Is it a bird, is it a whale? No, it’s Twitter.

– posted November 20th, 2008 by Laurence Veale One comment

Timely explanation from Brendan Hughes on his blog on what Twitter is.

Timely for us, as we’ve recently created an IQ Twitter profile, primarily to get the word out on our World Usability Day efforts. Anyway, back to basics, what the hell is it?

I’ll let Commoncraft do what they do best with the help of plain English and sketches:

But is Twitter just for play or for bloggers?

It’s a question I’ve been asked a few times and it’s best answered by highlighting some case studies on how some businesses are using it, at home and abroad:

FBD Insurance (twitter.com/fbd_ie) may not be the biggest insurance company in Ireland (they’re close), but they could be making a play for the “coolest” - not something you’d normally associate with an insurance company. Spearheaded by Brendan Hughes, FBD are using it to connect in a different way to new customers. More importantly, in using it, they could be breaking the “brand perception” of a traditional and conservative insurance company.
Bandon based, Curious Wines (twitter.com/curiouswines) have a new site and they’ve also hit the ground running with their Twitter presence offering special “Twitter friend discounts” (€10 off any mixed 12 bottle case for 24 hrs). After Bubble Brothers (twitter.com/bubblebrothers), they’re the second wine merchant in Ireland (and Cork) to use Twitter as an additional channel.
Amazon are using it in at least two ways with daily MP3 discounts (twitter.com/amazonmp3) and everything else (twitter.com/amazondeals)
US airline JetBlue (twitter.com/jetblue) are using it as a customer service channel, answering customer queries, giving updates on flight delays etc.
How could I leave out the Yes-we-can man of the moment, Barack Obama (twitter.com/barackobama). So, the “internets” swayed the election in his favour and with a following of over 130,000 on Twitter alone, it’s easy to see why.