The Twitter Confusion

The Los Angeles Times recently ran an article concerning a LinkedIn survey that questioned the general public’s knowledge of Twitter.  Surprisingly enough, most didn’t have a clue what Twitter was or why they would use it.  In fact, the reference to “most” meant 69% of people didn’t know enough to respond or comment on the social media site.

Does this mean you should forget Twitter?  Absolutely not!  Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds.  It can significantly help ranking of keywords and overall Internet marketing efforts.  While not everyone is on the bandwagon, many are and this number is growing daily.  As an Internet marketing consultant I am frequently amazed and also pleased at the growth of this website.

And as I read this article today, it reminded me of a question my mother-in-law asked last night.  She really did and I’m not just making this up to help my blog entry.  In general conversation she asked “What is Twitter and why do I care?”  I provided her with an answer that was long, but targeted towards her.  I will spare you all from reviewing this entire discussion.  What I did do is teach her how Twitter can apply to her life and information she may care about on a day to day basis.

While I can’t promise my mother-in-law or anyone else will be joining Twitter today, I can tell you she is asking about social networking sites more often and is getting much more interested in this area of Internet usage.  And while this is more because she doesn’t want to miss out on anything, it shows she – the general public – is listening to the growing roar of the tweets.