5 reasons why Twitter is NOT a waste of time
Twitter is used by billions across the world for a variety of reasons. Some use it for fun, some use it seriously. Recently, my class had a group discussion on the topic : “Social Media is a waste of time”. At first, I was like “um What? Okay, I’m gonna speak against it”. Then I found out that – out of the 20 people speaking, only *I* spoke against the topic, while the rest firmly said that, yes, social media is a waste of time. “Social media gets you hooked”, “You sit staring at your computer for hours together and waste your time”, “Social media is useless, we don’t need to know what a celebrity had for breakfast” were some of the responses. So is really Social Media – we’ll focus on mainly twitter— An art of wasting time? Not really. Here’s why.
1. You learn. Twitter is a powerful learning tool. So you’re interested in photography? Go follow all the photography related accounts! You like music? Follow all the great musicians on twitter. You love to write? There are tons of amazing bloggers out there! All of them are just a tweet away.
2. You make friends. You make relationships. You find customers. You find mentors. Where else would you find a student from India like me being friends with a world class blogger from the US, a CEO from Malaysia, and a business woman from Europe? Twitter has no boundaries. I don’t think this would be possible if twitter didn’t exist.
3. You become a happier and better person: This is so true. I read so many inspirational tweets that make my day, everyday. Your twitter friends will cheer you up if you feel down. You learn to help each other. You get to know each other. You can make friends for life.
4. You can promote your stuff. If you’re a writer, you can tweet your blog posts for traffic. If you’re a singer, you can showcase your talent through video sharing (But just be careful not to overdo the promotion bit, interact with followers as well). If you’re a business person, you can find potential customers. If you’re looking for a job, you can find potential employers through twitter too!
5. You stay updated and get feedback: News spreads like wild fire on twitter – which has both positive and negative sides to it. While I first read about MJ’s death on twitter (which was true), I also read about Jackie Chan’s “death” on twitter (which was a hoax). Hence, you must always check before you believe anything you read on twitter. But then – Twitter was used during the recent earthquakes and Tsunami to update everyone about the safety of twitter peeps which is a great use of twitter! Moreover, companies and businesses can get instant feedback regarding their products and customers can also share their grievances directly to the concerned companies through twitter. This proves to be a win win situation for both – companies as well as customers.
So finally, twitter is SO not a waste of time. I’ve been on twitter for more than a year, and I believe that not a single second was wasted. You just have to know how to use it well. If you agree (or disagree) with my post, please leave a comment below! 🙂
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Great article once again Nicky. Now I can show my parents some proof that Social Media isn’t a waste of time!
I hope those who you were up against watch the Twitter Counter of this post 😉
haha thanks Lionel! Social media is definitely not a waste of time – so many uses, so many advantages! 😀 Thanks for your comment~
Good One.. Nicky.
Twitter sure is a great platform.
And I dont understand why people tend to miss these obvious facts and that how twitter can make all the differences everywhere…
Those social media critics should read this.. 🙂
Thanks for your comment! Indeed, twitter is incredibly useful!
another awesome blog… there is a magic in your writings Nicky that goes straight in the heart… very very well written blog with great info…. hmmm finally I can prove to my boss that Twitter is not a time waster :p
Aw thanks for your kind words Yousuf! I am grateful for amazing readers like you! Keep checking back for more 🙂 #gratitude
Great points for every person who doesnt like Twitter….And as I said earlier, social media is never waste of time if you are using it perfectly.
Indeed! Thanks Shaan!
Whether one wastes one time on twitter or not is all about self-control. We live in an age of info-glut. Too many interesting facts, summaries of facts, digests of facts, opinions about facts, blogs about opinions of digests of facts, …. It is easy to get sucked up in this overload. If one does (and sometimes I do), then while one is reading useful and interesting information, one is still wasting time. The problem can be that learning itself (especially if the learning is interesting) can be addictive, and addictive behaviors push other tings out of ones life. One has to balance learning with applying. If one doesn’t apply the learning, the learning was just a waste of time.
Very well said, Chris! I agree with all your points. If we just read and don’t apply, it *does* go waste. Balance is key! 🙂 Thanks a lot for your awesome comment!!
and for me I am friendly with my younger generations and learn a bit from them too. Nice.
Thanks for your comment! 🙂
I love tweets mostly because of I can express what I feel without much interacting with others.Otherwise, I think all of your mentioned points of using tweeter is valid and very reasonable.I just hope Google does not buy out twitter.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views with us!
Thanks for this. I am a new follower/fan, and fairly new to Social Media. Looking forward to learning/sharing/tweeting/laughing…and more!
You ROCK!
BP
Glad to have you here Paul! Do keep checking back for more such articles 🙂 Thank YOU!
This is really true. Many people still think twitter is only for teenagers..In fact politicians use twitter!
Indeed! In fact, some politicians use twitter very well! Thanks for your comment Wanda. 🙂
Twitter is no way a waste of time, for sometime you might think that you are lost in the ocean of links,thoughts, etc. but one will learn how to manage the streamline of twitter. I like twitter world cause everything is made or broken in 140 characters. thanks for the post 🙂
Exactly! *Managing* does the trick! Thanks for your valuable comment Prasant!
Social Media is NOT a waste of time if you’re not spending so much time. Or at least if you know what you’re doing. Clearly, those people who say it’s a waste of time are those who don’t make the most of their presence or don’t really know the power of being social in these media. I’ve seen a lot of people use SM to boost their business, their ego, their confidence, in myriad of ways. I wrote an article about social media sites that actually give real world benefits. You might be surprised you’re already using some of them, without really knowing its full potential: http://ijustdid.org/2011/06/sites-companies-that-give-rewards-to-its-members/
You’re SO right. Social media IS powerful, you just have to know how to use it well and balance your life with it. Thanks for your comment!
Amazing how often you have to answer the question, “What’s the point/value of twitter?”. Great summary of why Twitter can be valuable!
There can be wasted time on twitter if it is keeping you from doing something else that is more important at that moment, like making a sale, finishing homework, or being fully present with family/friends. Life is all about balance and use of Twitter goes right along with that.
Very rightly said Jim! 🙂 We can’t let it take over our life completely, just need to balance it well! Thanks for stopping by!
Good points, and I agree that while Twitter *can* easily be a time-waster, it need not be. Once you start following over 50 people, the relevant conversations become difficult to find, and when following over 500 it becomes nearly impossible. You have to either have enormous self-control or efficent ways to filter. Twitter Lists aren’t good enough because they only filter users, not tweet content. And you want to always unfollow someone just because he/she made a few lame tweets 🙂
Aaron
CTO and Founder of Refynr.com
Very true regarding the urge to unfollow due to lame tweets. I find myself in those very shoes—and have noticed that the same happens to me re being unfollowed if I’ve kicked my tweets into low gear. I’d rather suffer that loss of followers, that tweet inanities that appeal to no one though. No use tweeting if not inspired to do so, whether it be a retweet, a hyperlink, or an urbane witty comment–to me, all the above need the fuel that inspiration provides.
Great article/blog…I soooo can’t believe you are only 18! What are you studying?
haha I get that a lot, thank YOU! 🙂 I’m studying 3D animation and VFX :))
Nice layout and content also..
http://careerblogindia.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-become-successful-wedding.html
thanks~
Nice post nicky !
Simple, intuitive and effective ‘-‘
Thank you! 🙂
Nice post. I use two accounts. One with just the thing I really want to read, and one for business with a lot of followers.
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That’s a great way to use multiple accounts! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Sure Social Media it’s not really a waste of time! Both for professional o personal/friendship intents! It’s a time for invest on your self
very awesome.. love it supah nice.. 😀 Now I learn much about twitter… its not just tweeting but you will also learn.. hahaha
Hi, I like your article. Yes, it’s true..I have been using Twitter for only a month, and I found it interesting..I don’t stay too long using it, but 20-30 minutes reading about the people whom i follow is quite enjoyable. Have fun blogging!
Twitter is definitely not a waste of time. I follow a lot of news organizations, so get a lot of my news on twitter. For that alone, twitter is worth it. For some other interests such as music and reading, I like to follow musicians and authors. And then of course just folks that interest me.
If any time is wasted on twitter, it’s my own fault for sometimes staying online too long!
This has become my “go-to” post for explaining why I use Twitter. As a long-time Twitter nay-sayer turned convert, I can personally vouch for each one of the points you make. And for anyone who still doubts the impact of social media, let them explain how any other method of communication would result in a 30-something presentation coach from Texas sharing a blog written by an 18-year-old in India!
PS I love the line in your bio about being a “perpetual learner”. Same here!
Lauren M. Hug, J.D., LL.M. recently posted..Effective Spontaneity (Part 2): Reading Prepares You for Speaking
I agree! I got hooked on twitter and never regretted! =D I made tons of friends on twitter too!
I totally agree. Am forwarding the article to some of the ‘waste-of-time’ crowd. 🙂 good job.
thankyiuuu
Journalists are all over Twitter, searching for sources for their stories. How? By plugging keywords preceded by a hashtag into the search window at Search.Twitter.com.
Another great reason to use hashtags on your tweets.
NO man is an Island. Loneliness KILLS .
FIRST pre-historical man got bored with himself and with his selfish life and started talking/ living with another nearby man/women. social media are just the technological extention of them.
Lifetime is a journey of unending Questions: 1) knowing what are we 2) our purpose in galaxy 3)can we become GOD,4)Does creativity, the real heaven,5)methods to rectify Nature”s errors(Poverty, deseases, religions,illitracy, materialism) 6)sharing the troubles and pain we faced as an social animal,7) Relationship essentials for survival,8)sharing Cries,laughs and other basic feels with another person..in every way it helps in humanity to progress further.
Hi Nicky, I do so agree with you. Social media is not a waste of time if used selectively. I have only been using twitter for a month or so and I have found it really useful in keeping up to date with my interests of aviation, photography,Formula 1 and crime fiction. It is just a simple matter of being selective, this will ensure you get the best use from the media. Great thing for me, I would say, I have had tweets from authors and F1 drivers. Airline pilots and CEO’s. A great leveller. Pushing 60 years on the planet now and I think its great.
If we do some comparison on a little big scale by comparing it to facebook than twitter is in no way wastage of time because you dont play games on it, you dont chat on it with live friends and the most important.. you dont get those annoying ads all the time which you get on facebook
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Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but
after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say
superb blog!
Sorry about that…I don’t know why that happened. I have updated my blog theme so there shouldn’t be a problem anymore 🙂 Thanks!
Thanks for Sharing this.. Valuable and Unique Article.. Nice Work!!
Social Media is not a waste of time -Totally Agree!!!
Great article, very informative blog and i think that this blog is very informative to all.