Trade Pressed

I’ve been to the conferences and I know what the (current) Web 2.0 tools are. The obvious ones. And I agree. We should be using these tools. But how? Standing up in front of a bunch of editors and saying “Twitter,” like it’s completely self-explanatory, is just going to leave them confused, especially if they’ve never heard of it.

So how are you using Twitter for work? I searched Twitter for the word “magazine,” and here’s some of what I found. Vermont Business Magazine has tweets that seem to link to news stories on its site. No chit chat. Just the facts. So here, Twitter seems to serve as an RSS feed for site content.

Punchline Magazine has a Twitter account that’s a lot more chatty, like a personal Twitter. It also links back to site content, including video interviews. Punchline has 75 followers on Twitter, and the interaction with the editor(s) is really good. Having a lot of loyal followers who like to talk seem to make or break a magazine’s Twitter. Otherwise, you’re just talking to yourself. Only thing – who’s tweets are these? What’s your name, Punchline tweeter?

I thought this was really cool – Craft magazine uses Twitter as a repository for How To tips. This seems perfect for Twitter. I get a quick list of story headlines (HOW TO – Recycle Old Crayons) delivered to me, and I decide which are interesting enough to click. And these aren’t all full-blown articles. Some are quick blog posts.

Are you using a Twitter feed on your site or linking to a magazine Twitter page? What’s the theory behind yours? Letting readers get to know you a little better? Promote good content? Just messing around?