The majority of Americans have heard about the social networking site known as Twitter and the special jargon that accompanies this site known as ‘tweeting, chirping, twitpic, etc.’ The basic premise of the site revolves around posting a brief statement, quote, idea, or status about yourself or something you perhaps might be doing at the moment. You may be asking well, why should I care about updating the world on what I am doing? Answer: Because they read it! Twitter, just like several other social networking sites, are being discovered by local companies, small businesses, politicians and influencers alike. Recently, candidates running for Louisville mayor utilized social media sites such as Twitter to increase their exposure to potential voters. This adoption of Louisville candidates is not only a wise move for their campaign but a move that is quickly gaining attention by local businesses and corporations.
Local companies such as: Louisville Slugger, Humana-Medicare, UofL Athletics, Hotel Sheraton of Louisville, Yum! Brands, Papa John’s Pizza, just to name a few, have adopted a presence on Twitter. According to eMarketer, the percentage of Twitter users in 2009 accounted for 7.4% of total internet users, which totals to about 12.1 million people. eMarketer projects that this year that number will increase to 10.8% or about 18.1 million users having a Twitter presence. In fact, many individuals are using Twitter to even land jobs as Sarah Evans, the director of communications at Elgin Community College and writer for Mashable.com comments, ‘ Twitter is evolving as another resource, in addition to traditional methods for both job searching and recruiting.’
So what does it all mean? Simply put, Twitter and other social media sites are quickly becoming useful for advertising, marketing, job hunting, information searching, and current event searching within the Louisville area and beyond. If your business or organization has yet to adopt Twitter you might want to consider the potential positive influence that it could bring to your revenue and exposure to your potential clients.
