4 reasons why you need to sign up on Twitter today

A recent conversation went as such:

“Are you on Twitter?”

“Yes, but I don’t really use it. I know celebrities are on it but I have no interest in knowing what they are doing. Just like Facebook, you know? When people post pictures of what they had for breakfast? I’m not interested in that.”

Involuntarily, my eyes narrow but I keep a smile on my face. Far be it for me to be judgmental, but such remarks over-simplify what Twitter is, and has become.

This perception is not uncommon, and is something which Twitter is trying to tackle.

Simply put, most people we know aren't on it, while many who are, don’t really understand how best to use it.

If you are one of those people who feel Twitter is a bit pointless, I urge you to read on.

The following are four reasons why you need to be on Twitter.

Used properly, Twitter is the best platform to get firsthand information from opinion leaders, trendsetters and whiz kids across various industries. It’s a simple, yet ingenious tool to get you plugged in to the latest trends, and to learn what the best minds are talking about.

Twitter allows you to follow personalities and brands that interest you, and pluck the best content directly from the source.

For instance: if you are into the English Premier League, you can follow a list of footballers curated by the official account of Twitter UK; for tech and gadget fanatics, you can follow tech blogs like Engadget, The Verge and Re/code which are among the leading sources reporting straight from the heart of innovation. And the best part? You can interact with almost anyone who shares similar interests.

Twitter plays a critical role as a platform for disseminating breaking news, as it drives discussions around significant events and facilitates conversations among global citizens in real time. To many, it has become second nature to live-tweet about an event as it unfolds, and build a discourse around it through a unified hash-tag.

This is especially important if you are running a business, as it helps you get your brand message out to potential and existing customers while enabling you to keep an eye on the competitive landscape by tuning in to what people are saying about a specific product or market segment. This is also why more and more politicians are turning to this platform to reach out to the masses.

Perhaps you haven’t bought in to the platform, because you have no idea what to tweet about. But what do you have to lose?

ln light of the endless stream of information on Twitter, publishing a single tweet should be the least of concern. It is hard to deny that Twitter is a helpful tool for all the reasons stated above, and in my opinion, most of us do not capitalize on it enough.