Statista estimates global usage of social media to be around 143 minutes or 2.38 hours per day. This is a reduction from last year’s peak of 151 minutes. Why the reduction in social media usage and overall screen time? If you want to skip the negative statistics, head to the second section to find out how and why Twitter outperforms other social media networks for job seekers and online businesses.
Social media networking for job seekers and businesses vital even during usage drops
Health practitioners point to medical and psychological research showing that excessive screen time can lead to:
- insomnia
- stress and anxiety
- obesity
- hypertension
In light of all of the adverse effects of excessive exposure to blue screens (television, computer monitors, Smartphone, Kindle, mobile phones), what are online businesses and job seekers reliant upon social media networking to do?
Blogs relating to social media networking:
- Tips for Job seekers to use social media influencers to get a job
- Creator economy: boom for social influencers
- Networking for success when working from home
- Presenting your online brand: Bud Light Case Story
Using Media Events Theory to Grow your Business and Expand your Job Prospects
Some may falsely conclude networking on social media sites is a waste of time. Don’t throw in the towel just yet. In an article appearing in the Society of Network Analysis and Mining, researchers explained how small businesses who leveraged current events (presidential election and Covid-19, for instance) on Twitter (now X) “received greater levels of user engagement and exerted greater influence over their respective networks.”
The positive impact on small businesses effectively ‘piggybacking’ off of internet buzz created around major current events and then tweeting about them was remarkable. So much so that the term, “Media Events Theory” was coined. This emergent theory is practiced when businesses take advantage of “certain large-scale events [to] attract excess viewership and attention from the public, both on traditional and digital platforms.” The main aim of these businesses?
5 Benefits to Job Seekers and Company Use of the Media Events Theory
The following can be achieved when using the Media Events Theory, to:
- raise individual professional and company brand awareness
- increase engagement
- grow their business
- respond to a call to action, and
- increase sales
Twitter may outperform other social media for business and personal brand networking
In the world of social media platforms, Twitter stands out for a number of reasons. The biggest reason says Reuters Institute is that influential politicians, business leaders of the Fortune 100, start-up entrepreneurs, entertainers post in real time, content that is “part of the daily news cycle.” The individual newsmakers themselves from Biden, Harris, Trump, Vance to P. Diddy (Sean Jean Combs), Kanye West (Ye), Taylor Swift, Elon Musk and Jerome Powell post breaking news, share updates, comment and retweet news relevant to them and the world.
Twitter offers a platform to present yourself or your company to major influencers
Want to speak directly to the global influencers of the world? Twitter just might be the platform to to do so. Whether you are looking for a job or hoping to expand your business; setting up your account, using and building your Twitter presence could be worth your time. If you think about it, you don’t have much to lose. No need to rent a seat on a private jet, fly first class, practice your elevator speech to startup venture capitalists, or purchase a VIP seat at an NFL or NBA game. You can make contact sitting in your home with the flick of a few buttons. If you are looking for a remote job, or work from home managing your own line business, better yet.
What does Twitter offer for the online business entrepreneur and business owner ?
In 2022, it was estimated that Twitter (now X) had about 238 million active users. Two years later, Search Logistics reports Twitter has significantly increased its user base to 368 million. Specifically, its users are predominantly male (68.1%) and within the 25-34 years age bracket. Better yet, 80% of Twitter users worldwide are “affluent millennials,” writes Social Champ. What makes this age group attractive to entrepreneurs? This young adult segment of the population respond well to:
- marketing messages from social media influencers
- online posts emphasizing company and product brands
- genuine and authentic social engagement
What does Twitter offer to the remote job seeker and remote intern?
But guess what? Twitter is also an appealing social media platform for job seekers. Yes, you read correctly. Twitter can serve as an abundant resource for anyone looking for employment.
But guess what? Twitter is also an appealing social media platform for job seekers. Yes, you read correctly. Twitter can serve as an abundant resource for anyone looking for employment.
Recommended job seeker strategies for using Twitter
The Career Center at Columbia University recommends to students and alumni job searching for work to do the following:
- post thoughtful and thought-provoking information about course lectures and ask for feedback
- use the people search function to follow industry professionals aligned with your career goals, recruiters and headhunters
- read industry articles and post comments as a reply tweet
- make it a habit to use hashtags relevant to your targeted job, role, and preferred industry
- follow potential employers and start interactions with the company by commenting on their posts
- use the site for research to identify industry trends and opportunities
- follow job search websites, employment and temporary agencies for up-to-date job opportunities
- ask for advice and/or suggestions for career resources
- refrain from posting ‘all about you’ and like, share and give positive encouragement to your fellow tweeters instead (20:80 ratio)
- refrain from posting frivolous, childish and personal information that will not lead you to your ultimate goal: getting a job offer
Filling the need for Twitter users to obtain news and get a job and sales at the same time !
Remember, Twitter is not Facebook. Nor is it a forum to boast about your popularity and follower counts. One should strategically take the need for a majority of the Twitter audience to be ‘in the know’ about current events, what’s new, latest innovations and fill their needs while also benefiting yourself and your company.
4 Twitter strategies for job seekers and entrepreneurs to use now
For instance, the 2021 Digital News Report evidenced about 25% of the Twitter audience reported “the main reason they use it is because it’s a destination for the latest news.” If you are college student, recent graduate, unemployed or a business owner looking to obtain more sales and contract opportunities, what can you do to help feel this need for information? Here are a few suggestions:
- conduct formal or informal surveys in your industry and post about your findings
- scour the latest scientific, business research, innovative journals and post about conclusions
- attend business events, trade shows, university, think tank presentations and post about panel discussions, lectures, and keynotes
- re-post government data, analyze, present and post opinions for societal implications
The world is your oyster. Now is not the time to re-do and repeat job seeking and revenue building strategies of times past. You gotta think outside of the box. The world belongs to those who are persistent and are willing to try novel ways to achieve one’s goal.
Background Introduction for Users Unfamiliar with Twitter
Many entrepreneurs today have heard about Twitter ( now X) and the resulting increase in sales that can follow tweeting. Like all social networking sites, Twitter has its own unique language.
Twitter character limits
Twitter has been widely accepted as part of the microblogging platforms. Prior to the re-branded updates (May 2024), Twitter users were restricted to making posts of only 140 280 characters. These individual posts are called tweets. Further, Blue verified subscribers in the US can make individual tweets of 4,000 characters ! Twitter notes enable users to post up to 2,000 characters.
This restrictive character limit is responsible for the success of Twitter because it allowed movers and shakers of the world to get their news is small snippets. Further, it forced posters to Twitter to keep their messages succinct, to the point, and as brief as possible. No need for excess verbiage and puffery. But with the updates and the added character limits, don’t make a point to use verbosity as it could be a quick turnoff.
Twitter direct messaging
The DM feature (direct message) through Twitter is encrypted and allows users to send messages to one another (only Blue subscribers have access to encrypted DMs. And, both senders and receivers must have a Blue account). If you have been in business for awhile or are in the service sector, there’s a possibility that Twitter users are already discussing your business, service or product amongst themselves on Twitter. It might be a great idea to do your research and find out what they’re saying about that new entre’ you dished out last week or the novel product or service your introduced last month. Engaging with your customers to find out how best they can be served means satisfied customers are the first group for which to turn for increased sales growth.
Twitter followers
Like many other social media platforms, Twitter users have what are known as followers. This group is similar to friends on Facebook. Users can choose to ‘follow’ another user to subscribe to that user’s updates. As a business owner, you may want to try to build your follower base. The more followers a company has, the more ‘air time’ word-of-mouth builds about your product or business gets online. But we need to stress, not all tweets and re-tweets are positive, some could be negative. So focus on building positive engagement, for too much negative sentiments can be detrimental to your business solvency.
However, if you are a job seeker, you would aim for quality and not quantity. You’d probably want to keep a list of targeted employers and follow a small select list. Do your research and make comments to posts of companies of interest. In this way, you can make high quality posts of critical value, displaying your insight to the people (hiring managers) you need to influence the most. If the job seeker is spread too thin, quality will suffer and a positive impression will not be made.
Case use example
Let’s say your niche is holiday decorations service. You set up a Twitter account for your mobile holiday decorations business. Prospective customers will now subscribe to your tweets and see them when they log in. Your follower list ends up growing this way because people seek out and get recommendations for fellow Twitter users who have similar interests.
Once you sign up for Twitter, the first thing you’ll want to do is edit your profile. Start by choosing a profile picture. If you’re tweeting as your company, then you’ll want to use the company logo.
But if you’re tweeting under your own name, then you can use a professional-looking picture of yourself. After you upload your picture, write a short (160-character) bio that will be included on your profile. Don’t stuff keywords into the bio box. Doing that will only get you mistakenly labeled as a spammer. Instead, take a moment to craft a sentence or two about your business.
Once you’ve updated your profile, it’s time to start tweeting. It’s important to make your tweets valuable to your readers. Don’t just post about your latest products or sales. Post helpful tips links to informative articles, and participate in ongoing conversations.
You can participate in conversations by clicking ‘reply’ underneath someone else’s update. Going back to the previous example, say you’re following <holidaydecor> and in a recent tweet they ask their followers about the cure for mange.
You can click reply and tweet back with a link from your blog on the topic of best holiday designs. You can also ‘retweet’ someone else’s design by clicking retweet under their tweet. By making yourself valuable to your followers, you’re more likely to build lasting business relationships and increase sales.
