To tweet or not to tweet: That is the question

Twitter is a social-networking website that enables users to “tweet” 140 characters or less updating followers on anything and everything their hearts desire. Twitter was started in 2006 and has continually gained popularity since then.

Twitter first gained popularity when celebrities such as Kanye West, P. Diddy and Miley Cyrus logged themselves onto the web. Fans began following their favorite celebrities, and this social-networking site took off from there.

Although being the most followed person on Twitter is quite the accomplishment, Lady GaGa, this social-networking site has some beneficial uses beyond an ego boosting popularity contest.

Despite what many Twitter skeptics believed, Twitter has continued to grow since it began in 2006. Corporations, non-profit organizations and business people all the like have been logging onto Twitter as a way of recruiting new employees, reaching out to a larger market, and advertising their products/company.

So if you are like me, and have yet to hop on the tweeting bandwagon, than you might be wondering why should I start tweeting now?

1. Twitter can help you build your professional network. Corporations have joined Twitter as a recruitment tool. Follow various companies in the industry you are looking to go into—not only will they be impressed that you have been following them, but intelligent tweets are eye catching and they may be enough to get you noticed.
2. Twitter helps you stay informed. If some one would have told Ben Franklin that one day people would be using a social-media network on the Internet to keep up with their current events he would have laughed them right out of his office. However, Twitter allows people to follow the world. It has become a convenient way for people to keep up with politics, travel, the economy, and everything else the conventional newspaper covers. Twitter allows you to obtain more personal information regarding businesses you might be interested in. 
3. Twitter allows you to personally connect with a company or employer. Although every HR manager is taught from day one to never let their personal interests get in the way of the hiring process, it is hard to remove personal bias when making final decisions. Twitter can help you recognize some common interests you might have with an employer you are looking to work for—mentioning these commonalities will only help you during the interview process, and they might even land you that perfect job. 

Although I have not began tweeting just yet, that is not to say it won’t happen soon. In the dilemma of-- to tweet or not to tweet, I choose tweet. As long as you tweet intelligently, it can do you no harm.