Microbloggers Anonymous – Reasons to Tweet

“Hello. My name is Matt, and I’m a Microblogger”

photo credit: anomalous4

I’ve been using Twitter for a little while now. Historically I always kind of avoided social networking but after being convinced to join Facebook last year I got the bug. Twitter seems to have the Marmite effect on most people, yes you either love it or hate it. One of my friends, who is something of a web hermit, laughed when I mentioned micro-blogging and questioned why anyone would want to do such a thing. His derision fueled my self-doubt, “Why am I doing it?” I asked myself.

1. Self-Expression. This is the most import use for me. I’m probably as guily as anyone when it comes to this. I spent Friday tweeting about my hangover. I know the wider world doesn’t care, but I’m a complainer and I find it a nice outlet. I put my little message in a bottle out there, and sometimes I get a reply.
2. Conversation. It can be lonely in the Meatspace. When I’m sitting bored at work and someone puts out an interesting question or makes a statement, I can tweet them with my 2 cents. It’s a nice indirect method of communication. People compare it to SMS messaging, which I agree with, however unlike SMS, I don’t really care if I get a reply.
3. Self-promotion. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of shameless self-promotion. I might tweet a link to my blog every now and again in an attempt to build a bit of traffic.
4. Sharing. This kind of links in with number 2. If I find something I think my followers might find interesting I’ll post a link. I use del.icio.us and share on Google Reader but Twitter means people see the link straight away and will tell me if they like it.

I guess other people might find other reasons to micro-blog but those are mine. Is there anything wrong with it? I don’t think so. It is, what it is, a fun little tool for communication.