Think Before You Engage: 100 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Social Media Marketing Campaign

39. Why Are People Flocking to Twitter?

Twitter (see Figure 6-1) could be considered one of the social networking sites that really kick-started the whole social media revolution. Twitter was founded in 2006 with the purpose of being used by a private team of developers. It was at the 2007 SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas, where it became renowned. Its number of users tripled in just one day and has not slowed down since. So, why is Twitter so popular? The answer to this is as follows:

• It's simple.
• It's ideal for people who are mobile.
• Your friends are on it.
• You have access to the mainstream.
• Celebrities use it.

  

  FIGURE 6-1: Twitter page

You can choose from many other microblogging services than Twitter, and more show up every day trying to gain popularity. Yet, the thing about Twitter that makes it so successful is it is so simple. Twitter's interface does not offer you much in terms of bells and whistles. You do not have to be super tech savvy because it is easy to understand. All you need to do is type your message into the box using 140 characters or less and press the Update button. The web interface for viewing your friends' tweets is simple because it consists of only a reversed chronologically ordered timeline of tweets.

If you are a little more on the side of being tech-oriented, ...