5 Reasons To Be on Twitter

Twitter was launched July 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Noah Glass. It has grown incredibly in the past 10 years to include now, 19% of the entire adult population and 24% of all teens use Twitter. I know by the numbers, it sounds like only a small percent, but if you look at the actual number of people on Twitter (1.3 billion) There really is no denying how huge this social media site is. There are famous people, politicians, world leaders, entrepreneurs, bloggers, business owners, and just regular citizens with Twitter accounts. Fun facts: Justin Bieber has more followers than Spain has people and Caitlyn Jenner reached 1 million followers in 4 hours. Those are crazy Twitter success stories of famous people... but still just goes to show how many active followers and users there are on this social media base. If you're reading this as a blogger, who is not on Twitter... You need to get your butt on there NOW, and I'm about to give you some reasons why. Also (I feel like I usually write to just bloggers, but if you're a non-blogging normal teen here's some reasons for you to be on twitter too). 

Quick Stats-

347,000 Tweets are sent a minute
320 million active users a month
1 billion unique visits to the site
100 million users are active daily
65 million US users

To non-tweeting bloggers:

Increase Your Audience // Twitter is where the majority of my readership finds me. I've interacted with other bloggers that I never would have discovered if it weren't for the website, and they would have never found me either if it weren't for Twitter. I know there are a couple major blog conferences and advice posts that say to "put all your eggs into one social media basket" and really focus on that one. I agree with that to a point, but I think Twitter is the best way to show people your writing style, personality, what you're interested in, what you care about, etc. in 140 characters. I use my Twitter account as almost a sampling, and if they like what they say, I constantly tweet links to my blog and my link is always in my bio of course so they're directed to my site. Anyways, Twitter is such an interactive social media and it's great for growing your audience.

Making Friends // I love how interactive Twitter is. It's almost difficult to be on Twitter and not make a couple friends as a blogger. You never miss a post from your favorites and they'll never miss a post from you either! It's also super easy to show your support with a simple "like" or help them gain a few views on a post by "retweeting" or sharing their post with your followers. Twitter Chats are great ways to interact with and meet new bloggers and also gain a following!

Bringing Attention to Old Posts // Instagram won't let you reshare old blog posts on it like Pinterest and Twitter will. But with Pinterest's weird algorithm, there's really no guarantees that anyone will see it. On Twitter, you can at least get a few views from tweeting out a post which takes no worry and less than a minute to do. As all bloggers can relate, sometimes we have wonderful posts from way back that have significantly lower numbers than others. While of course it's never about the numbers.... They do play somewhat of a role in the business part of being a blogger.

Show Your True Colors // I mean, if you're into authenticity and being transparent on the internet... and you're not on Twitter as a blogger, people might think you have something to hide. Twitter is a place where yes, it's doable to pretend not to be yourself... but it's difficult and stressful I imagine. I know just from being on Twitter that there is so much I would love to "retweet" and "like" but I have a mental list of things that would inappropriate to share with my readership. Even though it's important to show who you really are, be sure you're still being respectful... not those passive aggressive, angstful teen Twitter accounts, or anything vulgar and inappropriate. Keep it clean while you're showing yourself for the world to see.

Go Beyond the Blog // I know how hard it is to maintain an active blog site during a busy time... it takes time, effort, and putting off some of your "real world work" to put some work into your passion. However, posting a tweet takes under 15 seconds to do (depending on the tweet of course) and you can even schedule tweets so that it really takes no time out of your day. You can fill readers in on what's going on in your life and why you've been away from your blog. I know I've definitely used Twitter to inform readers a lot in the past months while school has been hectic. Readers enjoy that I'm still making the effort to connect with them and other bloggers enjoy that I'm still reading and sharing their posts. You can give sneak peeks of the reality behind a blog post or Instagram pic, ask for help with a particular project, really the possibilities are endless with Twitter so it's really wonderful.

I personally have maintained a successful Twitter account by sharing relateable material that bloggers, non-bloggers, college students, high school students, etc. can relate with. Posting at particular times when I know the numbers of people on Twitter go up, and scheduling tweets throughout the day help me to keep my followers increasing and my interaction with other users up as well. Twitter is in real-time, and allows you instead of writing a blog post right then and there, to tweet your opinion and accumulate other's opinions as well. Twitter polls can be used by bloggers to benefit them in remaining personable with their audience, as well as relateable gifs and material that you retweet. Your followers will absolutely love seeing a different, more real side of who you are aside from your blog.

To non-tweeting teens:

Know What People Are Talking About Worldwide // Twitter allows users to know what's "trending" and what everyone is talking about. During the different political debates this year, Twitter is the best way to keep up with the latest and outrageous comments said by Trump and other fun stuff like that. Also any award shows, I don't watch them... but I found out about the latest with Leo from keeping up on Twitter! Basically any popular culture event (Kylie's lip kit, fashion week, Damn Daniel, ect.) is on Twitter and can be found by using the discover tab to see what everyone's been talking about lately.

Breaking News // Of course apps like CNN, NBC, Fox, etc. send you notifications as soon as anything crazy happens... but following those news stations on Twitter is an even faster response than following their websites. I mean think about it... It takes no time at all to tweet breaking news, but writing and posting an article takes a little longer. Usually sources are pretty accurate (there was a "shooting" at my local mall during Primary week, and I wouldn't have known without Twitter) and include pictures. Also, since outlets are limited to 140 characters, you only get the important details from the event.

Make Internet Friends // It's not just bloggers that can meet people on the internet that instantly become their best friends even though they could be as far away as halfway around the world. Of course, I've also met people that are in the neighboring school district from me. The friendships people make just from social media are actually really incredible. Twitter is a wonderful way to meet people because right off the bat you can see what they stand for, who they admire, what they find comical, what angers and upsets them, virtually everything.

A Good Laugh // Twitter is full of hysterical accounts that can get me laughing to the point I pee myself some times. From wisdom teeth videos to funny animals, Damn Daniel to funny photos and memes, there's a funny for everyone on Twitter. When I'm up late and it's been a long day at school... I simply long onto Twitter, scroll through my feed till I find something funny, do some minor stalking, and then I end up almost peeing myself from laughing. Also, where else are you going to find a social media account solely dedicated to goats. Side note: I freaking love goats.

Keep Up With Your Favorite Companies, Famous People, etc. // I know this is kind of a weird and teenager-y reason to have a Twitter, but honestly some of the stuff celebrities post is absolutely hilarious. You can also keep up with your favorite brands and companies for when they do giveaways! Kanye West kills me and sometimes famous people might surprise you with their deeper thoughts... or not.

Anyways, Twitter is a smaller social media (compared to Instagram and Facebook) but one that is both extremely entertaining, helpful, and important to be on to keep up with news and what's going on in the world. I HIGHLY recommend that if you are not yet a part of the site, you join soon, and if you're a blogger, you hop on that even faster! You're missing out on a completely different audience by staying off of Twitter... Anyways, this post probably was a little weird if you already have a Twitter, but hope you enjoyed!