Who says Twitter’s a waste of time?
I’ve been an avid tweeter on Twitter for the past 4 years now. Over time I’ve built up a good following of almost 1800 people, most of whom have chosen to follow me and not done so through a “find me followers quick” scheme.
A lot of these people, completely new acquaintances to me, have gone on to become very good friends, the sort you feel you’ve known all your life. So to me Twitter has been an enriching experience.
It is also something that has enabled me to achieve some remarkable things.
The following are just a few examples of the difference Twitter has made in my life:
My first success was to provide all the speakers for a national one day conference on using social media in charities via Twitter. The event at the National Railway Museum, York proved to be a real hit with those who attended and it was run at a price most people could afford, unlike some of the one’s held in London!
My second significant achievement was to develop my Freelance Fundraiser website with the help of a good Twitter friend @johnhaydon who is based in Cambridge, MA. He did this using Skype over a couple of evening to talk me through the techie bits of the process.
Last year, I tweeted one morning about a new Government website that allows people to suggest laws to repeal or change. I tweeted how I’d gone on to ask to have the Gift Aid law changed, so that people opt in, rather than opt out. Charities would make more money and have less admin if it was this way round. At lunchtime that day I had a phone call from BBC2’s Newsnight, the UK’s premier evening news programme. By 4pm I was in theLeeds BBC Studio recording and at 22:30 I was on national TV. All because of one little tweet!
I’m currently organising the first ever social media surgery at the Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival in Cheltenham over the 2011 August Bank Holiday. All of the volunteer “surgeons” have been sourced via Twitter.
Then about two hours ago I got a tweet about a tweet I sent a few weeks ago. It was a competition about how satellite WiFi could help people in rural areas. I tweeted about helping to make young people less isolated in rural communities via social media. The tweet I received said I had one the competition and would be the proud owner of a new Apple iPad2 and get a year’s free satellite WiFi from Tooway.
Now would someone like to tell me that Twitter is a waste of time, or will you start to take it a bit more seriously as another medium for developing communications and relationships at all levels, as well as being a great business and productivity tool?
