average folks are hearing about Twitter. But the real question is this – are they actually using the service?

As the CNN poll demonstrated, not a lot of average folks have heard of Twitter much less use it. Of those who have heard of Twitter but opt not to use it, I posit most have no idea how to use Twitter; the mainstream is not in tune with the reason why the service is beneficial. Nobody seems to be able to adequately communicate to the average user how to make Twitter a valuable experience.

On the surface it seems people believe Twitter is a service to communicate pointless information to the world – to “blog” about going to the bathroom followed by flushing the toilet followed by washing their hands, etc. There are not going to be a whole lot of folks who find following someone’s bathroom follies the type of information they consider constructive. There is more to Twitter than posting each and every single little thing a person does every second of the day.

What makes Twitter a beneficial service for the average user? First and foremost, because Twitter at its heart is a communication tool, it opens up new avenues for communicating with people. Here are a few quick examples:

• Celebrities. There is no longer a need to hire an expensive press agent who merely types up and formats a press release passed on to the media. Celebrities like Kutcher can simply tweet to their hearts content, easily reaching their audience of fans.
• Companies. Small and large companies alike can leverage Twitter by communicating honestly and openly with their consumer audience. If a company has a need to get information out to users quickly, Twitter is an excellent medium for quickly and virally spreading information.
• Software Authors. If you write software and find blogging or maintaining a web site too daunting then try using Twitter to communicating vital information about your product to its users. Release a new update fixing a huge security vulnerability? Post that information on Twitter to reach your audience in record time.
• Average Users. The average everyday user should make use of the ability to both send and receive communications from friends, family, celebrities, companies and software authors alike. There is no hard and fast rule regarding what can and cannot be tweeted so use Twitter in such a way that feels valuable to you as a user. Ask questions, engage in conversation by replying to provocative and intriguing tweets and try to post some insightful information on your own. You’ll be a super Tweeter in no time!

The most valuable use of Twitter as an average user comes from Twitter being a new platform for communication. Consider Twitter part of the natural evolution of communication devices – snail mail, electronic mail, instant messaging and now Twitter. Where the other forms of communication fail, Twitter seems to exceed.

One of my favorite features of Twitter is the ability for anyone to mention any other Twitter user by name so that they are notified of such mentions via their @username “mentions” tab. This is a powerful means of communicating for one simple reason: you do not need to know someone’s postal or email address in order to communicate information to them.

Simply type “@username {your message}” and they will be able to easily see your message the next time they visit their Twitter replies tab. Never before has the average person had an easier method for communicating with those huge, monolithic, faceless corporations. If a company has a Twitter presence then anyone can contact them at any time for any reason – no filtering whatsoever, no forms to deal with and no need for an email client or account.

Another valuable feature of Twitter is the capability for anyone to pose a question to a large number of people and leverage the power of the mob for a quick response. I have found more times than not that have a tough question answered on Twitter ends up providing much more accurate and realistic responses than endlessly searching Google for an authoritative result.

The real-time communication aspect of Twitter is more powerful than anyone can truly comprehend at this juncture. Twitter’s potential for new forms of communication has not yet been fully realized, and probably will not be completely understood for quite some time.

Twitter is definitely not the end-all, be-all to communication in the digital age. However, it is a powerful tool which, when wielded properly, can open up a whole new world of conversation possibilities to the average user. If you are not currently using Twitter then you really owe it to yourself to open up an account and give it a thorough look over. You might find that it is more worthwhile than you initially imagined!

As a quick aside, TechMiso, Richard Chuckrey and Scott Jarkoff are all Twitterers. Follow us for up-to-the minute information on TechMiso!