Twitter is a social networking service that allows users to communicate with their “Followers.”
It’s open to anyone, so you can follow or be followed by people you know and people you don’t. Users choose a “handle” that is their user name preceded by the @ symbol, and communicate via short messages and updates (called “Tweets”) that have a maximum length of 140 characters.
Tweets can be very easily “Retweeted” (RT) and shared with the simple click of a button.
Pros
- The “Timeline” (or the Twitter feed) is public, which can help to give your business or organization greater exposure in web search results.
- The site is more open than Facebook, so it’s easier to build a community
- Fans can “follow you” without you having to reciprocate.
- There is a quick way to share links to content.
- Users are very vocal, so if they are happy with your business o organization, they’ll say so.
Cons
- The site is text only — pictures and video are shared through secondary
- links.
- It’s challenging to say something of signifcance in only 140 characters.
- Lots of “noise.” With so many identical-looking Tweets, it’s hard to make a single one stand out in the crowd.
- Spammers are increasingly targeting the service.
- Users are very vocal, so if they have a problem with something, they’ll say so.
