I was inspired to write an opinion piece on Twitter by a friend, who asked what I thought of Twitter.  I’d be the first to admit that I have not used Twitter.  However, I am keen to point out that I am very familiar with the service.  I’ve been following Twitter’s development, launch and mass adoption since its inception.  Twitter came to my attention in early of 2007, (the source of Twitter discovery escapes my memory) but I never gave much thought to it.  In the recent months it’s been gaining a great deal of momentum.  Almost on daily basis there is an article about Twitter; covering every topic from how twitter can be monetized to server and services issues.

I was more interested in reading about Twitter than using it.  There are reasons why I have not used it, or saw the need to.  Using Twitter is like being in a band… you need to build a fan base before Twitter has any value to you.

To build a fan-base, or in Twitter terms, the followers, you need to:

• Twit frequently
• Have something meaningful to say
• Get your friends to start following you before the masses do

The reason why I don’t use Twitter is for the same reasons above and more:

• I would not have enough time and lack dedication to Twit frequently enough
• The things I do would probably not be interesting enough for other people to know about, which leads me to the next point
• My followers would probably get annoyed if I post about the color of my socks today
• I do enjoy a certain sense of privacy

Although I am not about to start using Twitter, but I think Twitter would benefit public figures most.  Bands, artists, celebrities, politicians, brands, and so on.  Twitter can be monetized (an often discussed topic on blogs) by leveraging public figures, who rely on fan base and audiences to be successful.

In Part 2 I will discuss how public figures can leverage Twitter.