Why do people use twitter???

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bluiz13
bluiz13 Posts: 3,550 Member
in Chit-Chat
i get the following of the stuff the stars and celebrities post but why do "regular" people tweet?
i have a really hard time understanding/reading the tweets with all the @ and #tag symbols LOL...
thoughts??

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  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
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    It's a fun place to just make random silly/clever comments that occur to you, and have a banter with online friends about whatever little things you are observing or doing. If there's something on TV that everyone is watching, like the Olympics, you can do a hashtag search and see what everyone's reactions are in real time. If you have a blog, you can use Twitter to promote it. You can network with people around the world who are in the same profession as you, or who have similar interests to you. The @ symbol is what you use when you're replying to a specific person - then they can see it straight away as being addressed to them.
  • DoubleE615312
    DoubleE615312 Posts: 173 Member
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    I tweet, just not often....
  • andreae13
    andreae13 Posts: 239 Member
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    It's a fun place to just make random silly/clever comments that occur to you, and have a banter with online friends about whatever little things you are observing or doing. If there's something on TV that everyone is watching, like the Olympics, you can do a hashtag search and see what everyone's reactions are in real time. If you have a blog, you can use Twitter to promote it. You can network with people around the world who are in the same profession as you, or who have similar interests to you. The @ symbol is what you use when you're replying to a specific person - then they can see it straight away as being addressed to them.

    How is this different then Facebook? I think that's what I'm always wondering.
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,829 Member
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    I use twitter for all kinds of things. I actually get more up to the minute news on twitter than any other media outlet. Sure, I follow some celebs, comedians, etc, but I also follow many news outlets and people in my job industry. It's a GREAT networking tool when used properly! I've made a lot of contacts, learned about what's going on in the beer industry (I work for a beer distributor), and I even know what my traffic situation is going to be like before I leave the house or office. It's a pretty handy social media/networking tool, once you get it figured out :smile:
  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
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    How is this different then Facebook? I think that's what I'm always wondering.

    I see Facebook as very different. If you post a lot of random, silly comments about nothing in particular on FB, it gets annoying to people - on Twitter, it's easier for people to disregard, because it's just a long stream of very short updates. And on FB, I have colleagues and people I don't know so well, and I use my real name, so I have to be more careful what I post - my workplace has rules about what one is allowed to post on FB. And because I use my real name and my location and such on FB, I don't just add random people whom I don't know.

    In my experience, people on FB don't tend to strike up conversations with random people who happen to be in the same profession or have a similar interest. Most people (myself included) have a friends only feed - it's for people who know each other. With Twitter, you post stuff and it's out there for everyone - and if you have a hashtag, anyone searching that hashtag will see it. It may be different for others, but I've not used Facebook to network or to meet new people. And I'm not aware of any hashtag search thing on Facebook - on Twitter I've had a lot of random people contact me because of hashtags.

    I find there are quite a few people who just don't get Twitter and don't see the point of it - maybe it has no useful application to their life. And there are others who love it. For me, personally, it's been very useful, in ways that no other sites have been. I had no idea that it would be like that when I joined - it was quite a nice surprise. I asked people before I joined what the point of it was, and people explained to me, and I didn't really get it - I think it's one of those things you only really get if you experience it.

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