Why some people use twitter!

When I asked this question on Twitter, "Hi Tweeps, I'm doing some #research on why people use #twitter. Pls reply me w/ your reasons, I'm promoting twitter and blogging your reply!"

The following are the answers:

@Boy_Kill_Boy if i didn't i'd blow my brains out with bordom

@amandaxr I do that to interact with friends, where the messages are more casual and shorter than typical blog posts. #twitter

@susanhutchinson To connect w/people, make friends, uplift people along life's way. That's what I'm here for. :)

@kopigao I'm not too sure why I tweet, but it seems obvious why you tweet. :D

@EmNiew an easy and efficient way to get research sources and gather information #twitter#research

@kulturbrille It gives us an excuse not to blog.

@WillyLim I used social media for generating leads and demand for businesses.

@philgerb I tweet to get and share information. I tweet to connect to new people and reconnect to friends and colleagues

@philgerb I have more both for business and pleasure at my blog http://philgerbyshak.com

@TheBackpackr I use Twitter to keep in touch with those I know, & use it to engage w/those I don't, but want to know. It also helps with mkting

@FoOie I'm using Twitter primarily for social reasons, meeting people, making new friends, interacting, exchanging opinions and ideas..

@FoOie I also find it a great source of help. Tweeps are generally all very nice, helpful, appreciative, friendly & interesting! :)

@Greenyarnllc Mkt research, interact w/ customers, exchange ideas with folks in similar industry, get latest news!

@wei2 I start using Twitter for my advanced PR writing class, and Im in love with it now:)

@Nazeem I use twitter to meet like-minded people, and get the latest news as soon as it happens

@deborahbarrie to educate, entertain, to be educated and entertained

@ahkai 1.able to see lots of interesting information and is faster than news release. 2. Live comments during events. 3. Is fun!! :)

@appleey had an acc on twitter long ago. but only rediscovered when clearing old mails =.= so just decided to just start with it

@lennel signed up so tt i can get macworld updates frm macrumors. then got the iphone & discovered celebs. now sgp folks rock my world.

@mikedmerrill Reasons 1) Listen 2) Engage 3) Provide Thought Leadership 4) Branding 5) social #research #twitter

@phusionade to expand network?

@grentone gotta know when I heard about Google's interest. Main purpose is to network and observe social behavior of the herd. Gr8 platform

@serenetan Twitter keeps me up to date with the latest news, I get to interact with people from all walks of life and its my place to rant.

@ctham Mainly to connect with people, share news, gain different views and perspectives. #research #twitter

@RickGriffin I use twitter to keep up with the pop culture and to occasionally make you laugh:) God bless!

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Basically, you can do any form of research if you are online, and if you have enough followers and you can get answers relatively quickly!

Twitter is pretty viral and awesome, and it is definitely changing the way people communicate.

From the above, you can see that different people use twitter for different reasons and many are getting what they want.

So... why do you tweet?

Reviewsguru

@reviewsguru

We want to use technology (In Principle) Singapore

I'm doing some consultation to companies in Singapore, starting small workshop on Social Media. After talking to more than 10 companies, and introducing them to Social Media, these are the following observations.

1) All the companies are very keen to get on Social Media. (The bosses are very interested) 

2) The companies would love to implement Social Media as part of their Marketing and Customer Relations.

3) The companies agree that Social Media is gaining importance and it is essential for them to get on and adopt some strategies which incorporate using Social Media in their business plans.

4) The companies believe that it does not cost much implementing Social Media in their Business efforts, it takes time and effort.

5) Blogging and having a Facebook presence is not hard, but most still do not understand Twitter, though it is the most viral and far reaching medium.

6) Though the companies want to implement Social Media, no additional resources are given to implement this.

7) Companies want to be part of Social Media, but do not have a strategy to leverage. Some companies are very bureaucratic and may be too slow to react get their messages through to effectively use Social Media.

8) Companies are still scared that they do not have control over their Corporate Blogs, Twitter Accounts and Facebook Pages. Fact is, if they don't participate in Social Media, the WILL have no control.

9) The Marketing Managers and Executives are tasked to look into Social Media and will eventually respond negetively or not want to do it. Many of them are "paid to do work" and see Social Media as additional tasks which they are not being paid for, hence they refuse to put in effort to learn.

10) Even when companies know that changes need to be made to implement Social Media, they still fail to think of new policies which makes the life of the Social Marketing team hard as it creates a lot of uncertainty on publishing posts and reacting to replies. 

Remember, if your company is generally unresponsive due to bureaucratic red tape, and you generally have a lot of customer service complains as the customer service offers are no empowered, then you simply have bad customer service and having Social Media does not help customer satisfaction.

-- Reviews Guru

Welcome New Singapore Tweeps!

If you are new to twitter, you need to follow some folks to get things going.

This is my list of Singapore Tweeps (people on Twitter)  that I follow:

My account is @reviewsguru and these are tweeps I recommend.

@satsugaicat - a crazy cat from Singapore on Twitter. Probably the most influencial and famous Singapore cat on Twitter?

@sgbrands - a twitter account promoting all brands that is in Singapore. Very helpful and responsive.

@debbieseraphina - very active Singapore Tweep which is also responsive.

@belindaang - very knowledgeable Singapore Tweep with extensive social media experience and knowledge.

@inrsoul - photographer, and avid participant in #sgtweetup (Singapore Twitter Gathering) 

@robin_low - Entrepreneur and Social Media guy.

@FoOie - E-Marketing Specialist, Social Media Enthusiast, Hardcore Geek

@gnoserif - Marketing guy, active and responsive tweep.

@maynaseric  - Author and very popular Tweep!

@trudinger - Friendly Expat living in Singapore

@AngMoGirl - Avid tweep. Lots of chats about Singapore current events too!

@whatsonsg - tweeting about SG events

@techxav - 15-Year-Old Tech Blogger, Student with 70k followers.

@wahliaodotcom - Popular photographer who constantly gives photo tips.

@DrDollars - Experienced Social Media guy who blogs and tweets constantly.

@qutequte - Active twitter who tweets about organic / heath stuff...

@SGnews - Singapore News

There are also #hashtags which can help you search for topics and the commonly used ones in Singapore are as follows:

#sgtweetup - Singapore Twitter Meet Up.

#Singapore - Singapore related.

#sgdeal - Singapore deals.

#sgtweeps - Singapore Tweeps. (Things that may involve or require their notice)

#sgevents - Events in Singapore

Have fun tweeting!

--Reviews Guru

Twitter -- Following and Followers.

Twitter Basics -

Twitter is simple. Just 2 things and you're off to go!
Following and Followers

1. Followers listen to your tweets. How do you get anyone to listen?
2. To receive tweets, you need to follow others. Who should you follow?

Step 1:

When you first join twitter, you can let twitter check for your friends through your email lists. Twitter will add all your friends and make you follow them.

Now you can read your friend's updates and check up on them.

Step 2:

Search for the people you want to follow. For a start, follow some popular people on twitter. Most of these tweeps (people on twitter) tweet everyday and about interesting things. (remember, there's a unfollow option if you don't want to ready what they have to say.)

Use find people to search for people or even topics you are interested in. You can search for virtually everything, people tweet about everything from history to current events. Try following some of these folks and see what they have to say.

Use the search function to find thousands of interesting subjects; and millions of people to talk with.  Search a particular topic, check out the tweets and the links. If you happen to like what someone is saying or his link, check his profile and what he said before by clicking on his username. If you like him or what he has to say, just follow.

Continue your search, click-thru, find a topic, and follow to befriend people.

Many interesting people and topics out there.

Note: Think of Twitter as a HUGE gossip network, you can find lots of rumors and some facts on things that you are interested to know. You just need to find the right source, following people is finding more sources for what you like to hear. 

Step 3:

After some tweets of your own, you may start to get some followers. The following is my advice.

1) If you are using twitter as some form of closed network which you just like friends and family to read about your updates, then this may not be a good platform for you as EVERYONE can ready what you say unless you go private.

2) If you are very particular about what you read and you don't want to be distracted by tweets you are not interested in, check out some of your followers. Some of your followers follow you because they like your tweets and may have common interests and tweets. If you like what they have to say, just follow them.

3) If you want to build up your network, don't just follow everyone. Filter out spammers as some of your followers follow you so that you may follow them, and they will SPAM you with ads.

Note: I feel that as a general rule of thumb, you should follow people who follow you if you wnat to build a network (except spammers -- spammers need no love).  

Twitter has the 2,000 and 10%-of-followers limits. If you allow those you follow to NOT return the favor, you're boxed under 2,000 friends.

Celebrities like Oprah, Britney Spears, Tony Robbins and Ashton Kushner unknowingly box their fans. If 200 real or wanna-be celebrities don't return your follows, YOU ARE STUCK under 2,000 friends.

Thus, remember these golden rules:

* Return the follow of fans.
* To jump past 2,000 followers, unfollow those who don't follow you - including iamdiddy. Celebrities like Guy Kawasaki, schwarzenegger, WholeFoods, and zappos do re-follow hundreds of thousands of fans.
* If wanna-be celebrities follow you to entice you to follow, then drops you to make themselves look popular at your expense - block them. It's a stupid pet trick.

If you don't, you're stopped by the 2,000 rule.

Twitter imposed a new, undocumented rule with 1,000 follows per day. This impacts whales (tweeps with 10k followers or more). They can't return every follow. 

We agree with the new rule, but Twitter should not count re-follows as part of the 1,000 limit. Social etiquette says we should return the follow without penalties.

Since whales can no longer follow everyone to see their tweets, you need a new means to reach whales. Type a reply or message like @whalename message. The new Twitter inbox allows whales to see the message.

Don't use DM, which is widely ignored by whales.

Celebrities don't always respond. Social whales frequently do. Note that whales don't provide tech support as a service. Ask favors nicely.

If you have built up a lot of followers, its nice to just post a question and get answers fast!

@reviewsguru

This cat is using Social Media

What is the point of a cat using social media?

This is a question that often come up when you search Facebook and Twitter.

Why the hell are there so many cats on Facebook and Twitter?

A cat in Singapore, Satsugai who lives in the Novena area is one example of a "Socially Connected Cat"

Satsugai has more than 700 friends and 1000 followers on Facebook.

Her profile is @Satsugaicat and http://profile.to/satsugai/ 

There are many curious people asking her questions like "Why are you a cat?" or "Are you freakin serious you're a cat?" 

I believe on its profile, it clearly stated that it is a cat.

I've seen many replies to its quirky tweets and its random status updates. Many people love it and say it brightens up their day. I feel that follow this cat really does have its purpose after all, and even if it brings a smile on your face everytime you read about it, the cat had already done its purpose. Isn't this what a owning or having a pet is all about? Only thing is now, you can ready her status updates on Twitter and Facebook.

If you've not found this cat, maybe its time to check it out.

--Reviews Guru

Social Media

Social media is a new way of communication. By experiencing social media, using flickr, twitter, youtube, facebook and digg, I find that you get to meet many different people with similar interests forming great networks which you can be proud of.

With this new communication tool, I feel that now, the individual can make a difference. When you have a good idea for a business or a just cause, you can share this idea on your blog with the people in your network and as they propagate your idea through word of mouth, you may find enough people with similar interest that may help you in your endevours.

More heads are better than one. If you would like to share an idea for a cause like urban farming, join a group, tweet, link up with people on facebook and Linkedin. You'll find that many people are willing to give advice and help out even if they don't know you. Likewise, you may come across someone who needs your expertise in some advice and you could help them too.

It is a great concept, making the world smaller and allowing people from diverse background share their ideas, which may allow sometime simple and good to become GREAT!

I hope to educate more people in using social media as it has enriched my life much.

-- Reviews Guru.

Banks try social networking -- Twittering...

It is quite safe to say that twitter has really caught on BIG!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2009-05-11-banks-twitter-economy-recession_N.htm

I guess many companies see the need now to get on to social media platform as it combines a lot of functions, from marketing, information gathering, customer service and relationship building.

It is very important to understand and use these social marketing tools wisely and start early, as many of these social networking platforms are getting bigger and bigger, and simply ignoring them is not going to work.

As you know, in social networking, the word of mouth spreads like wildfire in the hands of a social networking leader. We have seen social networking used in getting a President in United States, and its reaches are great. 

Twitter is a great tool, and people can use it to find jobs, for entainment, for news, and to stay in contact with friends. Furthermore, they can complain about a product, and when this message gets propagated, the effects can be far reaching and if the company ignores these complains, there will certainly be a group of angry people talking about their products all the time.

It is hence essential to listen and control conversation of their brand. It is very important to listen to customers when they have a choice of different companies. Banks now believe that they cannot afford not to be part of it.

In social media, relationships and trust, two most important factors take time to build up. It is thus prudent to start now, as people are still getting on than later...

-- Reviews Guru

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Social networking is becoming an increasingly popular way for banks to reach consumers amid the economic downturn.

Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC) have begun to "tweet" — post messages of 140 characters or less on Twitter.com — with customers about everything from bank fees to product features. Discover Financial (DFS), American Express (AXP) and Citigroup (C) have launched Facebook or MySpace pages. Some banks even put marketing videos on YouTube.

"Social media is a whole new world, and you cannot afford to not be a part of it," says Pamela Blase, a spokeswoman for UMB Financial of Kansas City, Mo., which tweets about everything from the bank's financial stability to the industry's prospects.

Banks say they're establishing presences on social-networking sites to tap into a growing demographic and to control the conversation about their brands. Yet the economic turmoil, some say, makes it even more important to reach out to customers any way they can.

"There's a lot of worry out there," says Ed Terpening, vice president of social media at Wells Fargo, one of the first banks with a group of employees dedicated to social networking. "That means that we have to stay close to our customers."

The appeal of social networking, according to Steve Furman, Discover's director of e-commerce, is that it provides "pure, instant" communication with customers.

In general, banks and card issuers have been slower to embrace social networking than other industries have. But social networking has become popular enough that, for many institutions, it's not a question of if but when to establish a presence on these sites, says James McGovern of Corporate Insight, a financial-services research firm.

Yet as a growing number of banks become proficient in the social-networking world, the norms of customer service are being upended. Increasingly, today's online interactions between banks and consumers are peppered with shorthand, typos and even slang.

"It sounds like you need 2 talk 2 someone abt your specific situation," read a recent Twitter post from a Wells Fargo rep.

Adding to banks' challenges, social-networking sites are becoming another venue for consumers to complain — and complain is exactly what they're doing as credit card rates and fees rise even as the economy struggles and unemployment rises.

Jesse Hattabaugh, a software engineer from San Francisco, recently posted this message to banks on Twitter: "Stop making your living off my late fees! You fine me more than you loan me!"