Are you a Twitter skeptic? Have you wondered why ‘what you are doing’ is important for the world? Why would the world care what you are doing at this very moment…

Each day I am reminded how valuable Twitter can be as a marketing tool: for research, for product information, to distribute news, and to build customer loyalty. THe use of Twitter for marketing is expanding rapidly and it is important your brand is being represented. You see, Twitter helps foster one of social media’s most powerful examples of ‘collectivism.’ Collectivism, as defined by Wikipedia, is:

…any moral, political, or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals. The philosophical underpinnings of collectivism are for some related to holism — the view that the whoe is greater than the sum of its parts/pieces. Specifically, a society as a whole can be seen as having more meaning than the separate individuals that make up that society.

Now while everyone is not using Twitter for the collective good, the collaboration that occurs within Twitter, is nurturing this interdependence.

So what the heck is Twitter anyway?

The common definition of Twitter are mired in industry jargon such as ‘social networking’ and ‘micro-blogging,’ something akin to instant messaging or chat. Twitter is a platform that allows you to share, in real time: thoughts; information; links; and so forth with the Web at-large and to be able to communicate directly, privately or publicly, with other Twitter users. The main difference, however, is that each Twitter communication cannot exceed 140 characters.

Twitter is based on the simple question: “What are you doing?” and encourages users to answer exactly that. Conversations of many kinds and the ease with which Twitter facilitates them compose the hidden power of Twitter, particularly as a branding and business marketing tool. Twitter has given the public unprecedented direct access to companies, celebrities, and power figures in a way that hasn’t previously been seen.

Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day