Is Twitter just a waste of time?

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   Baileybearposted 13 years ago

   I've had twitter for a while.  I find it very spammy, so don't really read it.  I post my hubs there & the occasional article I like.  I have approx 300 followers (many are writers), yet in my traffic, I have very rarely had a visitor from twitter.
   
   Do the backlinks count for anything?  Does anyone actually read anything on twitter?  Wondering if should scrap it?

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      Peter Owenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'd like to know to. I've never really understood Twitter

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         Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         just seems like a big spamfest.  I don't have the time nor patience to sift through crap to find the rare gems

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            Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I agree.  I don't know why Twitter is so highly thought of - I bet more than half the members never read anyone else's stuff, they're just there to promote.
            
            Like me!
            
            I've set up RSS feeds from my blogs using Twaitter. Other than that, I never go near Twitter.

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               Debby Bruckposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Dear Marisa ~ I love Twitter and have made many real connections with people there. I was on someone's radio show. I won some lovely Natural Health Product gifts from Weleda, I've been able to download free music clips to use on my own radio show and personal enjoyment, I've shared political action notifications, broadcast important health issues, linked up with like-minded freedom fighters, created an online newspaper from a couple of my Twitter Lists, linked to my blog, and community network as well as promoting my friends' networks, participated in LIVE CHATS on Twitter using hashtags, and the list can go on and on. I've written a few hubpages about my love for Twitter. You know it helps with internet exposure of your brand name, too. The possibilities are endless. Maybe give a try one more time. Blessings, Debby

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            Uninvited Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            It all depends on who you follow. I stop following people who spam their Twitter account. I follow a lot of companies and organizations which gives me ideas for writing. I also follow some of my favorite writers.
            
            If you use hashtags you will get your articles out to more people. A lot of people publish "newspapers" of their tweets for different subjects and these get read by a lot of people. Check out http://paper.li

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               Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               yes, I use hashtags.  I had a look at my twitter & saw that some had retweeted me & one even put me in their article.  Maybe I'm just not using it enough/properly?

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         sumitpariharposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I want to know the same as I have never used twitter...

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      deblippposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not at all sure there's a good linking model for Twitter. It's excellent for real social interaction, organizing, and communicating. As a small business tool, I think it only works when real engagement happens, not defacto tweets.
      
      UNLESS, that is, you've set up something that people want to see on a regular basis: Announcements of contests, or new, desired content, or something else that people wait for. GetGlue, for example, tweets announcements of new stickers, so GetGlue aficionados will be excited by those tweets.
      
      In some cases, I've found it convenient to remove some blogs from my rss feed and find out about new content by receiving tweets.

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      Dorsiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I get occasional reads from Twitter. I think it's a great networking tool. The main thing I like it for is getting breaking news before even the MSM gets it. Plus you get alot of alternative news you might now find elsewhere.

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      Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I came to the conclusion that none of the backlinks I worked for were worth anything. However, backlinks that came to me from sites that I had no influence over gave me a fair degree of traffic. I wrote a hub called twitter is for twits, and it aptly describes my feelings about twitter.

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      Sapphireidposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Uh? I actually have some followers who have asked me this question. Oh! And a Grassroots organization consults with me to assist them with issues dealing with Business issues, this one came up a few months ago. DON'T scarp it. Keep doing at least once a week updates and don;t worry about the followers. Twitter is awesome for branding, word of mouth and getting hidden jewels of insight for many business needs. Just my FYI! Good question. ; )
      
      Respectfully,
      
      Sapphireid

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      KeithTaxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I've used Twitter for years and have over 3700 followers. The backlinks do not count for anything real, but I do get traffic from the site. The best way to manage Twitter is with a bot for follows and random auto-tweets, otherwise, it is a great sinkhole of time. Traffic to HP is small and has done best with Amazon sales for me. Twitter's value has decreased with time and would probably not start if I already did not have a base I can set my computer to manage for me.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Which one do you use?

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            KeithTaxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            TweetAdder

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      hotwebideasposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I do not find Twitter to be a waste of time if used correctly. I have gotten web design clients from it and I blog every day.

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   CMHypnoposted 13 years ago

   For the 2 seconds it takes to tweet your hubs and those of other hubbers you have read and enjoyed, probably yes.
   
   I don't take too much notice of Twitter, but do tweet stuff that interests me, and have built up around 1700 followers - it is not something, however, that I ever use to contact friends.
   
   One thing that surprised me is that with all the follow me on Twitter threads that have been on these forums, I followed a load of hubbers, retweeted their hubs when I saw them and then when I checked, almost none of them had followed me back.

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      Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I found a tweet where someone promoted my blog on their website http://paper.li/Castlewell/1301268968#

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   SueShepardposted 13 years ago

   No one that I know really tweets, most of us Facebook so I have like 6 followers on there. I have no clue who is talking to who on there and find it very confusing.

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      CMHypnoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I like to keep my Facebook pretty private and just for people I actually know, so do not try my friend's patience by posting too many hubs!

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         Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I only have people I know/knew on FB too

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   Garrett Mickleyposted 13 years ago

   I only follow people who'm I enjoy following, and I converse with them through twitter often.  A lot of them are willing to retweet some of my stuff (if it's something that appeals to them) just as I retweet their stuff.
   
   You can't just set up a twitter and post out.  It's SOCIAL media, not SET-AND-FORGET media.  You have to be social to be successful.
   
   Oli on here says that Google DOES in fact pay attention to links on Twitter.  I have seen no evidence of this, but I've always thought highly of Oli so I have no reason not to believe him.

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   Peter Owenposted 13 years ago

   Is it ok to keep re-tweeting a hub? I had thought you just tweet once - otherwise powers that be either on HP or outside rate down.

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      Uninvited Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I tweet my hubs when they are new, then I will repost them if an anniversary or event that is related comes up. I don't think it'll effect you HB either way.

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   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   As at least a few people on here who know me might guess, I'm not the kind who gravitates toward anything that has to be send in "x under number of characters".     Until someone invents the new, "Twitter Plus" for people who like 500/800 words or more in anything, I don't go near Twitter.     Besides, I'm not interested in somebody else's version of what I might like, and I'm not really interested in what they like either.     I'd rather just find my own stuff my own way, without any middle men.     So given that, it would sure be a waste of MY time, because with an attitude like mine nobody would be interested in following me anyway.   

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   Cagsilposted 13 years ago

   I use twitter. I don't find it a waste of time, because the proper use for twitter is hash tags(#). Some people think that posting to twitter only goes to your followers, which is not true.
   
   When you tweet something out, it is done by the # symbol you put before "tags"/"keywords" used. People use twitter in to capacities- (a) to talk/post to others and (b) to search for specific topics and tweets on those topics.
   
   I enjoy the traffic I get from Twitter, plus each time you post, you create a backlink to your article. That back link is related based on hash tag used.
   
   As for those who follow and don't get followed back? I'm positive it's happened. I have followed 262 people and have followers of 500. People join these follower game sites, then de-follow people shortly afterward, just so they can increase their own following.
   
   It's ridiculous. Your followers are only part of the product, just like here on HP. Almost the same value too.

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      Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I've been putting hash-tags in front of words that people might search for, but apparently this is unnecessary
      http://aquifermedia.com/2010/05/27/inve … d-i-agree/

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         Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Bailey,
         
         You put the hash tag in place, so Twitter stores it into the correct category associated with the tweet. It is specifically for the search feature, which is used more than just sending tweets themselves.
         
         That article doesn't dispute the use of them and doesn't say that they shouldn't be used, but does talk about "how" to use them or "how" they should be used.
         
         People search via Hash-tags. Hash-tags associate the tweets that were sent with it.

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            Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            when I did a search, I was able to search for 'aspergers' without # - pretty sure I got more hits too.  I wasn't aware there were categories

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               Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               category=topic

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                  Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  is there a list of topics to browse through?  I can't see them. 
                  
                  Also, I have a page with 'messages' - how do I delete them all at once?

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                     Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Bailey, the search uses the words you plug into it, to find #hash-tags associate with links you're looking for. Nothing to browse, until you do a search. It isn't like search through HP's topic list.
                     
                     And, I do not get messages fairly often and I do not know how to delete them all at once. Sorry.

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   Dame Scribeposted 13 years ago

   I follow subjects of interest to me and use it to tweet stuff - yes, Hubs too but love it jus for the info one can garner or idea spin off of some topic. I usually get followers that are related to my interests. I haven't been online a bit so have to check all my accts

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   SandyMcCollumposted 13 years ago

   I find Twitter to be a great tool for promoting, too. I have two accounts; one for my friends/family and I, and one for promoting my work. The ones who follow me on the work one share their business, I share mine, and after I "play" Twitter I get loads of hits. You CAN retweet your titles, but I think there's a time limit and when it's up you can retweet your titles. I have about 1200 followers on the work one and they can really get the word out.

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    Wesman Todd Shawposted 13 years ago

    I think it's a very bad idea to scrap it.  I always tweet hubs that I like, and of course my own.  It's such a popular site that it can't be a godd idea to ignore it.  I have a twitter account, but no, I don't read much from twitter - but as popular as it is, there have to be tons of folks who use it as their news or reading stream/source, I would think.

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       Baileybearposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I've got 3 views to my new website from twitter past few days, so maybe I should perservere.  Also, I've had the odd post retweeted

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          Wesman Todd Shawposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Exactly, you can't really expect anything that you do to go viral if you don't at least start it on twitter yourself.  Twitter viral becomes net viral in nothing flat.

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    Cheeky Girlposted 13 years ago

    Twitter is useful if you are using it right. I have over 900 followers on one account alone. Over 300 in another. I prefer keeping private from hub or web / business related so I don't wreck my own head. If I find too much dross in the feeds then just unfollow or don't follow them and find any of the 200 million good people who DO have good things to tweet. Twitter has helped grow my readers, and grow reads on my several websites and blogs, and of friends I know too.
    
    Use Manage Flitter / Pro to get rid of unwanted twitterers if you like, I use it and its free. Create lists and follow other lists, and you will get more followers. Link your Twitter to Facebook and gain even more readers if you wish. Linking your media together will help you long term. I use Bit.ly to shorten urls and follow who clicks on them, it's also free. Anyone can do this stuff. Don't give up on Twitter.

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       J Sunhawkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the tips. I don't know where people find time to engage in social networking. Between eating, work, feeding the cats and trying to save the world, there ain't no time left in a day.

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    psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

    I enjoy twitter and do not find it a waste of time.  I 'follow' only people whose tweets I actually want to read.

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    Richieb799posted 13 years ago

    Tweeting is very much like pinging, Google and other search engines refer to social media sites to see what topics are currently being talked about like Cagsil said. I don't have much time to create proper backlinks at the moment since I am on vacation in Thailand so I'm tweeting somethings for now, I have 1000 followers

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    FStevensposted 13 years ago

    Twitter is a waste of time in that people post very uninteresting and useless bits of information such as what they're eating for lunch.  However it's very useful in terms of gaining audiences, promoting events, sharing interesting content and also providing regular updates for SEO.

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       Uninvited Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       No one I know on Twitter posts on what they had for breakfast. It is a great place to help spread your articles.  As I mentioned on a posting on here 2 weeks ago many people have set up an account that creates a daily newspaper of their Twitter feed or for specific hashtags, those get viewed by a lot of people. For example, there is a daily #compassion newspaper, I added a hashtag with that title for a blog posting I did and it helped to get more followers and more hits on my blog. My personal Twitter newspaper gets more hits than I have followers.

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       Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       FStevens, twitter is multi-use.

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    PaulGoodman67posted 13 years ago

    I use Twitter and I write about Twitter on Hubpages and elsewhere.  It is very good if you have a large group of targeted followers, that's to say followers who are interested in the topic that you are tweeting.
    
    Rather like with the product hubs, if you have a targeted audience, you will do well.  If you just have general followers and throw general stuff at them, you won't do so well.
    
    I sometimes get articles/hubs featured in online magazines, multiple retweets, excellent backlinks etc all from Twitter.  It takes time and effort to set up, but not much maintainance once you are up and running.

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    BobbiRantposted 13 years ago

    If you're a politician and need to contact women, it's invaluable I suppose.

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    The Reminderposted 13 years ago

    When you use twitter and twitters click on your links to your hubs. Does it count as a view count in your hubpages profile? Because I have been tweeting for a while now and I check my traffic sources and get zero from twitter. Am I doing anything wrong? Usually I copy/paste the link to my hub and use hashtags for the keywords.
    
    Thanks for the help.

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       KeithTaxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Traffic from Twitter counts and shows up on your My Account totals. Use a bot so you don't waste a ton of time from a small amount of traffic. TweetAdder will follow and follow back on the parameters you set. You can build a list of tweets that randomly post as irregularly spaced times.

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          The Reminderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Tweetadder? Never heard of it. Is it a website or a software I must install?

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             KeithTaxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             TweetAdder is a download. Here is the link:
             
             TweetAdder

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    Arlene V. Pomaposted 13 years ago

    I just learned how to text.  I don't think my phone handles Twitter.  When I think about Tweet, I think of Tweety and Sylvester.

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    Victoria Lynnposted 13 years ago

    Aw, Arlene, you are precious! I hate texting and wrote a hub about it! I have a Twitter account and follow a few and have a few followers, but I don't really use it. Tweety and Sylvester--that's more my speed!

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    paradigmsearchposted 13 years ago

    To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question.
    
    Tis better to have tweeted and lost than to have never tweeted at all.
    
    A tweet in time saves nine.
    
    He who tweets last tweets least.

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    Victoria Lynnposted 13 years ago

    Ah, paradigmsearch. That's great! hahahaha  A tweet saved is a tweet earned?

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    Cardisaposted 13 years ago

    I use twitter and I notice a rise in traffic for any hub I tweet. The weird thing is I have never seen any traffic from twitter in the stats.

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    theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

    Twitter is useful tool, google 'Market Sweeping on the Net', where social media marketing is addressed comprehensively

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    theirishobserver.posted 13 years ago

    No

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    PegCole17posted 13 years ago

    Twitter is a great place to Twitter away your time
    
    I've found some really great people on Twitter and subscribe mostly to positively minded people for quotes and uplifting messages.
    
    It's always fun to see when someone else tweets about your articles.

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    cmoneyspinnerposted 13 years ago

    I don't TWEET.  My spouse and I are having an ongoing discussion about it's usefulness.  In the meanwhile I can see where others are deriving a benefit that I sure wish I could convince my husband was a benefit.  The real PLUS with tweeting is that your tweets can post to Facebook as well, if you link Twitter and Facebook accounts; and if you're a member of another network that you post to that links your Twitter account, your posts can show up there too.  So that's 3 posts for every 1 TWEET.  That's an awesome advantage when comes to circulation.  Wish they would link Twitter to GOOGLE+.  All this raving about the GOOGLE circles and hangouts.  Screw that!  If you could link your Twitter account with Facebook, GOOGLE+ and whatever other network like StumbleUpon, Digg, LinkedIn, etc.  That's a PLUS!!  1 post reaches multiple networks.  Don't you agree?  Never mind.  I don't need to persuade y'all.  I need to persuade my husband.  (Smile!)

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    Uninvited Writerposted 13 years ago

    I find Twitter helps a bit. And, I do read what other people post. I have a new iPad app that lets me read my stream in magazine style, plus I do publish a daily paper through paper.li that gets quite a few views.
    
    As long as you use hashtags you don't need a huge amount of followers to get traffic to your articles. And hashtags will also bring you more followers if they like what you wrote...or if they will add anyone under the sun

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    relacheposted 13 years ago

    I don't tweet and my traffic and visitors are doing just fine.

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    waynetposted 13 years ago

    It isn't if you are a bird, because that's how they talk to each other apparently....

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