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Friday evening, HubSpot hosted Biz Stone (@biz), co-founder of Twitter, for a Tweetup right here in our office! He was our third celebrity guest appearance. (The first two were Massachusetts Govenor Deval Patrick and MC Hammer.)
While he was here, Biz sat down with Mike Volpe and Karen Rubin for a special edition of HubSpot TV. Here's the video from their conversation (a summary is below):
1) How are people using blogs and Twitter differently?
Twitter is a messaging service (different from blogging), but it is sometimes used as a microblogging service. People use both Twitter and blogs to share information about themselves in an open, public format.
2) How will blogs and Twitter work together?
Twitter is great for short messages and updates, and often includes links to blogs. You can use them to promote each other.
3) Will the OPO (Oprah's Public Offering) be a landmark event for Twitter? What are other landmark events?
The SXSW 2007 conference was a milestone. Also, several "big world events" during which people used Twitter to share information: the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks, Hudson River plane crash, wildfires in San Diego and Obama's election.
4) What is some advice for marketers looking to grow and develop a community around their business?
The key to developing a community is listening, paying attention and engaging. Even engaging occasionally lets your audience know that someone cares. A little goes a long way. Jet Blue and Comcast are examples of corporate Twitter users that do a great job. Also, contribute information that you really care about!
5) How should people who work for businesses use Twitter?
The companies that are doing a good job use Twitter for both marketing and customer service. For example, Jet Blue gives travel tips and answers questions about flights. Mixing up Twitter's use is a good approach, especially since we don't really know the best way to use it yet.