Some questions about Twitter

cambsno

cambsno

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Ok, was not impressed with Twitter after taking an initial look, bit a friend reckons I could be missing out, so will give it a bash! Maybe I am missing the obvious BUT:

- I live in Cambridge and get loads of results for USA. How can I limit results to UK?
- I do a search for Baby photography and only 3 come up. SEO Cambridge and nothing comes up. Surely there must be more? I have Baby Photography in my profile - why do I not come up?
- Can I search for what is in peoples tweets - i.e. if I search Arsenal I get tweets listed with Arsenal in it?
 
I've been interested in joining Twitter for a while also...

I just know though that unless I have useful information to 'tweet' (much like a blog) it could end up doing more harm than good.... :(

I shall watch this for further information though!
 
On a personal level I think it's a waste of time unless you know people who are also using it regularly, the majority of people I know use Facebook to do the same stuff (and more) and can't see the point in using Twitter as well.

For a business it can be quite a drain on time for very little return, and it certainly doesn't suit all types of businesses, I would say it's best for businesses that have a brand to promote or who have regularly changing circumstances that clients would want updates on (e.g. job vacancies, snow reports).

Where a lot of businesses go wrong is in only using it for pushy sales messages, which is a guaranteed way to lose followers, it's true benefits are in the speed you can get a message out there and in the way it can add a personal side to a business or brand.
 
What do you want to gain from using it?

You can certainly search what is in people's tweets, but I don't think you can filter that by country, you can also search by location, I know on most twitter applications that will take you to a google map with everyone shown as a marker, or as a list of people near to where you are. I don't think you can search the text in people's profiles, that is just to know a bit about you. If you want people to find you based on "Baby Photography" you would need to have relevant tweets about baby photography.

My view is that it is all about interaction and networking rather than just as a free advert that you leave there, you get what you put into it and as mentioned above lots of spammy tweets and no interaction probably isn't going to get much business.
 
I don't do Twitter, tried it once while away on a course for work and very bored. I do use Facebook though.

All I will say is, if I wanted to employ a photographer/DJ/plumber or anyone else, Twitter and the like would be one of the last places I would be looking. Maybe I'm behind the times, who knows :shrug:
 
Twitter has it's uses beyond what someone has had for their breakfast.

I've found it useful keeping up-to-date with certain people/events/products and the more obvious 'celebrity stalking' aspect.

What it's particularly useful for is the 'zeitgeist-y' happenings and popular sites/articles/links.

For example, as a designer I sometimes need a couple of free fonts, I go to Twitter first (Google as a search engine tends to throw up the same tired SEO'd-to-death sites) to see if there are any examples being Tweeted and re-Tweeted, this usually indicates they may be worth looking at.
 
See, I tend to agree with what Paul says, although I keep getting told you need to be on Twitter!!! From a user point of view I have found it pointless. Most of the tweets I search for are for Cambridge MA - USA, and not been able to find anything I have wanted to search for.

At the end of the day, the only reason why I want to use it as a few people have suggested I could get some business out of it - although personally I cant see how.
 
I'm just going to paste in two things I wrote in similar threads..

the_doctor199 said:
You see, everyone I've found who has said they have hated Twitter, has never given it a chance. It really is something you have to put something into, to get anything out of it. Similar to Facebook, if you don't add any friends, your homepage isn't going to be too exciting and you're most likely going to hate it too.

If you find people on Twitter that interest you and follow them and interact, it really is quite useful and fun.
Click to expand...

the_doctor199 said:
Another thing to find interesting people is this website. Type in something that interests you and it magically comes up with a list of the most interesting people to follow, so if you're looking for photographers it'll look like this. :thumbs:
Click to expand...
 
I think if you are looking at it as a point of purely what I get out of it, then you will see it as useless. However I use it to tweet what I am up to, connect with like minded people who have something interesting to say about photography or my other interests, keep track of a few famous people and general networking/discussion, for which it is brilliant.

It is not an advert though and you do need to put in to get out. It is about interaction and being social.
 
Carl, that is what I cant get my head around... I have done plenty of online and offline networking which is what Twitter is to a degree so know I need to add value and put in before I can take out. BUT, from my limited use of Twitter I find it frustrating to use and I get no benefit out of (putting aside what I may get out of it business wise) which leads me to think do people really get business from Twitter?

Carl, what do you actually get from it that you cant get from say google, facebook etc...

Also, how many people try twitter and then lose interest after a short time? If I could find a way of getting something out of it personally I will use it, and then if business develops then great.
 
To me it is a direct way to connect with photographers that I cannot simply do from their site.

I can tweet out about lighting problems at gigs, which other togs I connect with may find useful if they shoot later on the same tour, and obv. vice versa. Sometimes people post links to interesting stuff I may never have seen otherwise. I post links to work I have shot which has been seen by the artist and they have spoken to me about it via twitter.

To me it is can also be used in the same way as a forum, people post they are looking for some equipment, you can give opinion etc.

If you can't see yourself getting anything out of it, then don't use it. It doesn't suit everyone, same as any networking, some gain and use it, some don't and never use it.

In terms of actual business gained from Twitter, I imagine it is not as high as some would have you believe, but I am sure some good things have come from it for some people. I use it, not for business so much, but that i enjoy it, I get things out of following the people I follow, rather than using it as a business tool. I post what I do and link up shoots etc. but I have no expectations of business from it. TBH also in terms of time taken, it is a lot more user friendly than say a blog or something in terms of time needed to keep it updated regularly.
 
cambsno said:
Also, how many people try twitter and then lose interest after a short time? If I could find a way of getting something out of it personally I will use it, and then if business develops then great.
Click to expand...

I've tried it numerous times. The biggest problem is that most of my friends are not on it.

As for business, I think it's good if your actively engaging your customers or at least other people that are interested in your business.

For example, I follow my wedding photographer's blog. He posts up pics from his assignments and it's all the more cooler when I can recognize some of those pictures. If he had Twitter I'd probably follow him on that as well.

It does get problematic when you have something like Facebook which has so much more usability. And then you want to keep your own blog. And then email correspondence comes in. You have to really develope some self-control or you waste a lot of time.

...and forums. Oh man the forums are the worst.
 
unless you know a lot of people who tweet its pointless... i think it makes sense for celebrities and the like but not for me..
 
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