My haiku tweet to Hilton got huge success, and other reasons I love Twitter.
Are you on Twitter? It’s so weird, isn’t it? At first I wasn’t too sure about it, but slowly, steadily…it’s grown on me. And now I love it. Here are the six reasons why:
1. It’s like being at a cocktail party, all day long.
You know how cocktail party conversations are: short, peppered with anecdotes, open to anyone who happens by…? That’s the way things are on Twitter: if you see an interesting conversation happening, you can jump in, and you can pop in and out as the day goes on. I’ve made a few friends in the Twitterverse this way. I’ve also just watched funny/silly conversations happen, and laughed along.
2. You can get quick answers to pretty much any question.
Crowdsourcing. Instantly. Just toss your questions out on Twitter, and answers will come bouncing back to you. The more people you know on Twitter, and the more specific your question is, the more detailed answers you can expect.
3. You can read news as it happens.
Just follow the news source of your choice, and all of their tweets will appear in your Twitter feed. Here are a few popular ones:
4. You can enjoy improved customer service.
This is a really valuable aspect of Twitter. If you tweet the customer service “handle” of a company, you can often get help with issues that you haven’t been able to otherwise resolve. This was the case for me last year, when I got above-and-beyond service from @HiltonHelp. It was amazing; you can read the details here.
You can even have fun with this. My story involved haiku:
Want to book a stay/My reward certificate/does not seem to work
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Can you please help me/This is my fifth Hilton call/I’m counting on you
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Two nights standard room/One night, two rooms – I don’t care/I just want a night
5. You can chat with like-minded people in real-time.
In case you aren’t familiar with how a Twitter chat works, it’s easy to get the hang of it. I’ve been loving a chat called #TRLT (The Road Less Traveled).
To begin, just type a hashtag, followed by the name of the chat, in the search box.
Tweets that include the #TRLT hashtag will appear. As people respond to questions and interact, more tweets will start scrolling down the page.
You can absolutely just read the tweets in the feed, but it’s also fun to participate! If you want to jump into the chat, just make sure that your tweets include the #TRLT hashtag or others following the chat won’t be able to see them.
You can read my post on Twitter chats, and specifically on #TRLT, here.
Let’s connect!
I love connecting with readers and making new friends on Twitter. If you want to follow me (or just tweet at me to say hi!) my Twitter handle is @pixie_points, and I would love to see you in my Twitter feed!
PS
I’m sure most of you know this, but just in case you don’t: you can also use Twitter online! No need to use your phone. Just search for “Twitter” and you’ll get right to where you need to be. 😉
What do you think of Twitter? Are you a Tweet-a-holic or a Twitter-phobe?
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I unfortinately have to work and can’t productively be in a cocktail party all day long. Everybody thinks they can mutlitask, but studies are showing very few can do it well.
I am not a “phobe”. I do not dislike or fear it. I just really don’t see the need – at least for me. Email, Google, etc. serve me just fine.
Carl P – I like to visit the cocktail party several times during the day. I’m not a permanent fixture, but it’s fun to pop in when I have a few minutes. 😉
Work from home, started using Twitter on my computer but found it just sucked too much time out of my day. It was interesting, and informative, but took away much of my time and productivity. However,while in line to see the Vermeer exhibit at the Frick in NYC, I was able to tweet where we were and ask if we’d get in before closing – the fast reply was great!
Marilyn B – That sounds like about my speed. I really love the ability to get answers-on-demand!
I may fall under “phobe”. I don’t twitter and I seriously resent people who take every phone call even if they are in a conversation with you.
And the phone calls are never emergencies or even important, just more chat. It feels to me like quality of relationships has been ditched in favor of quantity.
But, just my opinion.
Anne – Those people are the worst! I will walk away from someone if they start a phone conversation while we are already IN a conversation.
I don;t know about Twitter, but I loathe Haiku from being forced to write it in school!
Gene – I bet you would be a great haiku writer! How’s this (it’s supposed to be from your perspective)
I have leather seats/in my car, but I project/and blame Pixie Points
ROFL!!
I laughed so hard my husband stopped watching tv to see what was going on.
I hope you realize how honored you are Gene.
Anne – I will do one for you as soon as I get inspired 🙂
Here’s an off-topic one. Will do another when I can think straight. 😉
Suspicious baggie/pulled aside at the airport./Our mistake, it’s sand.
If somebody has the habit of stopping mid-sentence to check an email, tweet, or whatever I get on the phone (or whatever) and hold them up a bit, It’s how amazing how often after a couple times of that they catch on and keep thier mind on one thing.
Carl P – Great strategy. I will try it.
too funny……my kids don’t let me touch the remote because they think I’ll injure myself and you want me to tweet? A New Year’s resolution maybe………..
JustSaying – I just tweeted at you! Don’t leave me hanging!