01. Preface

You know the objection: Why should our organization be on Twitter? Why do we care what people are having for breakfast?

You believe that Twitter is a more radical communication technology than the one framed by the objection.

But how to convince the skeptics?

That’s the purpose of this project: to identify how businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies and individuals are using Twitter for “business” communication. We entered the project convinced that there are stories to be told, with or without hard data, that may help turn the skeptic. We also believed that there are some universal best practices that transcend business type or communication objective. Thus, this project provides a snapshot of how Twitter was being used successfully during the summer of 2009.

This is not your basic “how to” book. If you are totally new to Twitter, we recommend The Twitter Book (O’Reilly Publishing). However, we have included a glossary, should we slip into unfamiliar jargon. We recommend a set of tools, so that we can help you save time.

This book is for anyone who …. [flesh this out]

Book Structure

The book is divided into three parts: best practices, case studies, and appendices.

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About The Editor

I created my Twitter account in April 2007, because Robert Scoble told me to! I didn’t use the account until June, at MindCamp. As a former event planner, I immediately saw the value of using this real-time tool with conferences and events, but I was still unsure of its use in other contexts. In September 2007, I decided to immerse myself for a month; I’ve never looked back!