What's the deal with Twitter?

[chrisbookarama]

I know it's been around for years but I've always avoided it. I guess I don't get it. I see that many Book Bloggers have joined up and seem to love it. What am I missing? Or should I stay away?

[Corinne]

I'm interested in the answer to this question :)

[Amy]

It's a fun and quick way to keep up with other people. I feel like my blogging friendships have grown a lot stronger. Plus many authors and publicists are also on there. There ways to manage it so it doesn't suck all the time out of your life, but it truly can be a lot of fun. :)

[chrisbookarama]

So how do you find people?

[Anna Balasi]

You find and follow people first and many of them would gladly friend you back. That's really just a starting point. The idea is that you post interesting things. Another thing is be natural--sound like a person as opposed to some sort of automated feed, so yes, post something you would say as you, as opposed to posting something like a newsreel.

Usually, the result is that an interested post will get retweeted by the ones following you (and it's only polite that they give you credit for the post). If anyone in their circle of followers find the post interesting and know it came from you, they'll friend you, and perhaps if you're interesting enough, they'll spread the word about your interesting Twitter account.

A lot of it is giving back, as well, so yes, please do retweet other people's tweets that have tickled your fancy. Responding to other people's tweets is a good thing, too. It's just like a party. Be interesting, but also be interested.

[chrisbookarama]

Hmm...I don't know, sounds like a lot of work and the blog already takes up a lot of time.

I'm still not sure. Can I just check it out without signing up?

[Maw Books]

Look at who your friends are following. You most likely will know them as well.

[Rachel]

How is it different than facebook? What's better about it?

[Anna Balasi]

Twitter and Facebook are two completely different animals. Perhaps the only thing they have in common is the status updates--however, in Facebook, status updates are mixed with a load of other personal information, as opposed to Twitter, which is fed into your own personal follower-follow channel.

What people look for in Facebook and Twitter is different, as well, so I suppose the point is, you can't measure the merits of Facebook and Twitter by comparing it to each other.

[Steven at Book Dads]

What I find better about it is that the posts (tweets) are short and quick. You are limited in the number of characters used (140?). Easy to read and easy to scan quickly through if you have a lot to read. It's not like Facebook at all, it's very simple.

[Amy]

Well said Steven!!! It's much simpler...

Rachel, I use facebook more for my IRL friends and twitter for everyone. Plus I can easily tweet from my phone, and have updates pop up while I'm working on something else.

[Anna Balasi]

I was positively hypnotized by the Election feed of Twitter when it was going on. I swear, it was my online home for those weeks leading up to the election. I loved it!

[Lisa Roe]

It took me a long time to hop on the Twitter wagon! But now I see that with a business like mine, it's absolutely essential to be on. A really great, quick way to meet people. I think it's easy to use, but I'm still figuring things out.

Amy, Steven: what's with tweets that use #? I don't get that. Also, how do you reply to two people? I've seen a reply to two @'s and can't figure it out either!