Using Twitter For Teleworking
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In this post I would like to talk about Twitter and how it can be used as a status update tool by teleworkers.
What is Twitter
Twitter is a micro-blogging service, what the hell is a micro-blogging service I hear you cry? Micro blogging is a way to send very small messages up to 140 characters in length to a group of people. Whereas this blog allows me to update my readers with in-depth posts on a variety of topics, Twitter is aimed at updating your readers on what you are doing now.
The tool is free, and has recently gained a lot of tractions, approximately 3.2 million people use Twitter.
Updates can be done on-line via you web browser, via SMS text message or by using one of the many smart phone applications available (iPhone, Blackberry, Google Android phone, MS SmartPhone etc. etc.).
Followers and Following
You can follow other peoples updates or tweets as they are known, and you in turn can be followed by people, this is where the benefit for teleworkers lie.
You can use the search function to find people tweeting about subjects you are interested in and add them to your following list. Then as they add tweets, they are displayed in a reverse chronological order on your main Twitter home page (or are pushed to your mobile as a text message or update to your smartphone app).
It’s Uses for Teleworkers
Imagine the scene, the on-site manager has a team of remote workers and she wants to know what they are up to. The whole team create Twitter profiles, and as they reach milestones in their day, they tweet an update e.g.
Started work on the widget marketing plan.
Another useful function could be to set an availability marker. As you log on for the days work, tweet about that, when you leave for lunch or for an appointment, tweet with a quick message saying when you will be back at your home office, and lastly when you are clocking off for the day, let the boss know you are out of communication.
Another function of Twitter is a nudge, if you nudge someone, it encourages them to tweet an update, the manager could use this function to remind a team member to submit a new status update. This is a gentle and simple way to get an update, but be warned all managers out there, over use of the nudge will get on people’s nerves.
Normal tweets will go on the public timeline, which means anyone can search for and read your updates, it may be that you want to keep your company updates off the public timeline and only available to selected followers. To do this, there is an option on your profile setup to restrict who can see your tweets.
Another security idea, If you are tweeting for corporate reasons, it is probably a good idea to create a work and private profile in Twittter. Keep the two sepearete and only allow followers from managers and members of your team.
There is a function to direct message a person, if you need to ask your manager a question, but don’t want to include the rest of the team for example you can do this by prefacing the message with an @ sign followed by their Twitter name e.g.
@manager have you completed my appraisal yet? When can I come into the office for my review
Conclusion
Instead of numerous intrusive emails or phone calls back and forward to your boss and team why not setup a series of twitter accounts, make the communication private and off you go.
On the downside, Twitter has had bad press with it’s reliability issues, the front page has often been replaced by the fail whale image and people cannot logon, also it can become very addictive and tweeting can get in the way of real work - you have been warned.
You can follow me on Twitter for updates on what I am doing at http://twitter.com/nmatthews.
More Information
The Twitter FAQ is a useful resource for more information
CorporateDollar.com has created a free download on Twitter for none-profits, but it is an excellent ready for any user of Twitter.
And lastly an entire blog on the subject of twitter and getting the most out of this social networking tool can be seen at www.twitip.com
Comment by SharonH555
3 November 2008
Thanks for some great ideas. However, is anything really private on the net? A concern about using protected tweets for business. I found this yesterday:
From http://www.thorschrock.com (Nov 2) Tweetbeep Can See Through Twitter Privacy Protection: http://tinyurl.com/6nqugo
Something to think about.
Comment by admin
3 November 2008
@SharonH555
I read the article with interest, I will test tweetbeep out to check if privacy is maintained and amend the post if appropriate, thanks for the heads up.