Why I'm testing Twitter

Apr 30 2009 By Phil Renton, The Journal

IN my last column I spoke about my Twitter agony as I tried to get past Croft’s internet police and open an account.  Well I’ve now followed our company policy which allows access to previously restricted sites between noon and 2pm.

I was still slightly dubious as I clicked on the ‘get started – join!’ button – all I could think was ‘am I really ready for this?’ Were the updates going to be too much of a commitment? Would this signal the start of me waking up in the middle of the night needing to let the whole world know what I had dreamt about or what brand of toothpaste I prefer?

I put all these worries aside and took the plunge into the relatively unknown. I opened an account, pondered on a user name for a few minutes and decided on philrenton – it might as well be to the point!

I now have several followers and I am pleased to say that although I have been updating it, it is yet to take over my life. I am just about to contact a list of clients, colleagues and acquaintances in a bid to add to my followers. At the moment I am slightly behind Ashton Kutcher’s Twitter record of 1.5 million followers – I have four – but I am sure that over the next few weeks I will give him a run for his money.

So what made me open a Twitter account after quickly disregarding the likes of MySpace, Facebook and Bebo? I still stand by some of my initial thoughts on the above sites – I think they are aimed mainly at the younger generation and are currently used to share photos and arrange plans for the weekend rather than as a business tool.

However, I think Twitter may be a useful application for businesses and it is something we all should be thinking about.

The key message I have read in my research is to offer information, help and advice, as well as humour and random thoughts. Chris Brogan has a great set of hints and tips at http://tinyurl.com/5u75pe.

With three million unique monthly visits and an average daily growth of 420% over the past 12 months Twitter is a key communication tool which businesses should seriously consider. It can work in a range of capacities, from generating opinions, gaining customer feedback and offering your clients business updates to promoting products and services, engaging with customers and networking with clients.

I am putting Twitter to the test and I will let you know how I am getting on in a few weeks. In the meantime, if you do follow suit and open an account, please feel free to follow me and leave a comment letting me know how you are getting on.

Phil Renton is managing director at Croft Technology