Now that you know a little bit about what Twitter is and how it works, and you’ve read our article on how to stay safe while using Twitter, you may be thinking you want to sign up for an account. But before you do that, check out our breakdown below of the pros and cons of Twitter, so you can determine if it’s the right social media website for you.
Pros
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Easy to use – It’s easy to craft a post, and with the limited character amount, it can take less than a minute to get your thought out into the Twitter universe.
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Quickly absorb information – With 140 characters, people need to leave out all the fluff and filler that’s typically included in a longer article, so you get all of the most important info fast.
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Fastest way to get late-breaking news – Since posts can be done from your phone, news outlets and journalists are able to immediately post updates. No more waiting for the 6 o’clock news.
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Self-promotion/Promoting Others – If you want to get your business or brand some recognition, there’s no better way than to post to Twitter about it. Use it to promote your own brand, or promote other’s brands. By promoting others, they may be more inclined to promote you back!
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Follow your favourite celebrities and athletes – You can get a better look into your favorite celebrities’ lives by following them. Twitter verifies all celebrity accounts – so you know you aren’t following a fake account.
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The most secure micro-blogging website – Twitter uses a secured connection, meaning your information is safer than ever.
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Connecting – It’s easy to connect with people you already know, as well as make new connections with people who post about similar topics and share similar ideas. Users are usually open to interacting with people they don’t know.
Cons
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Limited amount of space – Twitter only allows 140 characters, so if you have a lot to say it can be hard to squeeze it all in to one short post.
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Limited direct messaging features – When trying to message people directly, you’re limited to directing your message to one person at a time.
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Text based – While you can post photos and links to videos, most of Twitter is text-based, so if you love posting photos, Facebook or Instagram is usually a better choice.
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Posts can get buried – There’s so many people posting all the time that, within seconds, your post can be buried by others’ posts. You may need to post multiple times a day to spread the word, especially when promoting yourself or others.
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Less privacy – Twitter has great security with their secure connection for your login information, but your posts are not private, and can be seen by anyone and everyone.
The Bottom Line: 8/10
Twitter is great for hearing other’s thoughts, getting up-to-date information on news and what’s going on in the world, and for asking questions. However, it can be hard to say what you want in the limited space you have, and sometimes it’s hard for others to hear what you have to say when there’s such a large quantity of posts being submitted at any given time.
When it comes to social media updates, there’s really nothing that surpasses Twitter in terms of global reach. You can inform millions of people at once of what you’re doing or thinking about, or even promote yourself or different causes. If you think you can get followers, start Tweeting today!
And that’s our rundown on the pros and cons of Twitter. If you think it sounds alright and you want to sign up, check out our next tutorial on how to create an account. Once you’ve done that, we can also teach you how to Tweet, and who to follow on Twitter.
