“We” are twitter.

Image from Failbook.com

Despite the multi millions on twitter, there is a huge percentage of that number who have no idea what they are doing – add in those who have never tried twitter, and there is a large chunk of the population that has never sent a tweet, typed the @ symbol before a twitter handle, used a hashtag or RT’ed something.

Twitter is still in its infancy, and has a lot of room to grow, change and develop. Businesses are still trying to discover why (or if) it is beneficial for them to use, and how to use it if it is. Unfortunately, many of them feel that social media can be a solve all – that adding in facebook, twitter and a blog will skyrocket sales and change the face of their business. Reality: it won’t. It may open new doors, create conversation and down the road, increase sales, but it is not something that works over night. Or even over a couple weeks.

Most of you reading this probably have a twitter account, may have came here through a tweet and follow me on twitter. You know everything I said above to be true. You may use twitter for your business, yourself or a combination of the two. You have gotten involved with the community and have learned to appreciate what twitter can and can’t do. You understand its value but also understand that it is not a super power. You are the ones that are doing it right. But, at one point, you were the person in red in this situation. You had no idea what you were doing, how to start the conversation, or how to benefit from using social media.  You struggled to think of things to tweet, who to follow and what links to share. Twitter was a wild jungle and you were ill-prepared to take it on. Luckily, you had help from other friends in the twitter world who gave you advice and helped you along the way. Maybe you even hired someone to come in and talk with you about how to set up lists, what to talk about and how to use tweetdeck and twellow. Either way, you had support and you learned how to survive in the jungle. Because of your struggles and accomplishments, you are part of the twitter “we”.

“We” are of the group that is active in the web world – connected in many ways to our audience and are on the forefront of the newest technology. “We” lead the way, sharing conversations, having tweetups and building yet another way to create more conversation. “We” know the news before anyone else and “we” are the proud who share it, brag about it and love it. “We” are unique in the fact that “we” have serious contacts and friends spanning the globe, all created through a simple tool and a lot of work and effort. “We” are the people that the news talks about when social media is a trend, and “we” are the victims of the social media scammers.

And now, “we” need to take a moment and think about what we are involved in – and how what “we” know can help the rest.

So now…yes, right now…I want you to share something about twitter – anything you think a first time user needs to know. Let’s make this list awesome, and then let’s share it.

Let’s open the “we” to everyone else…

Related posts:

1. What has twitter taught you?
2. Social Media Channels: Using twitter for more than talking
3. I love Twitter lists.