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publication date: Feb 10, 2009
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author/source: Mark Ramskill
 Twitter - The Next Level of Information DistributionThese days an ever increasing number of us are finding we are falling victim to information overload. With a simply overwhelming and ever-gowing number of websites and blogs, all veying for our attention, it's becoming increasingly difficult to both keep up and take part in 'the conversation'. While the use of RSS feed readers has been a blessing in many respects, what with the ability to aggregate multiple sources and quickly assess what we want to read in more detail, you are still tied to having to find and add your own sites of interest and their corresponding feeds. There is also no means for immediate response or discussion. Enter Twitter . . . Firstly, I suggest, if you are new to Twitter, that you firstly read my article, Using Twitter ... 'The Smart Way', to get yourself up to speed.  These days Twitter has become my main source of information, allowing me, through apps such as Tweetdeck, to continually receive the very latest information (links, feedback and commentary) on my desktop and in front of my eyes for immediate digestion, review and onward distribution. It's like having my very own 'peoples newswire'. Another great key benefit of Twitter, is that it enables you to build your own network of news gatherers, writers and commentors. These can range from authorities in their niches, to news sources, to those that share interests with you, to friends and collegues. Each of these groups in turn have their own networks feeding them information. Think of it as being plugged into one giant, ever-evolving brain. Of course, each person in your network, and potentially their own followers and onwards (through forwarding on / 'retweeting'), also have access to the information you tweet. Those that comes across you through a third party's retweeting, where you are quoted as the source (e.g. @ramskill), can also add you to their own immediate network. I'm sure you can appreciate the potential here. As an example, my own 'Twitter Tribe' is made up of 2,085 followers (as of Tuesday 11th February 2009). When each of my followers own followers are taken into account my reach is a massive 3,367,517 people (data source: Twinfluence). This is growing at a velocity of 16,584 people per day! Now imagine that any of my followers and second-tier network of 3,367,517 people may choose to retweet a message that originates from me on to their followers (with any of them choosing to follow me directly). A message could be a link to an article i've written, information I feel is worth sharing, or perhaps a promotional code. Food for thought in terms of the potential viral effect that could be generated! Working in the other direction, I am following 2,294 people. Some of these are friends, some are collegues, but the majority are those who I have determined are sharers or publishers of valuable information, which I can use in my day-to-day role as a marketing specialist. Don't forget that their own networks (and outwards) are also sharing information, which will in turn filter down to me. Great stuff! Obviously dealing with such a large network of people can be extremely problematical. Without the use of TweetDeck i'd be totally overwhelmed. TweetDeck is an Adobe Air desktop application that aims to evolve the existing functionality of Twitter, by taking an abundance of information i.e Twitter feeds, and breaking it down into more manageable bite sized pieces. Tweetdeck allows you to group your followers as you see fit. I have groups within Tweetdeck for 'Friends', 'Collegues', 'Partner Agencies', 'Key Influencers' and so forth, with my virtual filing of people and information constantly evolving. If you consider the extraordinary potential for reaching an enormous amount of people and apply the steps and ideas I outlined in Using Twitter ... 'The Smart Way', you are well on your way to unlocking the magic of this amazing new information ecosystem, for whatever purpose you see fit. The next time someone says to you, "Twitter? Isn't that that thing on the Internet where you post about having been for a coffee?!", you can shake your head in condescending bemusement. You know otherwise ;) Remember - if you want to chat or have questions, just add me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ramskill blog comments powered by Disqus TalkContent is Powered by  SubHub provides an all-in-one solution to enable you to design, build and manage your own money-making membership website. If you'd like to test out the full functionality of the SubHub membership website platform, why not sign up for our FREE seven-day trial? www.subhub.com |
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