Since its small scale launch in 2006, Twitter has gained fame and a large fanbase with it’s consistent and impressive growth online. It’s now estimated that over 70 millions tweets are uploaded per day, along with almost a million search queries. Celebrities, athletes, politicians, and the general public have all embraced it, with it’s basic concept and great accessibility. Whether you’re working on your laptop, browsing the web on your tablet, or having a quick peek at your phone, you can easily post a quick update to your Twitter in seconds.
Despite the basic concept… Twitter often remains fairly misunderstood. Some public figures have lambasted the website, while it’s also caused many notorious upsets that (naturally) have gone public.
David Cameron produced a quote that (regardless of whether you’re fan of Twitter or not) is definitely a classic… even inspiring t-shirt designs like the one to the right. Various football players have been fined and suspended for after match comments on the site, while many celebrities have caused uproar for careless (or sometimes plain stupid) comments.
But this isn’t what Twitter is all about. Nor is it about repetitive updates on when you’re eating breakfast and going to the toilet (not at the same time).
Twitter and Web Design
Whether it’s web design you’re interested in, or a different topic such as sport, music, photography, fashion, etc – Twitter can help you find out more about it, and gain a lot of useful knowledge that is being shared on Twitter. Since being involved with the web design community on Twitter, I strongly believe my skills in design, and general interest in the industry have significantly increased. Here’s 5 reasons why (among other examples why Twitter rules)…
Exposure to the best resources around.
If a particularly awesome web design article has been uploaded somewhere on the web, you’ll know about it on Twitter. Follow enough designers, and your timeline will soon be brimming with links to the best of the web. I’m finding out useful tips and tricks all the time via Twitter, whether it’s some cool CSS3 techniques, or a useful WordPress plugin.
Inside info from the experts.
Every big player in the industry is on Twitter, and there’s nothing to stop you following them (I frequently stalk the likes of Nick La and Andy Clarke, plus a whole lot more). This enables you to see what they’re working on (generally inspiring stuff), and again, gain some useful advice.
Find inspiration.
Twitter has opened my eyes to new web designers, different styles and trends, and a whole load of simply inspiring websites. You’ll be amazed what’s out there.
Promote yourself.
Whether you freelance, own your own design agency, or just want to create an online identity – Twitter is the place to be. You can increase your rate of business significantly through Twitter. Get involved, and you’ll naturally be promoting and marketing yourself. Post and share useful and interesting tweets, and you’ll be bound to gain followers – all of whom will learn about who you are, and what you do. “Celebrity” web designers now genuinely exist because of the popularity of Twitter.
It’s addictive a lot of fun…
As you start following more people (and likely get a few followers and fans yourself), you’ll soon start to get more and more involved in the web design community on Twitter. It’s easy, simple, and quick to use (apart from the downtime that it sometimes suffers from), and as mentioned earlier, can be accessed via various devices. To be blunt, Twitter’s almost worth it just for the tweets from Charlie Sheen, David Mitchell , and Lord Voldemort himself. Once you set Twitter as your homepage, you know you’re truly hooked…
05:49 25/05/2011
I am already using Twitter but after this article i feel that i need to be more active on Twitter platform. Thanks for sharing such inspiring Content.