#TwitterTips: Reasons to have a Twitter if you are behind the game
By Lauryn Botterman
If you haven’t jumped on the Twitter bandwagon yet, you might want to join soon because you’re missing out on a world of genuinely informative, entertaining, clever, and hilarious info—all packaged into concise 140-character-or-fewer blurbs. Here’s how Twitter can change your life:
#CurrentEvents
No time to read the paper in the morning? Not a problem. You can still fake being an informed citizen by following a vast array of news outlets on Twitter. Most send real-time updates on current events and link to articles on their home websites. Search trending topics to stay up-to-date on stories that interest you the most. There’s no excuse for not knowing the latest information when all it takes is a quick scroll through your smartphone to catch up on breaking news.
Here is just a sampling of the many media outlets and journalists that you can follow:@nytimes, @CNN, @TIME, @ABC, @andersoncooper and @Newsweek.
#Connections
If used in a strategic manner, your Twitter account can be an important tool in building your personal brand and finding employment opportunities. Mashable.com offers insightful tips on constructing a professional social media presence. You can @ reply your professors or business leaders to network and pose inquiries. Speaking of professionalism, you should probably consider making separate accounts for your personal life and a PG-rated one for career/school-related matters. Potential employers do not need or want to see your semi-coherent 3 a.m. drunk rants. (Read: #DrunkTweets)
#Celebrities
How do people function without knowing what Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) ate for breakfast?! How can you start your day without checking to see where @Avicii partied last night? Twitter is pretty much a legalized form of stalking, and you won’t understand the unique thrill of knowing every detail of your favorite celebrity’s life until you follow them.
Lots of fictional characters also now have Twitter accounts. You can follow Barbie (@BarbieStyle: “Ken really is the ultimate dream date... he’s taken such good care of me all day!”) or even Lord Voldermort (@Lord_Voldemort7: “#sexualpickuplines: Want to let my snake enter your Chamber of Secrets?”). It never gets old.
#DrunkTweets
If enough of your friends and/or acquaintances have accounts, Twitter is probably most entertaining between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. Drunk tweeting is just like drunk texting, except a lot more public and amusing. The thoughts that people decide to broadcast after a few too many cocktails are endlessly hilarious. Just be mindful of your own tweets while under the influence. You don’t want to check your account in the morning to find that you revealed a little too much info about your late-night adventures… #oops.
P.S.: Don’t forget to follow @jerkmagazine!