ANTenna Blog -- Networking & Communications

Social networking has met its match in Twitter, whose dedicated users are fixated on SMS-ing or IM-ing their "tweets" in the small space allotted by the messaging service. But what can a smaller business do with the 140 character limit to generate business? Apparently, a lot.

There are plenty of people – many of whom are ex-Twitterites -- who think Twitter is a huge waste of time. And then there are the passionate devotees who think Twitter is the messaging service that finally makes social networking make sense.

Twitter is fun, it is time consuming, and it can keep you updated on what's going on. But does it make business sense?

On SearchEngineLand.com, Chris Winfield twittered a bunch of Twitterites a variation on this question. He was limited to 140 characters so his question was: "How can twitter help marketers?"

Taking into account the fact that all those who responded are Twitter believers, their answers are still worthy of consideration. Among the tweets he received are these:

• "It can open a conversation between marketers and customers with little effort."


• "It helps marketers by providing them a captive audience to promote materials & interact with influencers & niche linkerati."


• "Twitter is the instant feedback loop marketers use to understand if they are on the right track."


• "Marketers benefit from twitters ability to move info rapidly. Views, votes, comments, retweets, and more help spread seeds."

Winfield gives honorable mention to this suggestion: "by distracting their competitors..."

Readers, are you using Twitter to generate business? Is it working? Is it a waste of your time? Tel us about it in the comments.