Comments on: Twitter Poll: Ultimate Time Waster, or Great Tool?

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 05:46:00 +0000

Twitter is an awesome tool to make your business money. If used properly the sky is the limit!

By: Peter Wolf

Peter Wolf — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:20:57 +0000

Marketing and business folks can make Twitter well worth their time. I vote for great tool!

By: Stanium

Stanium — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:09:52 +0000

It really depends on how you use it. So for me it is both ultimate time waster AND great tool.

By: Samuel SEO Montreal

Samuel SEO Montreal — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:14:59 +0000

Sure the Internet is just a time waster

like in the good ol’ days, now we know how to use it as a great tool, same thing happens for IM 5 years ago, same thing now for micro blogging…

By: What I’ve learned from Twitter « Tendo Dev Blog

What I’ve learned from Twitter « Tendo Dev Blog — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:38:40 +0000

[...] Online Marketing Blog’s Top 10 Twitter tool uses: http://www.toprankblog.com/2008/05/top-10-twitter-uses/ and its Twitter poll: http://www.toprankblog.com/2008/06/twitter-poll-ultimate-time-waster-or-great-tool/ [...]

By: Are you a Twitterholic? - Twitter | SEO Training

Are you a Twitterholic? - Twitter | SEO Training — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:26:11 +0000

[...] Twitter Poll: Ultimate Time Waster, or Great Tool? - by Lee Odden [...]

By: Internet Marketing Joy

Internet Marketing Joy — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:54:20 +0000

I guess for me, Twitter is a pretty useful tool in making other people know what’s happening to you right on that moment..^^ plus it is very efficient and fast way to communicate with your peers..^^

By: Glenn Batuyong

Glenn Batuyong — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:33:44 +0000

The idea behind Twitter may have led it to initially be a time-waster but some great minds went to work and saw its vast potential for business/news use. Now all I see are great liveblogging, news alert, and collaboration tools built around the Twitter API and concept. Best example I know: KPBS News in San Diego used it as a live alert system during the October 2007 wildfires in California when their website was hammered into submission. Twitter became a primary way to get immediate information about shelters, evacuations, and flare-ups (I received the Twitter notifications over SMS).

By: Your SEO Mentor

Your SEO Mentor — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:33:33 +0000

Thanks for the Poll Lee, Personally I think it can be both depending on how you are using it.

By: Adido Web Design

Adido Web Design — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:43:27 +0000

About time someone did a poll like this, well done on starting the debate Lee.

Personally I can’t see any point to twitter at all. Although I’m late to the game in terms of getting to grips with it, everything I’ve read about it leads me to think it is a complete time waster. I’m impressed my @Micheal D’s testimonial to the benefits but for me its a big thumbs down.

By: Mike Wilton

Mike Wilton — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:06:52 +0000

I think that it’s both a great tool and a time waster. I use Twitter for both gathering information as well as it’s basic social use. I will tweet about SEO and work related finds, but I will also tweet about my daily happenings. “What are you doing?” means just that. It’s great that people are taking it to the next level and using it to drop links and to relay industry related info, but to those who are complaining about tweets about the everyday, they have lost sight of the true purpose of Twitter.

By: robin seidner

robin seidner — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:00:23 +0000

Lee,
I cringe at polls like this, because frankly, Twitter is both a great tool and a time suck (at least for me), and I can’t vote one of each.

By: Jeannine Crooks

Jeannine Crooks — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:55:12 +0000

Some people use Twitter wisely, but I’m tired of knowing when someone went to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. I’m much more careful now about who I follow than I was when I first joined.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:26:20 +0000

Michael, that’s a fantastic testimony for Twitter you have there!

By: Rich Brooks - flyte

Rich Brooks - flyte — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:23:38 +0000

I'm reminded of that old Saturday Night Live bit, "New Shimmer is a floor wax *and* a dessert topping." Twitter is just a communication tool; if people choose to share what they're having for lunch, that's what it will be. If they use it to share ideas, network and communicate, that's what it will be. I just can't believe you posted this survey on a day when I posted How to Use Twitter for Business: and asked the same questions! (Were you looking over my shoulder?)

By: Michael D

Michael D — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:33:08 +0000

Great tool is an understatement IMO. Besides all the typical greatness twitter has provided me (connectivity with friends, new relationships and contacts, more traffic to my sites) I’ve had some added bonuses. 1) Thanks to a tweet I won a free pass to the sold out SMX Advanced event 2) I sponsored a copyblogger post (which later appeared in the LA Times) 3) I was featured in USA Today (online and print) as a result of a fast reply to a tweet by Chris Winfield. Not too shabby for a time waster.

By: Lee Odden

Lee Odden — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:49:34 +0000

Seems that Twitter is a bit of both, time waster and great tool for most people. In the end, it’s one or the other though, at least at the time and purpose for this poll.

Thanks to everyone who has responded and feel free to retweet.

By: Aaron Weiche

Aaron Weiche — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:28:23 +0000

When I followed your Tweet to get to this poll I was hoping to find a rating scale or 4 to 5 choices with some middle ground … but since there is no middle ground, a great tool it is.

By: Dana Lookadoo

Dana Lookadoo — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:44:28 +0000

Found out about poll by following Lee on Twitter. In Seattle for SMX now on cell and made connections only possible thru Twitter. Can grow relationships yet wonder if some significant others experience Twitter estrangement from their active Tweeters.

By: Stacy O'Connell

Stacy O'Connell — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:09:46 +0000

It depends on how you use it. If you only have friends updating their mundane life experiences (at the coffee shop, driving to work), it’s pretty lame. If you use it as a business tool, to network, to learn and share ideas then it’s very useful.