By now you have undoubtedly heard about Twitter.
You have had listen to people rave about it, or have been receiving unexpected spam from friends and colleagues urging you to sign up and join them there.
But until you have plunged yourself into it for at least a few hours, it may be difficult to discern whether or not this latest and greatest Social Media phenomenon is right for you or not.
It's not about celebrities When most people try Twitter for the first time, it is usually because of a celebrity using it.
Unfortunately, many users of this social media application mistakenly believe that acting as a celebrity is the best way for them to be using it as well.
Unless you are already a celebrity, trying to behave as one on Twitter will not get you very far.
No one cares that you are brushing your teeth, or off to hang out with your friends.
It's not about selling Many believe twitter is a good way to bring attention to products and services you are offering.
This is both correct, and incorrect.
Posting links to sales pages on Twitter is the fastest way imaginable to be ignored, or even reported for spam.
Twitter is not an RSS Feed Many people using twitter only use it to broadcast updates to their blog or website.
This is basically the same as using the service to sell things, except what they are selling is a website, and not something that costs money.
If this is all you are using it for, you will only be getting a fraction of the attention you probably expect.
It would be well worth your to use social bookmarking sites like Digg or StumbleUpon instead of Twitter.
Twitter is about engaging with people It takes time to meet people, get to know them, and become comfortable with them.
This is as true online as it is offline.
In order to use Twitter effectively, you must spend time there, and interact with people.
Those who get the most out of the service often spend hours there during the week, even if it is only in ten minute increments.
If you do not have the time to do that on a regular basis, at least daily for several weeks, Twitter may not be your best option, and your time might be best spent on other ways to market your website, product or service.