You are here: Home / Archives for Twitter

How to Use Twitter to Get a Re-Tweet

January 17, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment 

According to the same speed quickly become one of the leading social networking sites, online discussions, such as using Twitter to grow a business has become. The micro-blogging site allows users twitter messages up to 140 characters in length forced the members say more with fewer words.
Your effectiveness in using this site for the purpose of growing a business is based upon the number of people you have direct access to. On Twitter this is measured in terms of the number of ‘followers’ you have.
The fastest way to increase your twitter following is to be ‘awarded’ the coveted ‘re tweet’ Essentially this is nothing more than having one of your ‘tweets’ repeated around the site. For this to happen you must tweet something others may think is interesting for whatever reason. They then in turn will ‘re tweet’ what you said to their own twitter following. If their followers think it is interesting enough they will follow you.
Here are 5 factors that play a major role in whether or not you will get a re tweet.
Time Your Tweets
There are particular times of the day and even days of the week when twitter users most heavily populate the site. It is at these times that you want to release your ‘best’ tweets. Research indicates that Friday is a very heavy user day and that the afternoon up till midnight and on weekends is when the site experiences the most activity.
Personalize Your Tweets
When tweeting something you think is ‘retweetable’ personalize it with the appearance of speaking directly to the individual. Addressing members by using the word ‘you’ tends to draw their attention more readily to the tweet. Using a word in such a way helps to better ‘engage’ readers since it appears to be directed at them.
Refer to Trending Topics
If you repeat your comments to Twitter it only makes sense to get so popular is an issue to vote. By simply referring to the trendy topics on the website, you can easily see what the current
Insert a Link
As tweets are limited to only 140 characters can be a challenge to stir the attention of other twitter users to send a message so short in length. Now if your message was to refer to a more extensive and interesting piece of content that will likely capture more attention.
By linking to a site or content in your tweet you click the curiosity of others to rise and view it. Linking in this way, you can post a message or tweet that is comprehensive, and shall send a tweet a greater impact than just 140 characters.
Obviously due to the character limitations of the site you always want to shorten your links. This also gives you more characters to use for the message in your tweet.
Avoid Overexposure
Do not make a habit of frequently using links in your tweets since people will not associate as much importance to them if they see so many. Save your links for only that content that is worth being re tweeted.
Learning how to use twitter to grow an online business has become a quest for many looking for shortcuts to wealth. Being one of the top social networking sites on the internet Twitter does present enormous potential for traffic if harvested correctly. Having a strong twitter following however is a prerequisite to having the ability to attract a significant amount of traffic from this site. One of the quickest ways to grow your following is by getting others to re tweet your comments. The 3 factors discussed here today will play a large role in your ability to get your comments repeated to others on the site. Simply paying attention to these factors and of course having something to say of interest will greatly increase your chances of gaining a re tweet. What you do with your new found twitter following is then up to you.

Filed under internet, links, release, website · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Security Implications of Social Media

October 26, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

We usually focus on the positives that social media can bring about, but right now we are going to hop to the other side of the fence for a bit and discuss some of the dangers that can arise via social media. Not too long ago, I was called out at work for something that was posted on my Facebook. It wasn’t anything offensive, just one of my friends happened to go on my profile while I was logged in, and put an unsettling status about me, which made my friends think that I put it about myself. Sure, it was all fun and games to my social circle, but when things like this get brought up at your place of business, it makes one think about the effects that social media can have on one’s life, safety, security, perceived character, and well being.

Sure, social media is a great way to bring traffic to your site, brand your products and services, generate leads, and so on; but how safe is social media? Social media encompasses a wide spectrum, two out of three Americans use social technology, social sites are now the 4th most active online activity – ahead of email, and it accounts for about 10% of all time spent on the internet. Being that so many people in the world are involved in social media, what are some of the potential implications?

1. National Security: Currently the US Marines have banned social media for the next year. According to the Marines:“THESE INTERNET SITES IN GENERAL ARE A PROVEN HAVEN FOR MALICIOUS ACTORS AND CONTENT AND ARE PARTICULARLY HIGH RISK DUE TO INFORMATION EXPOSURE, USER GENERATED CONTENT AND TARGETING BY ADVERSARIES. THE VERY NATURE OF SNS CREATES A LARGER ATTACK AND EXPLOITATION WINDOW, EXPOSES UNNECESSARY INFORMATION TO ADVERSARIES AND PROVIDES AN EASY CONDUIT FOR INFORMATION LEAKAGE THAT PUTS OPSEC, COMSEC, PERSONNEL AND THE MCEN AT AN ELEVATED RISK OF COMPROMISE. EXAMPLES OF INTERNET SNS SITES INCLUDE FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, AND TWITTER.”

Imagine if there was a marine tweeting something like “hitting golf balls into the Adriatic sea.” Not only does he give away his location, but just the mere fact that he tweeted something puts his whole company under potential attack. Anyone can go online and track where anyone tweeted last from in the world.
2. Publicly Traded Companies: Twitter grew 1382% from January to February in 2009. Let’s face it, the world is on Twitter. If I was part of a publicly traded company I would be wary about what my employees are tweeting. Imagine the implications of an employee tweeting out of excitement after a new purchase, endeavor, or business acquisition. This can be considered an insider tip, and if one sees this tweet and purchases a good amount of stocks, SEC insider-trading implications may occur.
3. Personal Safety, Security, and Information: Social media has jeopardized the life of many individuals, not so much life and death, but prosperity and well being. You can potentially lose your job over comments said over Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. You can be caught cheating on your spouse through tagged and/or posted pictures, statuses, and other comments. Businesses now use social media to screen potential employees. Insurance companies also view social media to see what kind of lifestyles people are living before insuring them. There is a lot of personal information exposed on social media; you can be unfairly judged based on postings on social media that may or may not be taken out of context.

My message: Be careful and be conscientious and understand that everything you do online is potentially reviewed in the future. Big Brother? Maybe, but no one is forcing you to use the social media. Just be smart, enjoy the benefits of social media but be acutely aware of the consequences of perceived poor behavior or judgment.

Filed under benefit, company, make, promise, technology, tip · Tagged with , , , , , , , ,