It is not often that a technology comes along and changes the world. That is the case with Twitter. Started in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter is a micro-messaging platform used to communicate via the web or mobile 160 characters at a time. In only a few short years the service, both widely acclaimed and widely criticized, has certainly had it’s impact across all corners of the globe.
The impact varies as much as the individuals who use it. Some things Twitter has been used for includes:
- Reporting News – the first news and pictures of the Hudson plane crash were sent out on Twitter before any major media was on the scene.
- Civil Unrest- like the twitterscope (microscope that Twitter creates, yeah I just made that up!) around the Iranian presidential elections of 2009. The world gained insight into the civil dissention surrounding the election proceedures with detail like nothing ever witnessed before.
- Education – grade school teachers turning to Twitter to help in class projects and providing global experiences.
- US Politics- most notably, President Barack Obama used Twitter daily to connect with supporters pre-inauguration.
- New Business – small companies using Twitter to scale like Threadless and others use it to pick up incremental business like Tony & Alba.
- Public Relations – many companies are lifting the corporate communications veil and using Twitter to humanize the organization like Kodak’s CMO. Government agencies are also using Twitter to communicate better
Need more examples? Well, this week’s moderator actually wrote the book on Twitter case studies from over a hundred interviews he completed. Now he wants your story. Shel Israel has a storied career in the social media space helping companies, from start-up to grown-up, better utilize digital communications to grow their businesses. This week’s #socialmedia chat will take a look at how Twitter is affecting all of us and where Twitter’s value will lie in the future. As one of the industry’s most respected thought leaders, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to “hang out” with Shel Israel for an hour.
Topic: Twitterville – What’s Happened, What’s Coming
Q1: How did Twitter change you business in 2009?
Q2: How will Twitter change in 2010?
Notice anything different here? This week we will focus on only two questions (compared with the usual 3). Please join us Tuesday 01/26 at 12 noon EST and follow along at #sm44
From its beginnings in 2006, 
The boss yells in one day that your company needs to “do” social media and would like you to lead the effort, and by the way, can we be up by the end of the day! Ha, Ha, Right?!? So you go about securing a Twitter account, setting up Facebook fan page and sneaking in a cute WordPress site on the tail end of your corporate website. 
