Honesty About Twitter

I’ve heard many people tell me how fun Twitter is and encourage me to get one. But I never really saw it as a platform I thought would do anything for me, so I chose for a long time to not be a part of it. Sure I heard about all the funny things people would post and how it is a good way to keep up with the news but the negative things I heard about was enough to choose missing out on the fun. Twitter feuds, sub-tweeting, terrifying posts from public figures and in general the negativity so many people choose to put out on Twitter was something I wanted to stay far away from.
So until taking this class, I didn’t have a Twitter; I still almost never post and only follow a select few people. This week the reading from our book, "Social Media Marketing Workbook" by Jason McDonald, was all about Twitter. I wasn’t really looking forward to this chapter because I assumed it was going to talk about how great Twitter is and list situations and tools I couldn’t relate to or use. Much to my surprise the chapter opened by talking about how Twitter is “misunderstood.” This sparked my interest. The first few pages went on to talk about both the pros and cons of twitter as a social media platform.  It pointed out how so many people use Twitter and how dominant it is in pop culture and the news, making it a great way for businesses to market to a huge range of people. The book also pointed out how Twitter can be a huge mess and a complete waste of time for businesses if you don't use it effectively. It stressed the importance of making sure Twitter would be a useful move for your business. Do you know how to tweet effectively? Does what your business is marketing and how your business is marketing line up with the trends on Twitter? Are your customers or audience even on Twitter? It asked readers to think about the benefits of Twitter being such an open platform where for the most part anyone can say and see anything. But along with that, the book posed the question, is anyone really listening in the noisy, “blizzard of information” that is Twitter?

            This was only the first couple pages of a chapter full of tips and tricks on how to use Twitter effectively, but I really appreciated the honest perspective. As someone who might not be as in love with all forms of social media like many people are in my generation are it was very engaging to read in a book about social media how there are negative aspects to even the most popular platforms. Though I do believe Twitter can be extremely useful and a positive marking tool especially after reading the rest of the chapter, it was refreshing to have a professional opinion point out the not so great things about Twitter I’ve seen from afar.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Sweet Charity" Social Media

Image
This past weekend the ONU Theatre Arts Department opened and closed our spring musical “Sweet Charity.” I was in the cast of Sweet Charity and I had a blast dancing, singing and playing onstage all weekend, but I also had a ton of fun behind the scenes! The backstage area of any show is a world within itself full of laughter, moments of bonding and the not-so-glamorous process of preparing for your next entrance. Sometimes my favorite memories of the show happen backstage. For this production our director Courtney Kattengell wanted us to share some of our backstage moments with our potential audience as a kind of marketing for the show. The way she wanted to try this was with Instagram stories. From everything I’ve learned in this class I realized how good of an idea this was, since the biggest appeal to instagram stories is it gives your customers or audience a behind the scenes look which draws them into you more. Recently we’ve been experimenting with promotional videos and there ...
Read more

Social Media Manager for an A Cappella Group

Image
            My younger brother is in an all-boys college a cappella group called the Originals, an award winning group full of talented vocalists. Music is his passion and he strives to be a leader in anything he is involved in. He recently took on the position of social media manager for his group. When I asked him about his experience, he had a lot to say! “As social media manager, I am in charge of making sure that our group has a strong online presence. In order to maintain an active fanbase and attempt to keep our name present and relevant in the collegiate and contemporary a cappella scene, social media is incredibly important. Our main forms of social media are Facebook and Instagram (follow us @cmuoriginals for dope music), and I use both of those to update our followers and the a cappella community on the ongoings of our group. This includes all sorts of events in our group, from members' birthdays to gigs to perfor...
Read more

Riding Solo Road Trips

Image
When I was first beginning to drive, I refused to go on the highway because it stressed me out too much. Now I drive up to 8 hours on the highway every other weekend. Between my family living in Pennsylvania, my best friend living in Dayton, Ohio, my grandparents living outside of Columbus and traveling all over the midwest for audition season, I’ve been doing a lot of driving recently.             As an inexperienced driver, I was very anxious whenever I was on the road. I was still in high school and I lived in the suburbs so there wasn’t a need for me to use the highway. Once I got to college and my family moved to Pennsylvania though, I realized I needed to get comfortable driving long distances on the highway. I started off slow, breaking up the hours, staying in the right lane, using very detailed directions and taking country road highways instead of multiple lane highways any chance I could. I can’t say driving still doe...
Read more