Guest Blog: Confessions from a Twitter-hater convert

By: Holli Keaton

When Twitter first came out, I had no idea what it was. I would hear people talk about “tweeting” and thought they were crazy people who played some strange bird-related game together.

Eventually, I found out what Twitter really was, and my first reaction was, “Well, that seems stupid.” That remained my response for years. 

On the other hand, when Facebook first came out my freshman year of college, I was quick to jump on board and immediately grew to love it. I could keep in touch with old friends from high school and shamelessly stalk the photos of those with whom I wasn’t so chummy. With Facebook, I was connected. 

And through the years, my enjoyment of Facebook has only grown. Sure, it changes its template or other features all the time, but I’ve never wavered. What started as a way to keep in touch with old friends turned into a way to connect with people I see everyday to what it is today: an absolute necessity to anyone who wants to be a communicator.

While I was living in Facebook la-la land, I guess Twitter was growing right along with it. But principally, I vowed to stay away forever. Everything I could do on Twitter, I could do on Facebook in a much more interesting way. The Twitterverse had other plans.

While working for a newspaper, my boss approached me one day and told me I had to get a Twitter account. After some protesting, I saw that nothing would change her mind. So, I asked someone else to set it up for me, and I cleverly would post something about a random news story every so often.

Looking back, I was the most boring Twitter-user in the world.

Eventually, I left my job at the newspaper, leaving with it, my Twitter account. But a few months later, I came crawling back with my own account @hollikeaton (follow me and I’ll follow you. Come on, it’ll be fun). The truth was, even though I hadn’t quite gotten the hang of the Twitter lingo—shorter sentences and hashtags—I was now intrigued.

Here’s why:

-Unlike my biased beliefs, the majority of people did not use Twitter to simply post updates about every move they make. Legitimate news sources and businesses posted information I wanted to know, and I only had to look one place to find it.

-Looking at updates on Twitter was much easier than Facebook. My iPad, in fact, marks the spot I leave off reading tweets, so I can easily stay away from Twitter for days and catch up within five minutes. #thatsboss

-It’s socially unacceptable to update your Facebook page every hour. Tweeting is just fine. (If you are live-tweeting an event you can even post every five minutes).

-Sometimes you accept Facebook friend requests from people you aren’t super interested in. On Twitter, you choose who you follow and no one sends you constant reminders that you aren’t one of their followers.

-Twitter is simple. You post updates. You interact with others who update. And you put up the occasional picture. That’s all you have to learn to do with Twitter. #digit?

-Because many people get tweets sent right to their phone, Twitter is one of the most effective ways to mass communicate to a lot of people at one time. If you are a business not using Twitter, then you are failing to utilize a very effective advertising tool.

-Last but not least, Twitter lingo is more fun than Facebook #amiright? The way I talk in real life includes side bar points. Twitter accounts for that with its hashtags (aka #signs). #thanksTwitter

So here I am, a once Twitter hater now advocating the site for the entire world. If you are where I used to be, maybe it’s time you think about coming around. If you are a business owner who is where I used to be, you need to put aside those notions immediately. #itstime #youarelosingbusiness

Featured image by GeekSugar.com
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Holli Keaton is a freelance writer and social media consultant. Tweet @hollikeaton and she promises she’ll tweet back to you.