Pros & Cons of X/Twitter for Business and Personal Use
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When it comes to X or Twitter people are clearly divided.
Some people hate X/Twitter, others love it. Both of them are right for different reasons.
Actually there are many pros and cons of X/Twitter.
Here you’ll find plenty of them plus resources to actually use it.
X vs Facebook – What’s the Difference?
On Facebook you mostly follow friends and family you already know.
- X
- Ex-Twitter
- or X-Twitter
as I prefer to call it now gets used to follow mostly strangers you are interested in.
X is still so popular even after more than 15 years that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg finally started his own Twitter competitor called Threads!
Before you join Threads instead of X be warned though. Why?
You can’t delete your Thread account unless you also disable your Instagram profile.
You can also follow and read news on Facebook itself.
I joined Facebook back in 2008 but never could force myself to use it until I became seriously ill.
Then I started wasting time there. Yet Twitter got me hooked from day one. Why?
Indeed I’ve been using Twitter for personal and business purposes since 2008!
It can be a powerful link sharing, social networking and crowdsourcing tool for many.
These are just the most obvious benefits of X-Twitter or reasons to use it.
Below I offer you a wider variety of 50+ tools and resources to use X-Twitter effectively.
X-Twitter Pros and Cons Overview
Not interested in the free tools and resources?
Just want a quick overview of the X-Twitter pros and cons for personal and business use?
Here they are in no particular order:
| pros | cons | |
| There is a lot of traffic generation potential on X-Twitter. | Traffic generation works mostly for mainstream opinions. | |
| Billionaire Elon Musk acquired and stabilized X/Twitter. | Elon Musk’s handling of X/Twitter is very controversial. | |
| Meeting like-minded individuals globally is easy. | Getting into trouble with trolls and bombarded by bots is likely. | |
| Updates are relatively short and thus not as labor-intensive. | X-Twitter can be a time-suck despite the shortness of updates. | |
| You can get the latest local and global news quickly. | You can get inundated with depressing bad news. | |
| It’s easy to follow different types of people by way of lists. | You can get overwhelmed by the sheer number of updates. | |
| X-Twitter does not require real names but let’s you verify your account. | Fake accounts are a problem despite crackdowns and verification. | |
| X-Twitter gives your business free publicity. | People rarely buy directly on or from X-Twitter. | |
| No political ads are allowed on X-Twitter. | Donald Trump and other provocateurs spread division. | |
| X-Twitter is great for free speech and self-expression. | You can get easily persecuted for your X-Twitter updates. | |
| There are a lot of advanced features like threads e.g. | Many of the more advanced features have to be paid for. |
Why Did I Use Come up with a Pros and Cons of X-Twitter List?
Why did I start to use Twitter personally? How did it work for my own business?
I started using Twitter back in 2008! No joke!
Twitter wasn’t my favorite tool in the beginning.
It took me some time to get it or even to understand why I may need Twitter and what the pitfalls are.
Yet here I am 15+ years later and I still have a large following on X/Twitter.
Sometimes I still wonder why still use X! Then I return to this post!
Yes, ever since Elon Musk took over the reign on Twitter and renamed it to X the service has degenerated quite a bit.
There are many reasons for this – one simply being profitability at all costs and the firing of most employees.
Personally I now prefer Mastodon, the “federated” alternative to X.
Yet I still offer X-Twitter content writing and social media management services for clients all over the world!
That’s also why I came up with a X-Twitter pros and cons list! You have to decide for yourself!
So here are the pros, cons and X/Twitter tools to make the experience of it much more rewarding.
Indeed X-Twitter is a lot like Facebook although it’s a different concept.
Both sites do not necessarily result in significant referral traffic or other benefits you can measure easily.
Unless of course you are already a very popular “influencer” or “go viral”.
I wanted to share my thoughts on X-Twitter to help you decide whether it makes sense or not.
Additionally I collected X-Twitter related tools and resources.
They enable you to answer the original question: use it or not?
You decided you actually want to use X.com despite the potential cons?
Then you will find plenty of ideas how to use it below:
Reasons to Use X-Twitter
As you might suspect there are plenty of reasons to use X-Twitter.
It often depends on who you are and what you do for a living. Anybody in
- publishing
- journalism
- blogging
- marketing
will probably use it all the time.
Many other business users probably also will but here already there are different opinions.
Some brands consider X-Twitter to be secondary because other social networking tools are much larger both by sheer user numbers and actual engagement.
Yet Facebook and Instagram – both owned by controversial billionaire Mark Zuckerberg – are walled gardens that hide their content from Google.
YouTube is also huge but not a social network at all.
In contrast X-Twitter updates show up in Google search results since 2015 more frequently.
Why? They reached a deal to display updates that matter back then. What does that mean?
Google will sometimes show your updates on top of search results for your name or business name.
Google does not index all X-Twitter updates!
It only does show those that have been linked to or shared by others in most cases.
Unless your account is very powerful in general.
X/Twitter is treated like any other website when it comes to indexing and ranking.
Thus linked to pages get an additional boost on Google.
I’ve compiled links providing both actual personal stories of positive X-Twitter usage.
In essence some of the pros can be viewed as cons and vice versa.
Yet let’s start with the positive or optimistic view on things.
The fact that billionaire Elon Musk has taken over and saved the financially struggling site was good news at first.
Additionally here are some articles that cover benefits that are objectively there.
Over the recent years some new useful features have been added.
With X-Twitter Communities allowing you to create user groups or smaller semi-private audiences.
Super Follows let you charge for (additional) updates.
Here are some more advantages of Twitter use and/or reasons to use it.
- An Example of Twitter’s Real-Life ROI
- How To Make $500,000 A Year On Twitter
- Twitter Will Now Let You Shoot & Upload Video
- Twitter Sues the Government for Violating Its First Amendment Rights
- The Trump bump: Twitter is getting a second look from brands
- More Than Just Marketing – How I Use Twitter
- How to Use Twitter to Your Advantage as a Journalist
- Twitter Saves Man From Egyptian Justice
Reasons NOT to Use X-Twitter
X-Twitter is indeed controversial to some extent even after many years of existence.
That may be the reason why it never went mainstream like Facebook.
With outspoken and often controversial billionaire Elon Musk of Tesla and Space X taking over Twitter and renaming it to X even more drama ensued!
Here are some personal stories and also die hard facts that may discourage you from actually engaging on X-Twitter. Make sure to find out what the downsides are.
You need to know these things before you actually plunge in and take a deep dive on X/Twitter.
I don’t want you to waste your time and money in case you aren’t really convinced. Why exactly?
In short X-Twitter has lots of issues. Some of them worse than others.
None of them has been devastating yet but they add up. There is a lot of
- fear
- anger
- hate
spreading on the platform. The algorithm rewards engagement no matter the cost.
This way obnoxious messages that get a ton of resistance get pushed additionally!
Also bots and automated accounts are creating a lot of
- noise
- spam
- fakes
Censorship is an ongoing issue that even made billionaire Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX criticize the site before finally acquiring it.
It provoked him to buy enough Twitter shares to make him the largest shareholder and de facto owner.
A related issue over the years has been the involvement of Saudi Arabia – both legal and illegal. Why is that a problem?
SA is an absolute monarchy keen on subduing democratic opposition both online and offline.
You can even get banned immediately for a petty offense like a joke despite having more than 150k followers.
Personally I had to limit my engagement on X/Twitter in recent years because the sheer onslaught of
- negativity
- outrage
- hate
- bad news
- propaganda
exhausted me. With Elon Musk firing most Twitter employees after taking over and renaming the platform to X many issues got even worse.
Now I get the most engagement from SPAM accounts peddling porn.
Below are some more issues and examples covered in detail on third party sites:
- The Unbearable Lightness of Tweeting
- Is Twitter About to Make a Huge Mistake?
- Forrester Says Marketers Are Wasting Resources on Facebook, Twitter
- Twitter Is Unethical For Business Use
- Twitter and Journalism: Reclaiming the Hunt
- The first casualty of Twitter is nuance
- Twitter Away Your Life With Social Networking
- Twitter is a Complete Waste of Time!
- Is Twitter Making Us More Productive?
- Trump supporter’s hedge fund buys Twitter shares ‘to oust CEO Jack Dorsey’
X-Twitter Clients
X-Twitter clients are tools that allow you to access X by other means than the X.com or Twitter.com website itself.
Here are some of the most popular tools that could be used as “clients”. Some of them are broader platforms allowing you to access multiple social media sites.
I’ve used most of them myself and still use one of them – XPro (formerly TweetDeck) – regularly.
Twitter.com is a bit hard to use as you get easily overwhelmed with updates. The new X or Twitter layout is also quite controversial.
The first three clients are ideal for business use and marketing campaigns. Make sure not to over-automate though!
Hootsuite and Buffer also work with many other social media sites, not just X-Twitter.
- Hootsuite: Social Media dashboard for teams using Twitter
- Buffer – “a smarter way to share on social media”
- Tweetium premium app for both Windows
- Echofon: Twitter client for Android and various Apple devices
- X/Twitter’s own mobile apps for Android and iPhone
Free X-Twitter Scanners
One of the great things about X-Twitter almost from day one was the plethora of third party tools enhancing the user experience of the service.
Many tools have disappeared over the years. X-Twitter has made it hard for tool makers to stay afloat. Yet some of them remain stable and useful.
The tools you find in this list have been around for many years and have a working business model behind them.
They allow you to scan your tweets for manifold reasons.
You can scan your content or your followers to find out more about yourself and others you interact with.
It’s highly recommended. Otherwise Twitter might be a bit overwhelming.
- The Tweeted Times: A newspaper-like Twitter interface that collects links from your Twitter friends – Take a look at mine
- TwitterAudit is a simple yet very useful tool that determines whether the Twitter followers of a given account are real or fake. This also helps to find out whether it is a bot or not itself.
- Fedica is a social media management tool supporting several platforms. There is a free option and you get scheduling, analytics and crossposting features for that already which also work on X/Twitter.
X-Twitter Howto’s, Tutorials and Resources
When you finally decide to use X-Twitter for business and get serious about it you’ll notice that it is harder that it might appear at first.
It’s not just about sharing links or short updates and forgetting about them. You won’t have an audience just by tweeting, especially when you solely broadcast instead of engaging.
You need to treat X-Twitter like a blog and build an audience first.
When you use X-Twitter for business you will also realize that you can’t simply sell to your followers or that automation of updates won’t suffice.
Make sure to invest some time and effort into your Twitter account. Don’t just get frustrated after a few days or weeks. It might take a while before it works for you.
X-Twitter use for business is actually pretty hard. That’s why I also offer social media management services for X-Twitter where I
- engage
- curate
- build an audience.
on behalf of clients. It’s not unlike ghost writing but I don’t hide the fact that I’m a social media professional.
I usually add my name (e.g. “Tad”) to updates so they aren’t just bot-like anonymous messages.
- How to Use Twitter for Business: A Practical Guide
- Grow Your Business | Twitter for Business
- The 58 SEO Authorities on Twitter You Need to Follow
- How to Start a Twitter Account for Your Business
- How To Use Twitter: A Beginners Guide
- 20 Essential Twitter Rules You’ve Probably Never Heard
- Understanding Twitter Engagement
- The Golden Rule of Twitter Marketing
- The Complete Guide to Twitter for Your Content Strategy
- Why You Clicked on That Tweet: The Psychology of Twitter Engagement
- How To Grow Your Personal Brand On Twitter
- How to Retweet the Right Way (With a Comment) on Twitter
- Here’s How to Create Lists on Twitter
- How to Increase The Click-Through Rate On Your Tweets
- 13 Twitter Following Growth Hacks for Small Businesses
How Do You Use X-Twitter?
Now of course the main reason why I use X-Twitter is to inform you of my eating habits!
No, just kidding, rather to indoctrinate you with my SEO 2.0 propaganda.
It does only make sense when I have enough people to preach to.
OK, follow me now in case you are really serious about the SEO 2.0 cult!
- How do you use X-Twitter?
- Do you use a client?
- If yes, which one?
- What are you using X-Twitter for?
- What do you speak about actually?
- What are you doing?
- What is your user name?
In case it makes sense I’ll
- follow you
- @reply to you
- retweet you!
Did I miss some valuable links? Add them in the comments!
This list will gets updated continuously for 15+ years.
Want more? Try 101 tweets on how to use Twitter.
- Originally published: April 30th, 2008.
- Last updated: August 4th, 2023.
Still not convinced you can use X-Twitter for business purposes but you’d like to?
Stuck with a personal account and struggling to keep it alive?
I can take care of your X-Twitter account for you! I will
- write content for your X account
- engage your audience and community
- answer questions people might ask even before they find you!
I’m a professional blogger and social media manager and have been using X or Twitter successfully since 2008.
* (CC BY-ND 2.0)
1. Daily but I don’t spend too much time there.
2. Yes
3. TwitterFox (though it’s a bit slow and I plan to switch to something else) + Gtalk
4. For communicating with friends mainly. Sometimes for asking for help with some sphinn submission. That’s also a great news source.
5. SE and social media news mainly.
6. Answering your questions actually :)
7. SEOSmarty
Hi there: Just wanted to say that this was a great Twitter wrap-up, perhaps the best I’ve seen anywhere. (You’re a pro, so I’ll assume you’ve posted it on Sphinn and Gooruze.) It’s a very useful blog generally, actually.
Also, thanks for linking to my blog in the wrap up. Much appreciate the shout out.
Cheers,
Anne Zieger
Thanks Ann! Any particular reasons for choosing (or not anymore) TwitterFox?
Thank you Anne: Yeah, I’m a pro in some areas but as a true blue SEO 2.0 I let others do the dirty work of submitting most of the time ;-)
1. Daily
2. Yes
3. Twitteriffic
4. Making new contacts, keeping in touch with friends, sharing latest blog posts and sharing useful links.
5. SEO, SMM and monkey business
6. Building a site
7. makakman
Thanks spostareduro: Had to approve you first in WP. So you’re more into humor ;-) ?
Adrienne: So you’re a “connector” in social media terms.
Makakman: Never heard of Twitteriffic. Any reasons for using it?
Brilliant post for Twitter lovers & newbies everywhere!
1 daily
2 yes
3 Twhirl
4 Networking mainly, also to learn from some of the greats in the tech world
5 anything and just about everything
6 thinking I should do some work today :)
7 hawksdomain
I respect Maki (Dosh Dosh) but had to delete him from my friend list in Pownce. I already view his Tweets. ALL of them..sheesh.
Following Annies lead:
1. 23.9 hrs per day. 22.hrs observation time. 1.9 hrs interaction. (give or take a minute or two)
2. Yup
3. I use Twhirl for recieving my updates. Real time. (unless Twitter’s down, which occasionally happens. you’ll get a tweet 5 hrs after its sent. bummer)
4.mostly observe others and follow links, etc. to get a feel for the people I hang with. and chime in with my own URLS and comments to allow them to get a feel for who they hang with.
5. I Tweet anything that rolls off the top of my little blond head. for example: “Do you poke yourself in Facebook?” (I do), “Does spaghetti come out of your nose if you laugh while chewing it?” “Hey! Check out Tads new post! lmao”…that sort of thing.. ;-)
6. Trying to answer your questions with a full bladder. I guess it will have to wait, since you are impatient and all.
7. SpostareDuro
1. I mostly lurk and read. Did you mean “how often?” If so, pretty much all day M-F.
2. Yes 3. Twhirl
4. News and hopefully building friendships. I enjoy helping people with their social submissions.
5. I tend to tweet silly things, but I occasionally ask for help.
6. Checking my e-mail and feeds mostly.
7. https://twitter.com/seowoman
What a brilliant post! This must have taken forever to write – gonna have to tweet you now and ask :)
1 How do you use Twitter?
I love that I find out stuff there really quickly about people I like – looks like it might take over my RSS because most people let me know when they update a post – YAY!!!
2 Do you use a client?
Yes and no
3 If yes, which one?
Twhirl to read – Web to write
4 What are you using Twitter for?
A ton of stuff but mainly in the hope of getting rid of my feed reader
5 What do you tweet about actually?
Stuff I do, stuff I notice and to get stuff quick!
6 What are you doing?
Going through my feeds [groan]
7 What is your user name?
MadLid :)
Thanks Paula! Just followed you :-)
Thank you Lid! in fact it was easier than expected to write this and took I think something like 3 to 4h.
Next post: How to write huge resource posts in 5 minutes ;-)
#1 On my laptop? Maybe I don’t understand the question.
#2 Sometimes.
#3 Twhirl.
#4 I use it for interaction with my SEO peers, sharing information or just to make everyone laugh.
#5 Breaking news, sharing cool links, talking SEO. I tweet about whatever is on my mind.
#6 Burping.
#7 status_girl
RE: TwitterFox – just been using it for a long time (the first client I learned about) but now I know there are quite a few faster ones… like the one Kim cited…
Good to see your funky sombrero on twitter too. Welcome on board, mate!
[…] blogging about twittering and twittering about blogging Published in April 30th, 2008 Posted by LJ Banks in blogging, web 2.0 Great list of pro and con articles and tools for twittering at SEO 2.0 blog: Twitter Dilemma: To Tweet or Not to Tweet? Pros, Cons, 50+ Links & Tools. […]
1 In between the hard work – I like it as a distraction
2 Nope!
3 —
4 Fun, quick link scanning, occasional job interviews including speedos and thongs – don’t ask!
5 SEO / Search / YouTube Video finds
6 Erm … Late night trawling.
7 NorthSouthMedia
Others are claiming that Twitter is not good way of promoting their sites..but for me, I believe that Twitter has a lot of potentials..even though others are saying that it’s not worth it at all..
Anyways thanks for sharing these articles about Twitter and also the different tools you can use for this platform..^^
1. Just started, getting into a daily routine of seeing what other people are reading and networking.
2. Not yet, but I want to install Twhirl tonight
3.See above
4. Networking and promoting my blog as well as keeping up with people.
5. My day, my blog, interesting reads I find…
6. Avoiding writing a particularly boring article on hand care…
7. Kimota
1. I lurk all day and most of the night asking and answering questions.
2. Yes.
3. TwitterFox works well for my style of twitter use.
4. Joining in the conversation, germinating ideas.
5. Random (sometimes cool) geeky things.
6. Trying not to get mad at a stupid javascript error I’ve got fix this morning.
7. andymurd
I have vehemently defied the Twitter craze up until now. But I’m also reconsidering my stance given the hype, and to be honest I’m wondering if not being on there is actually hurting me…
Sigh…
[…] Twitter Dilemma: To Tweet or Not to Tweet? Pros, Cons, 50+ Links & Tools. […]
Tibi: Now I realzed! I forgot to add your Twitter guide! I will add it along with a dozen more articles soon.
@all: Thanks for the feedack!
I use Twitter to keep up with friends and industry chatter and to connect informally during the workday
As far as a client, I was using twhirl but have issues with it recently. Your post and several comments convinced me to try twitterfox. So far, so good.
1 How do you use Twitter?
mainly listening to industry experts and getting the jump on news stories
2 Do you use a client?
yes
3 If yes, which one?
twitterfox
4 What are you using Twitter for?
industry news, social networking, fun with friends
5 What do you tweet about actually?
marketing news, cool stuff, whatever nonsense i might be doing at the moment
6 What are you doing?
catching up on the latest tech and marketing news
7 What is your user name?
nyseo
Great list tnx for @jlturn for posting this in Facebook
1. Almost every day. I do take days off. So twitter doesn’t drain my time, I turn it off and off during the day.
2.Yes.
3.Twhirl allows me to manage my twitter time.
4. Build relationships, talk to friends and colleagues, get help, find great resources.
5. What do you tweet about actually?
articles, resources, what I’m doing, promotions, connecting other tweets
6. commenting on this article.
7. thetimediva
[…] To Tweet or Not to Tweet? 50+ Links & Tools by Tad […]
7. MohsinN ;)
[…] Twitter Dilemma […]
I’m with the “it must have taken forever” – oh and the birdies really gave me the impetus to go from one part of the list to the next. Yummy photos.
So of course I’ll play along
1. How do you use Twitter?
I keep a sidebar open most of the time and glance at it, answer my @ msgs all at once every so often. Don’t go to the site at all
2. Do you use a client?
Yes
3. If yes, which one?
Tried many as they – and I – evolved and settled on twhirl. It’s interesting to look at the graph generated by tweetstats and see how my use of a client changed over time & has added up. http://www.tweetstats.com/graphs/susanreynolds Apparently I used snitter quite a bit until twhilr. Twitbin was my pre-twhild fave. Now I sometimes tweet from alertthingy which I use to look at friendfeed but I don’t read tweets there.
4. What are you using Twitter for?
As a networking, communication, interaction tool and for the watercooler effect. people working on their own need some interaction during the day – or night. I began tweeting around the same time I began to use Second Life for business.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in Dec 07 I tweeted it and the community rallied around me. I feel a connection to tweeters just because they are tweeters
5. What do you tweet about actually?
Daily happenings – personal and blog – and my general community / communication web 2.0 interests. Anything I’d blog about – and stuff too random to rate a blog entry.
6. What are you doing?
Branching out and reaching out. Interacting, thinking, conserving energy, wondering whether boobsonice.com should roll into the other blog.
7. What is your user name?
I’m the same me everywhere. @susanreynolds
[…] more conventional ways to use Twitter, check out this excellent Twitter resource. Here are a couple of other unique uses for Twitter. What else have we missed? Are there any other […]
i kinda like twitter …
i dont post stuff much … may be one a day …
but i like getting updates from others and i like to be in the know what my friends are upto …
i use twhirl on my mac and twinnkle and hahlo on my iPhone …
i just saw a new one mentioned … tweet-r …
gonna check it out now …
good article … thanks …
[…] fit in there? In the last two weeks I tried to use Twitter in a SEO 2.0 manner that means both to the advantage of the community/ medium I use and also for my own goals in contrast to just workin….So I present to you the 10 most obvious SEO 2.0 benefits of Twitter:1. Getting people to vote for […]
[…] Have a look at 50 + tools and links for twitter here: […]
[…] For E-commerce SitesTopic: E-Commerce| I’ve read a lot of conflicting views regarding the usefulness of Twitter. As much as I thought the chatter would die down and users would quickly gravitate in a communal […]
1) Listen / discovery / research / news
2) Yes, but mostly use Twitter.com on PC.
3) Twitterific on iPhone, plus Tweetdeck and Twirl
4) best way to keep a finger on the pulse of just about any topic
5) news, tools, articles
6) technology marketing, start-ups, product marketing
7) @tweamr
Jack Dorsy, Twitter’s co-founder was on TV this past weekend (Press:Here, a weekly technology show run on the Bay Area’s NBC affiliate). If you haven’t seen it you should check it out. Jack talks about the future of Twitter and makes a subtle but key positioning distinction between Twitter and Google. When asked about ‘search’ being the killer app, he clarified and said it’s really ‘discovery’. That unique angle is huge – both in value for Twitter but also for users who harness it.
Just a thought. Almost none of the above profundities would have fit into a tweet. And every time I structure microprose in a tweet I have to wonder why this mainframe-era string length throwback should force me to cut my comments to the bare bone. #250-CHARS #FAILFAILFAIL
I am very late adopter. I was skeptical, but reason for me joining is to help 2 clients whom i believe will benefit from the twittering.
I have to admit I am having a bit of fun. Being a conservative SEO’er .. I resist as much as I can any fad. But if it can become a turn to increase profits for my clients; then why not?
I do find it strange though people following me. How do they know i exist – I just barely joined!! People turning up from nowhere.
And unlike say Myspace; you can’t deny them.
Myspace:: I joined again for client-reasons. I mean anything I do is client-oriented. Promoting other people = cool. Promoting myself = nah, I have to be ‘nice’ and stuff, think before I type or say .. deffy not me :)
Great post real informative used well Twitter is one of the best social media platforms out there.
Thanks
WOW, holy god that’s a lot of content. Great job on the long post. I’ve been working on my Twitter a lot lately and this is an amazing resource. Thank you!!!
For your info:
1. How do you use Twitter?
From my iPhone mostly and sometimes via the web if I’m on the PC
2. Do you use a client?
Yes
3. If yes, which one?
I bounce back between TweetDeck and the Twitter app for the iPhone
4. What are you using Twitter for?
Pretty much everything. I use it to give out advice, network with other people, meet interesting personalities, introduce people to our site
5. What do you tweet about actually?
General suggestions and advice, inspirational quotes, life lessons, blog posts, whatevers on my mind
6. What are you doing?
Trying to reach as many people and make as many new connections as possible
7. What is your user name?
@nsscoaching
You write about twitter, yet this is actually the only place I have found a link to your twitter profile?
Wanted to tweet and your blog and mention you but couldn’t find your twitter handle….
On purpose or bad visibility?
Niko: Sounds like the perfect mix. I followed you and added you to my self improvement list:
https://twitter.com/onreact/lists/self-improvement
AJ: Part on purpose, part accidentally. I had Twitter integrated with my blog via Twitter Tools by Alex King but then I got hacked and removed all my plugins. I haven’t brought back all of them yet. Twitter is the highest priority though.
I am not a big fan of automated tweets, I feel it destroys twitter imo…
AJ: I don’t automate, I just feed my relevant tweets into the homepage sidebar. Also I can tweet from within WordPress now. Added Twitter Tools yesterday. I consider adding a badge as well though.
Twitter has become even more important since search engines like Google have started indexing the tweets that too at a very fast rate.
# How do you use Twitter? – Web or thru my phone
# Do you use a client? – Just the web and Snaptu for my Phone
# If yes, which one? – Snaptu
# What are you using Twitter for? – Saying things in my mind
# What do you tweet about actually? – Some nonesense things about my life, how I feel, and what I think.
# What are you doing? – ???
# What is your user name? – EricCantona
1. How do you use Twitter? For business and pleasure (networking)
2. Do you use a client? Yes
3. If yes, which one? Tweetdeck
4. What are you using Twitter for? Business and networking
5. What do you tweet about actually? SEO updates, SE updates, my BLOG, world events and news
6. What are you doing? Right now…typing this response
7. What is your user name? click_finders
GREAT article. Loved reading every minute of it. Also totally dig the resource links.
* Friends list — updated messages from other people who also use the site
* Import friends from your email address book
* Private messages between users
* Post by phone
* Surf by phone — the site is optimized for mobile phones
* VERY simple to use
* 3rd party utilities — there are a million and one applications you can use to access Twitter other than the official web site.
* 3rd party import RSS feeds — through TwitterFeed.com
Twitter – Cons
* Short length — only allows for 140 character length messages, about two sentences.
* Design is ugly and inconsistent
* No embedded video or photo support
* Shared links are usually hidden by a URL shortener, and that makes it hard for people to know what you’re linking to ahead of time
* Not very many customization options
* No custom domain name support — you don’t own your URLlore
I’m not so sure Facebook is just about following friends and family. I have engaged with Facebook groups and fan pages in areas of common interest and relevance (e.g. SEO, Internet Marketing). I have established some good networking relationships (albeit early on). The exposure brings visitors at the same time provides useful information for me to digest for SEO and Internet marketing application to my website.
Exceptional photos BTW. I am early days in Twitter, I have many followers who find me as a potential customer for the things they are trying to sell/promote. I can’t blame them as I am trying to do likewise with people I follow. I also follow people who appear to provide good tweets. Sometimes I try it and then unfollow if I find it unsuitable (e.g. one person tweeted so much that it drowned out everyone else I was following). I somehow followed three people representing the same sales outfit and I get three-tweets on each single topic. Now they followed me back so I am hesitant to unfollow because I value having them on my follow list (if they are even interested in my website). There is no doubt that celebrities and well-known people make it to the top with many followers. I just don’t see how any individual can get much traction in Twitter. I’m learning and discovering what works or not … It is a learning experience.
Awesome lists. Thank you!
Would love to read your thoughts on Twitter clients.
Hi,
Phew. I must admit I’d love for someone to appear from the blue and tell me: ‘You should use Twitter. Use Twitter this way and it’ll generate followers and business.’ Alas I have no choice but to pursue a string of strategies in pursuit of something that works. : (
Thanks!
Pete @ Pure FX
I am reminded of the essays we would write in school. You have described the Twitter phenomenon threadbare. That is as instructive an essay as is possible.
Well, the best secret I’ve observed from a friend on twitter is to make friends with those who follow you and they’ll be checking your site sooner or later and eventually you’ll get links from them voluntarily. Yes, it do take some time but it’s all worth it if you really want to have links and links everywhere.
I think that Twitter may not be for everyone. Sure there are people who love it and others who hate it but that goes for pretty much everything. Twitter is a great tool, you can use it for promoting businesses or just tweet about all kinds of things you do every day.
Twitter is a great tool to communicate and express your view and Ideas.
Sometimes I think everyone is tweeting but no one is reading. There is too much in my Twitter feed and I follow under 100 people. Because of the rolling nature of the Twitter feed, people often tweet repeatedly about the same thing to ensure they are heard. This only adds to the Twitter storm. Vicious cycle.
Great post Tad,
We did a series of Twitter apps a while back. Interestingly enough I’d say about 70% of them are either gone or have been bought by another company. I tried keeping up with the posts with updates. But then it became overwhelming.
How do you use Twitter? As a big cocktail party
Do you use a client? Yes
If yes, which one? Hootsuite,inbound.li, Twitterfeed
What are you using Twitter for? Business, Personal
What do you tweet about actually? Business, Personal
What are you doing? My morning routine of reading and commenting
What is your user name? SEOcopy
Hey Gab!
Yeah, many Twitter apps were killed off in a sweep a while ago when Twitter deprecated the API. Thus I added here only tools that have been around for very long and have survived the recent changes.
I didn’t even know inbound.li
Thank you for the feedback!
On a side note, you seem to use two separate personal Twitter accounts. How do choose which things to share where?
[…] I didn’t know the answers myself yet I complied a list of resources listing all kinds of positive and negative aspects of the service. I update the list regularly ever […]
Great post Tad! Thanks for sharing such informative stuff about Twitter. Actually I have read so many blogs but did not so detailed information on Twitter. Thanks a lot.
[…] (Unknown). Pros and cons of twitter for business and personal use. Available at: http://seo2.onreact.com/twitter-resources (Accessed: 5th October […]
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twitter posts get indexed faster more than facebook .. right?
Yes Borham!
Additionally most Facebook posts are still “private”.
That means Google won’t see them. Just 500 “friends”.
Tad
Hey Tad, this is a great and very helpful blog on Twitter tools.
No doubt all the tools mentioned above are great! However, you can also add the tool FollowerAudit (https://www.followeraudit.com/).
This tool can provide you stats on fake followers, inactive followers, followers growth, unfollowers and competitors stats too.
You can checkout the tool first if liked it do give us a mention.
Thankyou
Hey Caitlyn!
Thank you for reaching out!
It’s just what I’ve been looking for.
I had to remove a follower clean up tool just recently.
So you are more than welcome!
I’d like to share a feature request as well:
can you check for inactive/overactive followees? That is people you follow?
Nobody likes dead accounts and flooding!
Sadly I can only view basic stats in the free version.
The free account has no actual use for managing your followers.
Sincerely, Tad
[…] http://seo2.onreact.com/twitter-resources […]