This week, I want to continue the discussion by attempting to answer the following question:

Why should I care and how can I use it?

You may not be an early adopter, but the fact of the matter is that you’re sleeping at the wheel.  Even many of the “early majority” has been on Twitter for a few months now.  It’s time to sign up, if only so in conversation or while watching a news report you know what the heck “Twitter” is when you hear about it and don’t sound like an ignorant fool.  I mean, come on people, it’s not that hard of a concept to understand (if you still don’t get it, re-read my first post and/or watch the video at the bottom of this one). If you’re already on Facebook or MySpace, you have no excuse.  It won’t take much extra time and it integrates well.  If you don’t like it, just cease the tweats, simple as that.  Before you spit out the brussels sprout maybe you should let your taste buds decide their opinion first, it might be personally and/or professional healthy and perhaps even enjoyable in the process.  So stop waiting around for a formal invitation, point your browser to Twitter.com and get on it.

Here’s 10 valuable ways you can use Twitter immediately

1. Interact with the media and “the man”
What does CNN’s Rick Sanchez, Barack Obama, the US Congress, Ellen, The Today Show, and The New York Times have in common?  Twitter!  Listen up and talk back, the media and “the man” has never been more accessible.

2. Follow your favorite celebrities, athletes, and brands
There are countless celebs on Twitter, to the point where some are predicting the fall of tabloids due to Twitter.  Brands and wanna-bes have flocked to Twitter in droves as well. From C-list to A-list, from Athletes to Musicians, from JetBlue to Whole Foods Market, Twitter is exploding with fame and hot air.  Twitter provides celebs like 50 Cent, MC Hammer, Ashton Kutcher, and John Mayer with an easy to manage, easy to run platform for fan engagement.  It’s far less hassle than MySpace and a lot easier than Facebook for celebs to use and not screw up.  It’s a simple, portable way of staying engaged with the largest group of people while not creating a management headache and without sacrificing direct content control or paying hefty fees in the process.  Therefore, to Simon Cowell’s dismay, Twitter is tearing it up amongst today’s celebs and you, the user (unless you’re famous) benefits.   Now you can openly stalk your idols.  Maybe instead of the NBA fining Cuban for tweating about the refs they should instead think about paying guys like him and Shaq to keep up the free promotion and for keeping the NBA in the news and in conversations.  After all, any press is good press, right?  Not exactly…

3. Kill your boredom and maybe even learn something in the process
Bored?  Twitter takes web surfing to a whole new level – it’s like moving from surfing to windsurfing.  Suddenty you have a sail and some wind to guide you.  What a difference! Track conversations and content, snag fresh and hidden links, and get a feel for the undercurrent of opinion and rhetoric.   Your eyes my glaze over at some point, but until then you can justify the screen-staring by thinking about the educational value all of those links and ideas are going to provide you with.

4. Arrange local “TweetUps” easily
What’s the easiest way to meet up with peeps?  Call out a TweetUp or announce when you’ve arrived somewhere.  You can leave it vague, invite everyone, or pick and choose.  Either way, no more lonely nights whether it’s a pick-up game or Thirsty Thursday.  Mobile, geo-centric tweats make it easier than ever to prevent solo movie theater nights.

5. Integrate Twitter with your existing social media persona without any substantial extra work
Before you reject Twitter because you’re already on social media overload, hear me out.  Twitter won’t take that much extra work.  Do you change your Facebook status or post links to mySpace or delicious?  Tweat these!  Better yet, connect the platforms and eliminate all manual labor from the equation.  With your tweats hooked up to Facebook, you can update both at the same time.  With your blog hooked up to Twitter, you can post each new blog post as they come, automatically.  You get the idea – Twitter is a screwdriver in your toolbox.  You still need the hammer and nails, but boy does a screwdriver come in handy.

6. Expand or detract relationships
There is a difference between followers and friends.  Some of us reserve “Facebook friend” status for real friends we have an offline connection with.  Others accept and seek out friendships and think of Facebook friendship in much looser terms.  To them, a hobby, group, or friend in common is plenty an introduction.  Many of us open ourselves to lots of friends, but still limit certain sections of our profile, like drunken photos.  Twitter gives you a second option in expanding or detracting relationships.  Think about it.  If you send out frequent tweats, it’s a great way for loved ones to really peer into your life and stay in touch with your thoughts and happenings.  Or maybe it’s a profile you can give out to those you don’t want to be Facebook friends with, like a second skin for the strangers (or customers, you get the idea).

7. Build a personal brand and platform
Why do you need a personal brand?  You may have a job or company now, but you never know when shit might hit the fan (pardon my French).  Whether you’re a nobody, an aspiring author, or maybe a 15 year old musician, Twitter can help you begin to build your personal brand.  Building a personal brand involves creating a story (and it should be authentic or risk flopping) and promoting it.  Building a personal brand has never been easier with the Internet and social media.  Maybe your ideas are lame or you don’t need the book contract or record deal now, but why not leave the door open?  By building a personal brand and platform via Twitter, it’s there when and if you need it.   Twitter is like a megaphone.  Imagine yourself in a large, empty opportunity with an open mic.  Now fill those seats with followers and let it rip, but make it meaningful.  Remember, reputation is build in a lifetime and lost in a tweat-second.

8. Promote your business, broadcast sales, and engage in market research
Twitter is all the rage for businesses.  Whether you’re a small business (like this chiropractor or this restaurant) or a Fortune 500, your peers are either already there or are moving in for the kill.  Become a “vocal point” in your industry.  Post sales, promotions, and events.  Distribute links, reports, and articles.  Be a voice.  Answer questions.  Learn from customers, prospects, and market segments.

9. Stay abreast of your industry in real-time
What’s going on in the bridal industry?  Perhaps if you were following a few hundred voices in the industry you would have a better answer to this question?  Whatever your industry, followers find you based on what you post.  So focus in on your hobbies and market and unite with others who care about the same things.  It’s a great way to keep tabs on the ever shifting sandstorm of professional and public opinion.

10. Stay more closely connected with friends and loved ones
As opposed to weekly or monthly calls where you catch up and skip the details, Twitter allows you to engage and be a part of their day-to-day lives, whether the thought of it peaks your curiosity or irritates your senses.

Other popular uses for Twitter include breaking up a relationship, broadcasting a plane crash (colorfully), and telling the world you broke your hip. Let’s summarize: if you can text it, you can tweat it.  If you can tweat it, others will read it and, if you’re cool enough, perhaps even follow you.

Twitter isn’t all peaches ‘n’ creme, though.  Here’s why, in 3 points

1. Clutter, Spam, Abuse & Misuse
What would Simba be without Scar?  Batman without the Joker?  Everyone needs an enemy.  Spam and clutter, unfortunately, is the enemy of the web.  Whether it’s e-mail, links, social networking, videos, you name it – spam affects it.  Wherever there is freedom, there is abuse.  Where there is a system there is an abuser of a system.  Before getting too deep into philosophy, just take heed.  Not every Twitter profile is legit, not every tweat is meaningful, and not every follower is worth following.  Get Rich Quick schemes aren’t limited to e-mail.

2. The Fat, F’ugly Fail Whale
Twitter gets overloaded every now and then. With its breakneck growth rates and ever-multiplying traffic, it’s not always online to accept your tweats. When it breaks, I introduce you to the “Fail Whale” as it’s known.    While this happens rarely, it still happens more often than all of the other websites I frequent.  It’s a bit annoying sometimes, after all, what if my plane crashes and I’m not able to tweat about it? It’s a problem Twitter is no doubt working hard to address.  Meanwhile, the whale calms me and enrages me at the same time.  Not sure how that works…

3. Stupid Tweets & Tweet Overload

It’s easy to get carried away.  There is a heck of a lot of garbage and downright lame tweats out there in tweat universe.  People spew really boring crap either because they are trying to reel in new followers, are that full of themselves, or are simply boring, dull, and uninspired to begin with.  I don’t want to always know what you are doing, right now 24 hours a day.  I want to hear what you are doing, in general (for more on this, re-read Part 1).  Is that really such a hard concept for people to grasp?   On Twitter, it’s too often quantity over quality and not the other way around.  Keep your twitter-holicism in check, will you?  Didn’t your mom teach you to think before you tweat?

Still hung up on the concept?
I present to you “Twitter in Plan English” courtesy of CommonCraft

- @epsilonc

See also: 7 Ways to Ensure a Successful Social Media Campaign

xkcd- Voting Machines

Read this for context

His article on the over-hyped Internet is also a good read.