Twitter_logoIt’s been proving difficult to hook Canadians on twitter. Apparently more than 85% of the Canadian population has heard of twitter, but less than 5% have actually joined.

41 million users can’t be wrong
Right now twitter is reporting more than 41 million users. So why should YOU join the twittersphere? Twitter is unique. It’s not like other social networking sites. You’re probably already a member of facebook, and that excuse alone seems to be holding a lot of people back from twitter. After all why would you want to join two sites that serve the same purpose? But that’s where people are misinformed. Twitter is nothing like facebook. Right now I get the majority of my news through twitter. The key to twitter is that the people you follow, DON”T have to follow you or approve. You don’t become ‘friends’ with people in the twittersphere, you simply stay tuned in to what they have to say. Twitter is not just a place for dumping your facebook style status updates. Most people on twitter are not interested in reading or posting what they ate for breakfast, or what adorable thing their child just did.

What will twitter do for me?
Twitter is fast becoming a source of breaking news, and trending global topics. Want to stay relevant, in the loop, culturally aware? Twitter is the place to be on the web. Connect with your friends. Follow politicians, rock stars, sports lists etc. You decide who you follow.

Micro Blogging
One of the greatest factors of twitter is the micro-blogging component, the fact that all posts and updates are limited to 140 characters. This short format enables you to speed read through posts in order to find only that which you would like to read. Using a link shortener, bloggers and writers are able to put quick links into their updates so you can read more if you like.

It will take some time to build your account to the place where you are following people that truly interest you. Sometimes you may begin following someone, and realize their tweets are not relevant to you. Simply unfollow.

Neat people or organizations to start following on twitter right away:
Mashable (Pete Cashmore), twitter news & social media breaking news.
Barack Obama, yes the President of the USA
CBC Sports, interesting global sports news
Google, the company, and search engine kings.
News 1130, relevant news for Greater Vancouver.
Time, the magazine.
Rick Warren, one of the most re-tweeted people in the twittersphere.
Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft.

Start on twitter today, and begin following people that interest you!


Interesting twitter sites & resources:

twittercounter.com, find out who the top twitter users are, and other info.
tweetstats.com, graph your twitter stats.
twuffer.com, send tweets later with this twitter buffer.
bit.ly, a link shortener.
twitpic.com, share photos on twitter.

So what is twitter exactly? The following slideshow lets you know:

View more presentations from Haewoon Kwak.