ryangutierrez.com - Making Life Better One Step At A Time

So it would seem that Twitter sneaks its way into the topics of nearly every conversation I have with other Twitter users.  Twitter is quickly becoming one of, if not the most important social networking service out there right now.  Because I believe that Twitter is infinitely more useful than its more complicated big brother social networking services like MySpace and Facebook, I decided to write this post for other Twitter enthusiasts to use to encourage their friends to start using Twitter.

What is Twitter?
Twitter is a web service that allows you to quickly easily keep in touch with friends and family by way of 140 character messages.  Each update is limited to 140 characters (20 less than a text message), which means that it's not like a blog, it's only meant to hold a few sentences at the most.  Users can "follow" other users which means that they get their updates automatically when they log into Twitter.  Following works both ways and you get notified when other users follow you.  You then have the option of following them, which can create a two-way dialog because they now see all your updates and vice versa. 

In a nutshell, Twitter strips away all of the bloated uselessness of Facebook and MySpace and leaves only what's important: the short, quick status update.  I can't speak for other MySpace/Facebook users, but I find that the only feature I use on MySpace is the bulletin board and the only feature I use on Facebook is the Mini-feed and the status update.  Twitter takes it a step further because you can send and receive updates through your cell phone via text message.

What is it good for?
The beauty of Twitter is that it is flexible enough to use it for as much or as little as you want.  The screenshot below is typical of the updates you see on Twitter. 

TheRealJasonLee is just updating what he's doing at the moment, which you may or may not care about depending on your relationship to him.  For example, if you worked with him, you probably wouldn't care about his truck, but if you were friends and planning a road trip in that truck, that would be relevant for you.  MelissaMonroy is replying to Eric_Valdez' post about the new Indiana Jones movie which was a reply to an update I posted asking if anybody wanted to go see it at midnight on opening day.  lauren_fishkin is using it to make plans by asking if me or any of our other friends want to go see the band Chromeo.  JasonCalacanis, founder of Mahalo, is using it to gather information about the best media outlets to focus on while he is in Australia.

As you can see, the value you get from Twitter is based on your updates, as well as your friends' updates, meaning that if you never update and you only have a few friends on it that never update, it's useless.  At the moment, I have 44 followers and of those, I know 15 of them in real life.  Of those 15, only about 6 of them update on a regular basis, so it's a great way to keep up with those 6 people, but it would be even better if everyone I know on Facebook and MySpace started using Twitter because then the value increases immensely. 

Imagine having everyone you know following you on Twitter when you are looking for information.  Maybe you're trying to find a good graphic designer for a new web site or maybe you're just looking for a good sushi restaurant near you.  Depending on the number of people following you, you can get answers and feedback in minutes from a variety of different people and backgrounds.

How do I get started?
Now that you're convinced about the merits of Twitter, just go to Twitter.com to sign up.  If you use Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, it will ask you if it can search your address book to find people who are already on Twitter so you can start following people quickly and easily. 

For most people who aren't chained to their computers all day like some of us, Twitter via text message is probably the best way to go.  Just go to Settings -> Devices and then enter in your cell phone number so you can get text message updates on your phone.  Don't worry, you can automatically turn off updates at night while you're sleeping so you're not woken up in the middle of the night by a random update.  Now that you can get updates on your phone, just click on one of your followers' profiles and you can select whether you want to get their updates on your phone or not. 

Now all you have to do is get all your friends on Twitter and get them to start using it.  Feel free to link them to this page and make sure you start follow me!  My username is Ryan_Gutierrez.  In the next few weeks I'll be writing about interesting uses for Twitter so stay tuned!

I was at a barbecue yesterday and the subject of MySpace vs. Facebook came up with a few of my friends.  They are mostly MySpace users and see little benefit to switching to Facebook.  I decided to take it upon myself to convince any of you MySpace die-hards that aside from casual hookups with random strangers, everything is better on Facebook.  In short, my social networking site can beat up yours! Read More »