360DigitalInfluence

Near the top of the list of social media questions I get on a regular basis is, “Why would anyone use Twitter!?” (This comes right after “How do you even find time to blog?!”, which Ian Sohn already answered.)
I believe the Olympics have provided the perfect opportunity to convert non-believers to Twitter, as the platform has really exploded internationally around the Games - highlighting several of the most popular uses for the site in a way that is easy for the general, non-geeked out public to understand.

Here are three ways that Twitter has been used effectively around the Games:

•  Finding Like Minded People: Using popular Twitter search engines, it’s fast and easy to search for “hashtags” which people include in tweets on various subjects and events of interest so that others can quickly connect with them.   The hashtag #080808 was created for the Olympic Games.   Click here to see tweets from individuals talking about all aspects of the Games using the #080808 hashtag.   DO: Search for topics of interest to you, and start following new people!   Try finding people using Twellow, the Twitter yellow pages.

• Organizing “Tweet Ups”: Offline meet ups of online networks were made popular long ago by sites like MeetUp.com, where you can search for real world meetings of every kind (knitters, euchre players, sports fans, etc.) in your area.   Twitter helps quickly faciliate similar meetings, or Tweet Ups, among networks of Twitterers.   We recently used Twitter to organize a Blogger Meet Up, which was attended by several Beijing area bloggers, bloggers in town for the Games, and Namibian flag bearer and Voices of the Olympic Games blogger, Mannie Heymans.   DO: Start keeping an eye out for Tweet Ups in your area and expand take your online personal or professional network offline.

• Getting On The Ground Reports From Events You Can’t Attend:   From BlogHer conferences, to Auto Shows, to Mac World, to the Olympics, Twitter makes it easy to get real time updates about events that you can’t attend yourself.   For instance by following @lenovo2008 you can get the play by plays from the Lenovo team on the ground at the Games as we attend sporting events, visit Olympic venues, and highlight the best Olympic blog posts. DO: Next time you can’t make it to a conference, check out Twitter - odds are you can get all the best stats in real time from attendees live tweeting the event.
  

It’s clear to see how these three situations I’ve outlined apply to almost any topic of interest or business area that’s out there.   Twitter, and other microblogging platforms like Plurk, are redefining the way that people communicate with each other around their lives, brands they use, events they attend and things they care about.   If you or your client is not listening you should be, and if you’re not participating yet you should seriously think about it.