Today Mark Ramskill (@ramskill) of SubHub and TalkContent takes a look at the amazing reach potential of Twitter, as a distribution mechanism.
These days ever increasing numbers of us are falling victim to information overload.
With a totally overwhelming number of sites and blogs on the web, all vying for our attention, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to both keep up and take part in ‘the conversation’.
While RSS feed readers have helped in many respects, with their ability to aggregate multiple sources and allow us to quickly assess what we want to read in more detail, there is still the inconvenience of having to find and add your own sites of interest and their corresponding feeds. There is also no means for immediate response or discussion.
Enter Twitter . . .
May I suggest, if you are fairly new to Twitter, that you read my TwiTip article, Using Twitter … ‘The Smart Way’ , to get yourself up to speed.
Over the last few months, Twitter has slowly but surely become my main source (or should that be fix) for quality information. Through applications such as Tweetdeck, I continually receive the very latest information (links, feedback and commentary) on my desktop, allowing for immediate digestion, review and onward distribution.
It’s like having my very own newswire!
Another great benefit of Twitter, is that it enables you to assemble your own network of writers, news gatherers and commentators. These can range from niche authorities, to news sources, to those that share interests with you, to friends and colleagues. Each of these groups in turn have their own networks feeding them information.
Think of it as being plugged into one ever-evolving, giant brain.
Just as importantly, each person in your network and potentially their followers onwards (through forwarding on / ‘retweeting’), also have access to the information you tweet. Those that comes across you through a third party’s retweeting, where you are quoted as the source (e.g. @ramskill), can also add you to their own immediate network.
I’m sure you can appreciate the potential that can be unlocked.
As an example, my own ‘Twitter Tribe’ is made up of 2,116 followers (as of Friday 13th February 2009). When each of my followers own followers are taken into account my reach is a massive 3,494,913 people (data source: Twinfluence). This is growing at a velocity of 17,039 people per day!
Now imagine that any of my followers and second-tier network of 3,494,913 people may choose to retweet a message that originates from me on to their own followers (with any of them choosing to follow me directly). A message could consist of a link to an article i’ve written, information I feel is worth sharing, or perhaps a promotional code. Food for thought here in terms of the potential viral effect that could be generated.
Working in the other direction, I am following 2,328 people. Some of these are friends, some are colleagues, but the majority are those who I have determined are sharers or publishers of valuable information; information which I can use in my day-to-day role as a marketing specialist and blog editor. Don’t forget that my followers’ own networks (and onwards) are also sharing information, which will in turn filter down to me. Great stuff!
Obviously, dealing with such a large network of people can prove problematical. Without the use of TweetDeck i’d be ‘in the weeds’.
TweetDeck is an Adobe Air desktop application that aims to evolve the existing functionality of Twitter, by taking an abundance of information i.e Twitter feeds, and breaking it down into more manageable bite-sized pieces. Tweetdeck allows you to group your followers as you see fit.
I have groups within Tweetdeck for ‘Friends’, ‘Collegues’, ‘Partner Agencies’, ‘Key Influencers’ and so forth, with my virtual filing of people and information constantly evolving.
If you consider the extraordinary potential for reaching an enormous amount of people and apply the steps and ideas I outlined in Using Twitter … ‘The Smart Way’, you are well on your way to unlocking the magic of this amazing new information ecosystem, for whatever purpose you see fit.
The next time someone says to you, “Twitter? Isn’t that that thing on the Internet where you post about what you’ve had for breakfast?!”, you can shake your head in condescending bemusement. You know otherwise 
Remember – if you want to chat or have questions, just add me on Twitter: @ramskill
@ganeshsrinivas
You’re right. Most of the happenings in the world are heard first on twitter. One of the perfect example of citizen journalism – Mumbai Terror Attacks. All goes to say that whether its east or west, twitter’s the best.
@easyfrenchfood
This seems fine for information that needs constant updating. But what about things that don’t change much with time? History, or how to get rid of head lice, or what day is Easter on this year? Or am I completely missng the point that everything is changing and no information is stable?
@yleesharvester
Well, written! The Article contains some ideas and thoughts that I Think about too.
“It’s like having my very own newswire!”
That’s exactly how I feel about twitter. Plus, you can control( or not control) the source of your personal news by following and unfollowing.
Very true. I think Twitter can be better than other sources of information.
@yohay
Maybe using TweetDeck is the piece I’m missing in using Twitter.
Thanks for this article!
@MadlabPost
Great post. I’ll check out your other article today after completing some work that I should really be doing now and not reading blogs
. I know that many twitter members use tweetdeck and other plugins or websites to monitor and pump up their twitter experiences but tweetdeck just seems so unnecessary for me. I don’t want to have yet another internet thing that I have to stay on top of but maybe I will find it useful as I learn more about how to use twitter efficiently.
@BlackMediaProp
I don’t know but Twitter to me is what Fbook status is , but more on a business and organized level. I just jumped on it about a week ago and absolutely love it.
@microplaza
Hi Mark,
I find it great that you used the expression ‘Twitter Tribe’ because we use the exact same word at my company.
We wanted a way to discover relevant and interesting items from the people we follow on Twitter. And since most of the time interesting topics are shared through a link by your friends and colleagues, we built MicroPlaza to deliver us the filtered links from our Twitter timelines. It’s our discovery engine, our personal newswire.
And we implemented a feature allowing you to group your followings into …. Tribes, you guessed it! Exactly like the groups you made in Tweetdeck!
)
@The_Style_PA
I think it is really interesting that each person will have a different user experience depending on who they choose to follow. The information I see may be very different to another user. Some things seem to cover all interests though. Breaking news being the big one.
@hectorhenry17
Juts how you say Twitte have became a mosters of information of all sourt the gopod thing its that they are aplication that helpyou to simplefy your life in the twiitter world like you case that you have around 2000 twitter that you fallow. so you need a lot of organization.
that whit out have in mind to all the people that you could reach to, juts by RT. In my case i TWHIRL and sometime i mess my self whit all that amount of tweet linkss, newss and stuff. is crazy. use
Thank you for the pots.
@ericatkins
I was watching an old training video today. In the video was a scene that showed a fax labeled URGENT! coming in. The video, which is kind of old mind you, made it out to look like faxing was the fastest way to deliver important information.
I thought to myself, news breaks on Twitter and is passed around the globe instantly through that service to not only a machine (a computer) but anywhere that a Twitter app or an RSS reader can be used; like on a cell phone or PDA.
@beauvass
Couldn’t agree more. Not everyone uses Twitter the same way, but it has been a gem for me since I’ve discovered more and more providers of quality information.
For me, the thing that really sets Twitter apart from other social networking tools (such as Facebook status) is its one way connections. Being able to follow the top minds in your given industry without them having to agree to follow you, or be “friends” just opens it up to almost get direct access to those minds where your average person wouldn’t.
I have just started using TweetDeck for going through all of my tweets when I get into the office in the morning (being an Aussie I get most of quite a lot of tweets overnight), then use TwitterFox (Firefox add on) for it’s ease of sending and receiving tweets while I work.
Great article!