Why is Twitter such a big deal?

I’m not going to lie. When I was asked to attend the 2010 TWTRCON Twitter for Business conference in NYC, I thought, “Seriously? A conference for Twitter?” I mean, how hard is it to string together 140 characters as an update? Why on earth is there a full conference on this stuff? What’s the big deal?

The answer is actually fairly simple: Twitter is a way to connect with people with whom you normally wouldn’t be able to connect. It’s a simultaneous content feed that allows tweeters to get new information and updates and read about what’s going on within their industry or social network. @MrShri says “Facebook is people you went to school with, Twitter is people you wished you went to school with.” It’s why so many people follow famous brands — because they can! And those brands better be on board.

If I wasn’t sure before this conference how big of a deal Twitter is, especially for businesses, I am now. Especially after Martha Stewart (@marthastewart) appeared as the keynote speaker. That’s right. Martha Stewart of the Martha Stewart empire. Who knew she was a tweeting expert? She has almost 2 million followers on Twitter and saw that the conference was packed with eager tweeters waiting to hear the media mogul talk about her social media experience and how it has affected her brand.

As Martha pointed out, your brand needs to share its own voice and personality through tweets. And that’s important: Twitter can be a machine pumping out information, or it can be a means to connect on a human level. Read more of Martha’s insights here.

Twitter is still new and businesses are still trying to figure out how to use it effectively for their own purposes. TWTRCON provided guidelines for just that. And, whether or not you ever become an expert, Twitter is here to stay — that is, until the next social medium arrives. So make sure your business is a part of the conversation and make sure that its personality shows through.