Don’t you wish there was a way to interact with your favorite celebrities and companies in an instant? And that it would be easy as typing 140 characters or less? Well luckily all that and more is possible when you have a Twitter account. While Twitter’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past few years, there are still people who’ve never visited the social media site, and don’t even know what a “tweet” is. Well there are tons of reasons why you need to get familiar with Twitter and fire up your tweeting engine, and here are just a few:
This is the closest most of us will get to famous people ever (in a virtual sense). Think of any famous person off the top of your head: actors, singers, directors, TV & radio personalities, and politicians; odds are that person most likely has a Twitter account. Everyone from Lady Gaga to Howard Stern to Condoleezza Rice tweet on a regular basis. And some celebrities tend to share too much on Twitter (I’m looking at you, Kanye), which can be a good thing if your inner stalker is craving some opportunities to creep. Also, Twitter allows you to mention accounts in your tweets, so you can tweet at any person you please. Some famous people are a little more interactive with fans and followers than others, but it never hurts to try. Few things are cooler than being able to say Ryan Murphy (creator of Glee and American Horror Story) replied to your tweet, or that Martha Stewart is following you. And it’s much easier than shipping off to Hollywood and going on an all-out star search.
Cool giveaways. Twitter isn’t just a place to get regular updates on the rich and famous; it’s also a great tool for brands and companies to interact with consumers and vice versa. Sometimes these interactions result in you getting a sweet deal. For example, Boloco, an Emerson favorite, has a booming Twitter account that regularly reads and responds to feedback from customers (both satisfied and dissatisfied). Retail stores often tweet to promote upcoming events or sales, and sometimes even start hashtag campaigns on Twitter that can unlock secret deals. There are also accounts like @heyitsfree, which regularly tweet links to free deals on everything from magazine subscriptions to hair care products.
Watching TV becomes way more entertaining. Speaking from experience, I love watching sporting events, awards shows (especially the live ones), even regular new episodes of my favorite shows with my Twitter feed onhand. Even if the people you follow aren’t watching the season finale of Scandal like you are, with the help of hashtags you can find a live update of tweets coming from people who are tuning in. Also, those tweets are usually hilarious, so you can get some laughs and gasps from your TV screen and your laptop (or phone) screen all at once. Also, there’s the Trending Topics list, which features the most tweeted-about topics, which often include hashtags that call for optimal creativity and fun (a popular one on SuperBowl Sunday was #49ersLockerRoomPlaylist). Who said multitasking has to be tedious?
It’s not Facebook. Like most Internet users today, I have a Facebook; but let’s face it, there are only so many times you can scroll through your News Feed and stalk people’s profiles before it gets old. If you follow enough people, your Twitter feed will be constantly updated, with new tweets every few seconds, meaning there’s rarely a dull moment. Also, with its 140 character-per-tweet limit, you won’t have to worry about stumbling across someone’s paragraph-long status vaguely referring to his/her ex or some issue that the world doesn’t need to know about. Overall, Twitter is just a nice little social media vacation from Facebook.
Hopefully these perks will be some motivators to create your own Twitter account; and you’ll find even more reasons why you love Twitter. Tweet away!