Recently there has been a massive increase in the amount of people using Twitter. This micro blogging service has really kicked off (especially amongst the webmaster community) for people to advertise themselves and their websites/businesses. I use Twitter myself, and all my online friends do too, but I was thinking today… how good is Twitter? This post will discuss the positives and negatives of Twitter and hopefully make you think like it made me think.
Positives
- It’s fun! – Let’s not forget, Twitter is great fun to use. To me, it’s basically blogging but without the stress of writing long posts and working your ass of just to make a few bucks.
- It’s easy – Not only is it fun to use, Twitter is also simple to use, which I’m sure will be a great reliever for many busy people.
- Networking – Twitter is great for networking with new people. A few of the people who comment on this blog (and I speak to on MSN) I met on Twitter and we’re now friends. Twitter is a great way of meeting new people and making new friends, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.
- Marketing – OK, I was going to have to come onto this point. Twitter is an amazing marketing tool to find targeted visitors for your blog/website/business. The beauty of these targeted visitors is that they’re likely to buy your product or become a regular reader/commentator.
Negatives
- Time – Unfortunately, as fun as Twitter can be, it is very easy to get distracted by it, thus wasting lots of time. Sure, if you’re having fun or marketing your website you may not be wasting your time, but I can almost guarantee you’ll be tempted to spend more time on there than you need to!
- It’s flawed! – As great as Twitter may be, I sometimes can’t help thinking that the whole system the site’s based around is flawed. For example, I wonder how many of your followers will actually read your tweets, and how many of those followers will just be spammers finding a new way of advertising their site? I’m not saying it’s for definite, but it just appears that way sometimes.
- Followers – As I mentioned just then, a lot of the followers that use Twitter can be a bit spammy and are only there to effectively abuse the system that Twitter has put in place by only tweeting their links.
At the end of the day there is no definitive answer as to whether Twitter is good or bad – it just depends what angle you look at it from (and of course your personal opinion).
Have Your Say!
What do you think of Twitter? Is it the greatest thing since sliced bread, or the flop of the century? Either way, I’d love to hear your views on Twitter and anything related to it, so please feel free to leave a comment below. If you liked this post, please share it by clicking one of the icons below.
I love Twitter, it’s a great marketing tool. I’m even using Twitter as a topic for an English report in school.
I agree that it can be time consuming. Sometimes I will go tweet crazy and do a lot of tweets, but often i find myself just tweeting a few times a day, except on those days where I go tweet crazy.
I’m interested to see what others have to say about Twitter,
Alex | Blogussion.com’s last blog post..Blog Optimization Series: Search Engine Marketing (2/3)
Yeah. I too try and keep my tweets to a minimum while still remaining active in the Twitter world. Usually I’ll do around 5/6 tweets per day: a couple in the morning, a couple when I get home from school, then a couple before I go to bed
As long as the tweets you do aren’t spam, I guess it’s okay to tweet a lot right?
Alex | Blogussion.com’s last blog post..Blog Optimization Series: Search Engine Marketing (2/3)
Yeah, of course!
I feel it is a great marketing and networking tool.
It depends on how you use it.
@Farrhad
Farrhad A | The Dollar Diary’s last blog post..Guide: Earn $1000 From Nothing In 30 Days Or Less!
Yeah, like you say, it’s really good at the positives, but those negatives are pretty serious so I can see why people wouldn’t want to use it. Still, it’s a personal decision
Agreed!
And maybe since i have holidays I have not really bothered about the time.
Farrhad A’s last blog post..Guide: Earn $1000 From Nothing In 30 Days Or Less!
Hey,
I think Twitter is a good thing. I use it mostly for questions and sharing my posts. It’s nice to speak to a large audience just in one time.
Stefan | StudySuccessful.com’s last blog post..How to powernap
Yeah, I think that’s what a lot of people use it for
Do you ever answer people’s questions or help people out? I find that’s a great way of building your profile 
Hey Simon,
I have asked myself this same question. I can’t say I have settled the issue in my own mind but it seems Twitter can be both. I think a lot of it depends on the user. Many followers has it’s good and bad too I suppose and I have wondered if people read a lot of what their followers post. Hmmm Still thinking about it all
Keith’s last blog post..Why Not Now?
I agree,
As I mentioned in the last paragraph of the article, I think that there are positives and negatives and, at the end of the day, it comes down to a personal decision. Personally I like Twitter, but I didn’t used to and therefore I can see why others are sceptical.
I’m new to this twitter business but im deffinetely going to start using it after reading your posts. It seems good for marketting, so it HAS to be good?
Glad these articles were helpful
Stay tuned for further posts as I’ll be writing more about Twitter in the future 
Regarding your second point, it isn’t neccessarily good just because of the marketing potential. There are negatives to it and they shouldn’t be overshadowed purely by marketing. (Nor should Twitter only be used as a marketing tool).
Thanks for clearing that up!
Twitter is booming, and has brought some excellent traffic to my sites. I definitely recommend you get in on it!
Alex | Blogussion.com’s last blog post..Blog Optimization Series: Search Engine Marketing (2/3)
Twitter is a great tool, there’s no use on denying that. The problem is, as you said, that some people is misusing it.
Everyday, we see how some people use it to blast ads or to promote their sites to their followers over and over again all day long.
In my opinion, Twitter should monitor this behavior and ban or warn people doing this stuff.
Thanks for the comment, Héctor
I think Twitter already have a service like that in place where you can report spam users and they look into it. You just follow @Spam and send them a DM
I was asked this question by many on twitter. I think that as far as you utilize twitter its very interesting and useful. Every thing depends on how you use twitter as Farrhad said. Great post
Yeah. Twitter is a user-based website (as are all social networking sites), so it really is down to what the users do on the site. I find that if a few users think it’s OK to spam, it’ll act as an invitiation for even more people to spam
Great post Simon.. Really good sides of Twitter.
btw I suggest you read your “It’s easy” point again, in the Positive section
Enk.’s last blog post..Lifestyle on Twitter
Thanks for pointing that out, Enk. I’ve amended it now
Twitter is indeed an interesting tool for communication. Rapid sharing of info . Unfortunately some people are misusing it .
Agreed. Like you say, Twitter is great for spreading the word (especially with ReTweets), and is therefore very good for viral marketing.
BTW, that’s one creepy gravatar
The gravatar is not that creepy lol . It is true that twitter is good for marketing. At same time it is a danger , twitter main aim is to spread info . What if it remain only as a spamming tool? There has been also the craze / addiction factor about having more and more follower in twitter. The question is not about the amount of follower but the quality also . Do people really follow at the end of the day?
I think the amount of quality users is higher than the amount of spammy users, so at the end of the day if the balance continues like this, it’s fine (in my opinion).
I think twitter is a really good tool when we consider the rapid spreading of news. Google normally take some time before indexing a news while on twitter you can get it really quickly as soon as the user publish it.
The bad side is that many are using it JUST BECAUSE others are using it and to spam only links.
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Very good point, I forgot about that. Look at the hudson plane crash, for example. That was all around Twitter in a couple of hours when it took news crews a lot longer to get there.
Twitter does has a great potential and it has both positive and negative aspects. Now maybe there will be another tool to compete with twitter in future
Yeah, there will definately be something to replace Twitter within the webmaster community. Just look around, there are always new, innovative ideas being created and it’s only a matter of time before webmasters find a better tool than Twitter and move on.
Viewed from a futuristic angel – twitter may soon have a competitor. Wonder what will be the new innovation :s
To be perfectly honest, I can’t see another micro-blogging service being as successful as Twitter, but I can certainly see a completely new idea popping up and being the next phase
Finally why not another micro blogging craze with new applications. ?
We should not forget that hi5 was before facebook and today fb is more famous.
I totally agree on your Point hi5 was before Facebook. But as my opinion if something can overcome twitter is another idea or concept but not another micro-blogging service. Because as far as I’ve seen there are already other micro-blogging services but they can’t compete with twitter.
Enk.’s last blog post..How to Write a Perfect Post ?
Yeah, just the point I was going to make.
There have always been loads of huge social networking sites (Myspace, FB, Hi5, Orkut, Bebo etc), so there’s a lot of competition, but Twitter is the only major site of its kind and I don’t think any site will be able to catch up with it now.
Maybe not now, but eventually another site will take Twitter’s place. I heard that Google is already working on a similar thing *shrugs*. It seems that they’re everywhere!
Hmm, maybe. I just can’t see any other micro blogging service coming in and completely taking over…
By the way, just saw your Blog and I think its pretty hard to compete for the Top Commentator Place.
Plus, I’d rather suggest set your widget to reset every month as it works well for everybody then.
Enk.’s last blog post..How to Write a Perfect Post ?
The plugin does reset every month
I think it’s still perfectly doable to get in the top spot (especially with your commenting capabilities;) ), but I have seen a VAST improvement in the amount of comments I’ve received over the last two days
Wow, tons of new commentators. For me, the positives of Twitter outweigh the negatives. I need a lot more followers though.
teenwebguru’s last blog post..April Recap and Some Big Changes
Yeah, I agree with your point about the positives outweighing the negatives. Twitter is a great tool for marketing and networking and, to me, those are the two things I look for.
And, yes, the new commentators are great
I’ve got so many comments in the last two days it’s unbelievable! I’m thrilled to bits about it 
Well, I think twitter is great. I’ve even made a post on twitter on the top 5 reasons I love it
www[.]glosonblog[.]com/the-top-5-reasons-i-use-twitter/ (remove the [ ])
Yes, there are many spammers using twitter. They didn’t realize that if they use twitter the right way, it is going to benefit them more.
Twitter has benefited me a lot and has drove a lot of traffic to my blog. Yeah, I agree with teenwebguru; the positives outweigh the negatives.
Thanks for the comment, Gloson
I agree about the spammy users. I’m sure that once they actually take the time to read a post on how to use Twitter properly, they’ll benefit from it massively.
I have used Twitter a few times, a couple of times to just get friends through quick methods and then just get my URL out there, oops
Also, I have tried just “tweeting” but that was boring so I didn’t do it. I have however seen the traffic potential, so I may try it again when I get some time.
I definately recommend that you do. Twitter is a great marketing resource and if used properly (and that’s a big if), has the potential to bring you a LOT of targetted traffic.
I am a strong believer that twitter is “the” best thing for webmasters to happen lately. There are some minute considerations that you need to take into account to be successful on twitter. My twitter series on “The Blogging Park” identifies the secrets of success with twitter.
Forsaken – Domain Marvelous’s last blog post..How to Overcome the Nightmare of Godaddy Domain Registration Process
Yeah, I loved your Twitter series on TBP, I recommend all my readers to check it out.
Also, I’d tend to agree that it’s one of the best things for webmasters, but I’m not sure if it’s “the” best when it comes up against things like WP 2.7/2.8
[...] This post was Twitted by teenius – Real-url.org [...]
Great post. I agree. I don’t usually get carried away and lose time on Twitter though. I usually just tweet a link and I’m done takes me like 30 seconds…
Except I still think Twitter is good as it’s my main source of traffic and you hear about all the big guys with a bunch of traffic learning the secrets making a bunch of money with it. I don’t see how it can be bad at all.
Caden Grant’s last blog post..8 Ways To Get More RSS Subscribers
Hmm, if you just post links then I’m surprised you get that much traffic to be honest. I find that usually it pays off to actually connect with other people and join in conversations… that’s the real time killer!
As you told, I am getting too much of spammy message from my followers. Still, I luv Twitter. I do want to follow you… Please show me your ID. I am Adsensing in twitter.
Kadir’s last blog post..why Should You Become As An Affiliate Marketer?
Hi Kadir. You can follow me on Twitter @teenius
Good post Simon. I am new on twitter but I found it really amazing. It works as an excellant marketing tool. But yes there are also some negative points about twitter. Keep it up.
Well done
dhannanjay’s last blog post..IIT JEE without training?
Glad you enjoyed the article! It’s always great to receive a compliment!
I don’t know if it is good or not but I use twitter anyway
Stock Traders Blog’s last blog post..My Mind Switched Side But so Did the Market
[...] Twitter: Good or Bad?! [...]
There are so many spammers on Twitter that I just don’t bother with it anymore, does twitter really think direct messages are used for anything else but filling my inbox with spammy, self promoting messages?
I must admit, I don’t even check my DM inbox anymore! There are just too many spammy messages to bother, but then again apart from the DM system I think Twitter is awesome!
I totally agree with the bad side you have mentioned about twitter. I too believe that there are many who follow you but don’t read your tweets and are just like spammers advertising their products…
Definately! That said, nowadays you can use the ‘lists’ Twitter has to seperate the spammy Tweeters from the ones who post cool stuff!
I did not like it very much at the beginning but now i am a twitter nerd. I use it everywhere with my iphone. It is nice to connect and stay in contact with your users and visitors.
So Twitter rocks! But be careful what you are posting. Your Follower will go as fast as they come.
Best regards,
Volksphone!
I agree! I didn’t like Twitter when I first started using it, partly because I was doing it wrong, but now I see it for the awesome tool it is!
I am also using twitter, I heard many internet marketers are using this twitter in their marketing campaign to make money online. I want it to learn also this twitter marketing.
Every website stars with a good motive and some spammers start spamming it and ultimately a question comes at the end like this “Good or bad”. For me its good. I learnt more. I am clean and it will be good until and unless I am exposed to its negative side.
Yes: whilst there is a negative side to Twitter, I feel that the positives outweigh these greatly. It’s really worth your while to join!
Yeah I am still on the fence with Twitter. It seems like 2009 is the year of Twitter, but I haven’t jumped on that bandwagon just yet.
It’s definately worth it, give it a try dude!
I am very happy with twitter
it is good marketing tool
In my opinion, Twitter is a great social networking site. Not only that you can share and update your friends what you are doing, it also has a nice platform to read your friends’ update as well.
But yea, you have a point when you said that how many followers actually read your updates, but still, it is still a great way to connect with other people. Just my 2 cents
Yes, I agree that it’s the best social networking site for anyone running a business!
And, your last point about connecting is pretty good.
I am still on the fence with Twitter.
I am sorry to say that Twitter is flawed in some ways. You would be amazed to find that a lot of people sign up for Twitter, but lose interest within the first month. There is no way to filter out Tweets effectively and prevent some people from spamming you to death with links to their sites every couple of seconds. It does get annoying and in the long run, it ensures that I as a member, do not read every tweet out there.
I really do love twitter, but some fundamental changes have to be made.
At present I am in the beta on Twitter for using lists and other features they may want to test out, and it is okay to some degree, but I just can’t seem to get the idea that it will benefit me.
I do think if you have the right list, you can definitely build a brand worth your while, but it will take time and finding the right people to follow you. This can take months if not years.
Sarah Harvey´s last blog ..Dominating Your Niche With Twitter
Sarah, thanks for the comment.
The lists are a great way of filtering out the spammers. Create a list, then just include the people who do quality, interesting and informative tweets. That’s what I’ve done, and I can honestly say I now have no problems with spammers.
View the full post I’ve recently written about lists here.
I agree that, if you want to find loads of great tweeters, it takes time. This is just one of those things though, and I’ve found an effective way is to create a list, then as I find new quality tweeters, I’ll add them in. That way I’m gradually increasing the amount of people’s tweets I see/connect with.
Hope that’s helped a bit!
I have written a article regarding twitter “How to use twitter effectively?”
This post has showed me both positive and negative side of twitter. Definitely this is helpful for me.
deepika´s last blog ..How To Comment On Other Blogs
Very nicely written Article, Well personally, I just use Twitter because its a trend and I have to survive- I don’t think its at all advantageous for me.
Actually, Part time bloggers (like me) cannot make most out of social networks.
Blogsolute´s last blog ..AVG Internet Security 9 License key for 90 days
Hmm, I used to think like that, but now I’ve been using it a bit more I’ve seen a dramatic increase in the amount of traffic I’m receiving from it. I think it’s all down to being active: talk to other tweeters, and use the tweetmeme button whenever you see a good article!
My biggest concern is for the future of young people who are addicted in one way or another to Twitter (and FB or My Space, etc. for that matter). Will it have a profound impact on their one on one live social skills in their later lives? You can type almost anything when you are not face to face with another. Will this impact later personal contact? I don’t have an answer but I do hope that twenty years from now we are not a race of “keyboard” cowards in regard to our social activities.
I really cant understand how to market with Twitter! For me its really a waste of time .
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