This past year I've had the honor of traveling the country as a social media speaker sharing on all types of social media topics like using Facebook for business, how to blog, video basics, and many other topics. One of the top statements that I've heard this past year while traveling is some variation of this: "Twitter is stupid, I don't get it" which normally leads into a discussion on how Twitter can be used to help your business.
Is Twitter Stupid or A Great Source of Traffic?
One of the things I usually try to point out to people is that Twitter is a great referring source of traffic to your site. During this past year, it is responsible for 22% of referring traffic. The only traffic referrer to beat it was Facebook at 33%. The bounce rates as well as time on site are very similar between the two social networks. So is Twitter stupid, or a great source of traffic? I'd have to say the latter.
Twitter Is Stupid, Only Celebrities Are There.
This is another common complaint I hear. Since you only hear of big name celebrities like Oprah or Justin Bieber on Twitter in the media, many thing that is the only people signing up and using the social network. Here's a really great visualization of Twitter adoption in the US over the past few years:
As you can see, there are many more signing up for Twitter each & every day. In fact, over 100 million users are active each month according to Mashable.
Twitter is Stupid I Don't Care What You Ate For Lunch
Why should someone care what you ate for lunch or what you did last night for fun. I get it, not everyone is going to care about everything you do. But, if you take some time listening to what others are doing, you can learn a tremendous amount of information about your sphere. And, build some of the strongest relationships with people. This past year I made a trip to Seattle to speak and while there some of my Twitter friends a meetup while I was in town. Thanks to my friends Stephanie, Dale, Linda, & Debra, & Chris, I spent a wonderful evening with a great group of friends, all that I mainly communicate with just through Twitter. So while some may not care about those types of things, I cherish the friendships I have made through Twitter over the past year. I know more about some of my friends on Twitter from the other side of the country than friends of mine that live within 5 minutes of my home.
So Is Twitter Stupid or Valuable?
I am not going to force you to use Twitter in 2012, but as for my business, I know I will be continue to integrate Twitter into my online marketing strategy. If you are not sure how to get started there, that is understandable. Here's a few great resources to get you going in the right direction:
- Get More Followers- Chris Brogan
- 7 Way To Be Hated on Twitter- 210 Consulting
- 50,000 Tweets and All I Got Was Everything- Scott Stratten
If you want to connect with me on Twitter, you can find me @JB140
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I am the Co-Founder of 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors. I have traveled the country as a social media speaker. If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this blog, please contact me directly. We specialize in social media training, online consulting, and the creation of your own custom WordPress site.
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Useful Blog Posts:
Twitter Applications- 125 Twitter Tools To Make Twitter Easier To Use










When you build a twitter profile where there is no engagement, it results in a very low return on your investment. I am somewhat an open networker. I will accept anyone as a friend and give them a chance to show me they don't belong connected to me anymore. Yesterday I received an auto from a new follower from which I have been able to find 7 things that everyone should NOT do with their twitter account. The following points all came from one single account.
2. Creating Good First Impressions- If your first impression is trying to convince me you hate spam and don't do that through a spammed message, you have already lost me. A much more effective way to meet someone on Twitter is to listen to what they are saying and engage with them. Joining into a conversation is really easy to do on Twitter as people are constantly posting things wanting you to interact with them. When you see someone post something that you either have an interest in or a way of adding to the conversation, simply do that.
I spend all day in front of the computer reading posts on all sorts of subjects here on ActiveRain. One of the ways I enjoy finding the newest and latest posts on ActiveRain is to use
Well I am glad you asked! Personally, I believe it is starting to really pay off in great dividends. I see a higher amount of traffic visiting my blog on a regular basis and each of my posts is starting to average more and more comments. By the screen shot to the left, you can see that I am averaging a good amount of traffic. The first column is number of comments. Column 2 is views of the post, column 3 is #of clicks in the post.
What I love about this application is that my local friends are now receiving easy feeds to all of my 