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Should You Twitter?

Weigh The Pros And Cons Before You Tweet
By Mollie Neal

What do Oprah Winfrey, Ashton Kutcher, NASA astronauts, and Sea World’s killer whale, Shamu, have in common? They all use Twitter, a social networking service that enables its members to communicate with one another through short messages known as tweets.

Twitter is gaining popularity at an astonishing rate, and it’s not just for those in the limelight.

ComScore Media estimates that during April 2009 alone, there were 17 million U.S. visitors to the Twitter.com Web site. This overshadows the adoption rate of other popular social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Early adopters used the free Twitter service to connect with friends and family. Then large businesses like Disney, Starbucks, Dell, Microsoft and other heavyweights jumped on board and started communicating with employees, clients, customers and prospects. Gravitational Media estimates that more than half of Twitter activity is currently business related.

Now that this relative newbie on the social media scene has gone from having a modest following to becoming a mainstream Web attraction, micro-business owners are questioning whether it’s worth the time and effort for them to become involved, too.

Eric Glazer, founder of Marketing Studio, which helps small businesses navigate social media, says small businesses avoid participating in Twitter for three fundamental reasons:

1. They are unfamiliar with it or find it confusing
2. They question whether their target audience is participating
3. They simply don’t believe they have the time to master another tool

A business owner’s first priority is making money. And Twitter isn’t eas...