Take the Twitter Challenge

For those of us that use Twitter, if you’re like me you cringe when someone asks, “So, what’s the deal with Twitter anyway?”.  It’s impossible to answer that question properly without wondering why, in fact, you actually do use Twitter.

“It’s a great way for me to network and meet new people.”

“Uh, you mean like Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Ning, etc.?  I don’t need another way to do that.”

“Well, its a great way to find out new information, keep up with technology, learn from experts…”

“Uh, you mean like reading people’s blogs, subscribing to their RSS feeds, etc.?  I don’t need MORE ways to get info, I get too much already.”

“Well I also use it to communicate with people.”

“Riiighhht, like email, SMS, and IM?  Yeah, I needed ANOTHER way to communicate with people.”

At this point I usually attempt to show the person my Twitter feed on my iPhone via Tweetie, but still they just don’t “get it”.  Then I remember about a year ago when I also didn’t “get it”.

I think, like most new technology, with Twitter you have to try it to understand it’s power.  You can’t simply read the Twitter.com homepage and understand its value.  You have to actually jump in, try it, give it some time and then you’ll actually understand it.  And you know what, it might NOT be for you, but at least you’ll “get it”.

So the Twitter Challenge is this: For two weeks, spend 10 minutes a day on Twitter.  After that two weeks, you’ll “get it”.  140 minutes over two weeks, that’s it.  I promise it will all start to come together and I’d bet you continue using Twitter after the challenge, and probably in an altogether different way than the people that tried to describe it to you.

PS – you’ll also enjoy the experience MUCH more if you use an app like TweetDeck (my preferred app) or Filttr.