The social media craze is only getting stronger. While we have spent a great deal of time discussing Facebook for Real Estate, today I would like to take a look at one of the other major social networks, Twitter.
Twitter for real estate is different than Facebook for real estate in a lot of ways. Let’s begin by taking a look at what exactly Twitter is, how it works and why you would want to use it for real estate.
What is Twitter?
Twitter, like Facebook, is a social network designed to connect people around the world to share communications. While not nearly as large a user base as Facebook, Twitter is still very significant with a 175 million registered users making it the second largest social network.
Tweets
A “tweet” is a nickname for a message posted on Twitter. This is where Twitter varies the most from the other social networks. While many of the other popular networks allow you to post very large messages, Twitter restricts each message to 160 characters. A character is any letter, number, punctuation or space. Essentially any time you press a key you are inputting a character.
By restricting the length of each message Twitter keeps things very concise making it a quick read. Instead of having to read through a large amount of information you essentially get a series of headlines. As a result Twitter is able to share a lot of information quickly.
When writing on Twitter we are forced to condense our message. This is actually helpful in making sure that we can get our point across as Twitter does not allow us to ramble. Because of the lack of characters, short forms or abbreviations are very common. In fact often times Twitter users will get creative with numbers and short forms in order to fit their entire message.
Users
Twitter usernames are preceded by the @ symbol. So for example, my username is @SellstateCOO and I can be found at Twitter.com/SellstateCOO.
Follow
While Facebook creates connections by having users become mutual “friends”, Twitter is designed to be more public. This is done by making it where users may “follow” other users without the need for the user who is being followed to accept or even acknowledge that they are being followed.
So for example: You would like to follow me, you have two options. You can either visit Twitter.com/SellstateCOO or if you have your own Twitter account you can search me and click the “follow” button. Once you click follow, you will see any messages that I post without the need for me to accept your follow.
Because of this public nature, Twitter has become a very popular source of news, entertainment, sports and gossip. If you would like to follow your favorite celebrity, athlete or news reporter, chances are you may find them on Twitter.
Why is Twitter Important for Real Estate?
Twitter can be an important tool for real estate agents and brokers in a few different ways. Using Twitter, members of the real estate community may follow key organizations/individuals, share their messages or see what is generally trending in the real estate community.
Twitter offers a simple interface that allows users to consume high amounts of content in a short period of time. With conditions in real estate changing frequently, it is important for real estate agents and brokers to stay on top of the industry and be knowledgeable on the latest news and information. Twitter enables real estate professionals to get real estate information from multiple sources in short period of time.
How Can Realtors Utilize Twitter?
We suggest that Realtors use Twitter for real estate in a manner that allows them to learn what’s going on in the industry in the shortest amount of time. While we have seen Twitter used by real estate professionals to connect with clients, we find that it is better as a source of information as opposed to sharing a message when it comes to real estate. For Twitter, real estate agents and brokers should follow all of their favorite sources of real estate news and information.
Mobile/Tablet apps
As you might expect, Twitter has apps available for mobile platforms. Given the short message nature of Twitter, these apps come in handy as Twitter is about getting information out quickly. Nothings is faster than having the information in your hand. To get a Twitter app for your smartphone or tablet, simply visit your app marketplace, search for Twitter, then download the app. Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can enter your login information and begin using twitter on the go.
How Do I Sign Up?
Signing up is easy. Visit Twitter.com and fill out your information in the “New to Twitter? Sign Up” box. Click the “Sign up for Twitter” button, and you’re done.
Final Words
Twitter is an incredibly simple social sharing platform that real estate agents and brokers can use to stay informed. Rather than subscribing to email newsletters or visiting several websites, real estate professionals can use Twitter to aggregate this information allowing them to quickly skim news and information for what’s important and move on to other productive tasks.
You can follow me on Twitter: @SellstateCOO or Twitter.com/SellstateCOO and you may also follow Sellstate on Twitter: @SellstateRealty or Twitter.com/SellstateRealty.
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Michael DarmaninChief Operating Officer
Sellstate
Twitter.com/SellstateCOO
Facebook.com/SellstateCOO
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