Angels Den Blog

I’m sure I’m not the only person out there who cannot quite believe the meteoric rise of Twitter and the way it has been seamlessly accepted by society and business. I’ll be the first to admit that I am a twitterer, but I twitter because I’ve been convinced by my techie guys that it would be beneficial for my business persona if I do. That does not stop me questioning how this incredibly basic application has taken the world by storm and become, apparently, the world’s third largest social network behind MySpace in second and Facebook in poll position.

When I bring this question up in company I’m usually reminded about the wondrous benefits of everyone knowing exactly what I’m doing and where I am, how heavily endorsed it has been by everyone from politicians to music stars, celebrities to radio DJs and what a great addition to social networking it has become. But I cannot help but to consider the conversations that must have taken place for Twitter to raise the reported US$57million in venture capital…”What is Twitter? Well…you know the Status bar in Facebook? Twitter is based around that…no that’s it, nothing else, just the Status bar”.

How did they get millions of dollars in investment for an idea that already exists on the world’s most popular social network and their direct competitor? When Twitter was explained to me for the first time I kept on expecting that they would tell me that it involved something else as well, that it has more depth to it, but when I was told, no that’s it. I just could not see how it had become so popular.

Listen to any radio station and the DJ’s promote their Twitter accounts, the musicians and bands promote their Twitter accounts, it has become the most heavily endorsed business of 2009 as far as I can tell, and much like in-movie product placement that seems to eclipse the story of the film, Twitter is starting to get on my nerves a bit.

However, Twitter is here to stay, and if you buy into the concept it is a very immediate way of staying in touch with your audience. For business users it can personalise your relationship with suppliers and customers, and can even be seen as a fun way of communicating with new customers. I for one have my Twitter account in the signature of all of my emails so that people can follow me around my virtual days performing my virtual duties.

Social networking has been utilised by businesses across the globe to improve or create an image of an individual or organisation. It’s blogging on steroids and there is plenty of evidence to show that if used intelligently it can improve your businesses bottom line. I may not understand how Twitter came to be as popular as it is, but I’m a slave to its success, so I’ll see you in the Twitterscape.

Author: Bill Morrow is a co-founder of Angels Den. Visit www.angelsden.co.uk to discover our refreshing approach to business angel funding for small businesses. You can also follow Bill on Twitter.

Image © Robert Scoble