Social Networking Services in Arizona: What is Twitter and How Can It Help My Business?

Is your website getting the best possible coverage using the most up-to-date social networking tools and technology? This article will provide you with information about social networking services in Arizona, including Twitter and how it can help your business. Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a large corporation, the following information will be beneficial to you.

The World Wide Web is a network of information, products, services, communication tools and multimedia that is constantly being updated with new technology. Making sure your website is compatible and reflective of new technology can help your business succeed in the highly competitive and ever-changing world of the internet. With the introduction of Web 2.0, websites are all about interaction between people.

Internet users are now able to have online discussions, blog about their experiences, download information and media files, podcast, videocast and review products and services. By now you’ve probably heard about social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Technorati and Wordpress… but have you heard about Twitter?

It seems like every time you hear someone talk about online communication, you hear crazy words “Twitter,” “Tweeple,” and “Tweet.” You might be sitting in a marketing seminar, hanging out in a coffee bar or even listening to public radio. Twitter is everywhere! So, what exactly, is Twitter?

Well, Twitter is a free social networking service that allows users to send and read other users' updates (aka tweets). Twitter is basically a stripped down version of a blog. A blog (we can even use this one as an example) has attributes like categories, titles and sometimes very verbose posts that can require a lot of time. Twitter doesn’t have any of these things, nor does it require a great amount of time.

In fact, a single Twitter post can have a maximum of 140 characters. That amount of space forces tweeters to get their message across in a very concise manner. Users can tweet on the web or via phone, making it very easy to send updates.

The cool thing about Twitter is that as a user, you can follow other tweeters (i.e. industry specialists or event presenters) and in turn, they can follow you. It’s a great way to see just how popular your content is, which brings about the most important question: How can Twitter help your business?

You can use Twitter to send status updates, share interesting websites, link to your blog posts, conduct focus groups and ask your followers questions, cover events and even talk about your products and services. Your brand presence on Twitter could be the best way to connect with your target audience, er Tweeple.

Here are a couple of interesting facts about Twitter:
- Cisco Systems, Jet Blue, Sun Microsystems and Whole Foods Market use Twitter to provide product or service information.
- NASA used Twitter to break the news of the discovery of what appeared to be water ice on Mars by the Phoenix Mars Lander.
- A variety of U.S. universities are now using Twitter to relay information to students, including emergency safety alerts.