When I ask friends and clients if they’re on Twitter, the response is almost always “what’s that” or “should I be?”
Twitter’s saturation isn’t huge compared to other social media, like Facebook and Myspace, but it’s not the same format, either.
It’s a microblogging platform where people share their notes, news, reviews… anything they want – even contests. We know people who’ve found new business by following the right feeds on Twitter. You can even use Twitter to find a job.
Anyone can Tweet (the name for an entry on Twitter), but it turns out that most people using it skew to a younger audience – 18 to 34.
You’re held to 140 characters per Tweet, making haiku-type messages a necessity. So every entry becomes an exercise in terse copywriting.
As a CD I often worked with my writers to “shore up” their copy to make one point instead of several, or to fit into space. The same holds true with Twitter – I often find myself thinking like a copywriter again:
What should I write about this conference I’m at?
How do I make it interesting and worthwhile?
Or should it just be fun
Do people really want to know what I’m eating? Maybe if I include the recipe.
It can be tougher than it sounds, just like writing a banner ad. It’s simple, short and requires a skill that most writers still need to develop.
One book we reference often in the Stalelife office is Strunk & White’s Elements of Style. In it, William Strunk tells us:
“Make every word tell,”
and
“Omit needless words!”
It’s harder than you think. In fact, just keeping your marketing copy in the present tense is tough (but that’s an entry for another date).
One day this week I wrote a Tweet:
But afterwards I couldn’t help believe that it could be more fun, shorter and use a better tense, like:
Dear Joe, Call Mike T. Love, Twitter
Still, a good portion of people who use Twitter are still trying to figure it out. It’s like Open Source Code – anyone and everyone can contribute and use it how they want. It’s almost like everyday life.
And if you’re a writer by trade, Twitter should be part of yours.
The Stalelife Twitter feed is Stalelife.
Joe can be found as joeyTWOwheels.
Kurt is KurtyP.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Andy // Jun 4, 2008 at 2:18 am
I totally agree Joe. Twitter is teaching me to think a little more before I write. I’m not a natural writer, but in trying to run a ‘corporate’ blog, I have been looking at ways to better my writing style, and also how to shorten my entries to the bare essentials, without losing the flow. Twitter is great for teaching me that (although I’m still not great at it).
As for Twitter being ‘like everday life’, as far as I’m concerned it is everday life. I recently saw someone call Twitter ‘the freelancer’s water cooler’ which is spot on. As a freelancer (or I’m sure in you situation of a small team) I don’t always get to interact with many people face to face. Twitter has become my watercooler, where I chat about what I did, what I’m doing, what’s going on in the world, and in my area, etc.
Kepp up the good work boys.
2 Joe Doyle // Jun 4, 2008 at 5:31 am
Cheers that, Andy. I sometimes wish I had more followers so I could run poll. Seems like a majority of people I connect with are entrepreneurs like us.
3 Jeff McCord // Jun 4, 2008 at 12:42 pm
thanks for the link about my post re: Twitter and finding a job! It’s true! We recruiters use it all the time!
-Jeff McCord
4 Joe Doyle // Jun 4, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Right on, Jeff. Nice post yourself.
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