Why Tweet?

When Twitter was created over three years ago no one seemed to care, but in the past 6 months it’s gone from obscurity within the tech community to mainstream overload. I’ve struggled over the past month to write this post, because I’m not sure if Twitter is the next big thing or just a temporary distraction. With each passing day I find myself leaning towards the next big thing as I see and hear more people jumping on the Twitter bandwagon.

What makes Twitter different from the rest? Two big factors that are helping Twitter at the moment:

• GDP is contracting worldwide and hence there is less “stuff” happening.  This gives people more time to try new things and hence Twitter and Facebook are enjoying a “hockey stick” growth pattern. Thus, many users entering random thoughts into “the matrix” as I call it.
• The Twitter API is simple to use. The guys at Twitter have made a platform that can pull data and allow people to aggregate, repackage and reuse the content.

From a business model perspective, Twitter seems to have all 3 segments rolled into one platform.  Quick refresher course in dot.com lingo, C=consumer, B=business.  Sorry to take you back but it was the easiest way to break it down:

• B2B – Currently, there is no fee for using Twitter’s API but at some point they could charge based on how much data you want to pull and how quickly.  If you are StockTwits you would want millisecond access to the data, others might need hourly access.
• B2C – Many companies are using Twitter for customer support, press releases or to disseminate other information.
• C2C – Allows people to have an open conversation and allow people to jump in if the topic is interesting. This is where search.twitter.com comes in handy to find content.

So, how do you benefit from Twitter? That’s the beauty you can use it any which way you want and not feel confined. I know some people that tweet every waking hour and others that tweet once a week. I mainly use Twitter to share links to business articles which others might find useful.

How are people in India using Twitter?  It’s not as widespread as it should be considering over 400 million mobile users and over 8 million being added monthly. Since the founder of Twitter, @jack, designed the architecture around an SMS type usage, I’m hoping within a year the uptake will be much more as people become aware of the service.  Anyways, the people that are using Twitter in India are doing some great things for different markets.

B2B
?? – If you know of anything that is targeted for the Indian market, tweet or e-mail me

B2C
@DeskAway –  SaaS project collaboration tool. They are using it to for support, product announcements, etc…

C2C
@missmalani – According to her Twitter profile she is a Radio DJ, Party Animal and Mumbai’s Gossip Girl. In essence, she is a one person marketing machine
@gulpanag – Actress based in Bombay, tweeting about random thoughts
@deepakshenoy –  Based in Delhi. All things related to the Indian equity markets
@kaushikgala – Based in Pune. Tweets about Indian equity markets and the venture capital field
@sm63 – Based in Bombay. social networking and most recently was Twittering the IPL finals match
@pjain – Based in Delhi. technology, finance, apple, etc…

Some others that are using Twitter only for input and not following others, which is such a waste:

@Rahul Gandhi – He is following nobody, but has over 1,900 people following him. Fail.
@ShashiTharoor – Following 3 people and over 3,300 followers. Fail.

I’m surprised that no big tech exec is tweeting from Bangalore or a big Bollywood star. The CTO of Cisco, Padmasree Warrior tweets and of course everyone knows Ashton Kuther does as well.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, I’m @mrjain.