Use Of Twitter In Spain
November 13th, 2009 - Chris MarshallTwitter is based around sending message of no more than 140 characters, which makes it the same as a SMS or text message. It is a web based service, but updates can be sent by conventional text to your account and the new generation of smart phones like the iPhone, BlackBerry, Androids etc all have applications that can be installed to allow permanent access to your Twitter Account either over WiFi or 3G.
Twitter is currently a FREE service, and people can read what you say (known as a tweet) in two basic ways. They can look at the public timeline which is where you see every tweet from everybody (except people that have protected their tweets, but more on that later), or you Follow someone, and only look at tweets from people that you are following. In cases where a person has protected their tweets you can request to Follow them and if they accept your request you see what they have to say.
Sounds complicated, but isn’t, and besides the subject of this article isn’t how to use Twitter, but to take a look at how it is used here in Spain.
First up compared to the UK and USA Spain is a relative novice in the Twitter Users League:
UK Top 10
- @lilyroseallen 1,732,612 Followers
- @BBCClick 1,554,144 Followers
- @DowningStreet 1,549,544 Followers
- @guardiantech 1,409,359 Followers
- @eddieizzard 1,253,435 Followers
- @imogenheap 1,249,329 Followers
- @stephenfry 972,464 Followers
- @sarahbrown10 931,093 Followers
- @alancarr 356,192 Followers
- @chrisdjmoyles 349,028 Followers
Source: http://twittercounter.com. Date: 9th November 2009. Location: London Time Zone
US Top 10
- @aplusk 3,950,881 Followers
- @britneyspears 3,732,992 Followers
- @theellenshow 3,692,800 Followers
- @cnnbrk 2,801,701 Followers
- @twitter 2,625,351 Followers
- @barackobama 2,622,588 Followers
- @ryanseacrest 2,573,306 Followers
- @oprah 2,572,789 Followers
- @johncmayer 2,570,439 Followers
- @the_real_shaq 2,516,165 Followers
Source: http://twittercounter.com. Date: 9th November 2009. Location: USA ALL Time Zones
Spain’s Top 10
- @beckham: 80,516 Followers, 0 Friends, 9 Updates. No link to a website
- @myapplestuff: 34,651 Followers, 34,219 Friends, 24,401 Updates. Links to http://almerimarlife.com, our web site documenting life in Almerimar, Spain, advice on the Expat Lifestyle and understanding Spain, and travel related offers and promotions
- @Mar04200: 27,518 Followers, 29,201 Friends, 125 Updates. Links to http://www.martyn.4healthdirect.com/ promoting an Immune System at wholesale prices
- @alexpuig: 24,281 Followers, 24,048 Friends, 4,198 Updates. Links to http://twittexperts.com/ a site providing advice on how to use Twitter
- @soultravelers3: 24,264 Followers, 21,240 Friends, 13,891 Updates. Links to http://www.soultravelers3.com/ a personal blog with a online store, affiliate deals and personal updates.
- @craigedmonds: 21,382 Followers, 23,480 Friends, 165 Updates. Links to http://www.craig-edmonds.com/ a personal blog promoting Internet services, affiliate deals etc
- @rickyrubio9: 20,980 Followers, 2 Friends, 130 Updates. Links to http://www.rickyrubio9.com/en/ personal blog of Basketball Player Ricky Rubio
- @andy_burton: 20,419 Followers, 21,240 Friends, 7,484 Updates. Links to http://www.properties-in-costa-blanca.com/ a commercial property site.
- @m_j_thompson: 19,768 Followers, 20,483 Friends, 404 Updates. Links to http://mjthompson.net/ a Internet marketing blog with affiliate deals and professional services
- @julie_OBCPro: 19,579 Followers, 20,718 Friends, 151 Updates. Links to http://www.working-from-home.biz/10189 a web site promoting how to work at home and associated products
Spain’s Top 10 Twitter Uses as of 8th November 2009, as measured by http://twittercounter.com which uses the time zone Madrid as the criteria for location.
The most obvious difference is that the UK and USA are totally dominated by celebrities, government and corporations. In Spain with the exception of a fake account (@beckham) and Ricky Rubio the Basketball Player the Top 10 are all individuals. Granted they are individuals who are either combining personal updates with revenue generating updates like myself, or are just using it for revenue generation.
One of the best features of Twitter is that it’s simplicity means it can be used for many things and as it is FREE it is possible to have multiple accounts AND no one should have any complaints on how it is used (although a number do as you would expect!)
Personally I have had a account since the invite only pre-beta days 3 years ago, and it has certainly evolved in how it is used. It really only started to take off early in 2009, and until then it was primarily used for personal communications for people to share a thought or plans with many people at the same time.
Throughout 2009 it has rapidly become a powerful commercial and news application, and of late more and more people are using it to search for information.
Twitter For Expats
There a number of uses of Twitter that I think would benefit Expats Living In Spain:
News: Twitter is a great source of news story. Not only do a lot of news organisations use it, but many aggregating sites (like Expat Life Spain) use it to attract readers. Recently Twitter has even been used to provide news and updates before the corporations get to know about it. With Twitter everyone is a journalist!
Offers: Twitter has a lot of people offering and promoting affiliate deals, and as such you will find some good travel offers in particular.
Promotions: If I was a small business (or indeed any sized business) I would use Twitter to promote by services, products, or just to increase awareness. As it is FREE it is pretty much only a function of time, and if you haven’t got time to promote your own business then why are you in business.
Social: Using Twitter can be fun! Random exchanges, great humour, interesting chats with people from different places and cultures. It is also a great way of keeping in touch with friends and family as using Twitter is faster, easier and more flexible than any of the other social networks.
Photos: There are number of sites that have sprung up off the back of Twitter that enable you to post photos direct from your mobile phone online, which becomes a great way of sharing events and activities with people that are not able to join you in person. Twitpic is arguably the most popular, but there are other equally good options.
Twitter In Spain
At the moment Twitter is still a fledgling social network in Spain. Having tweeted in both the UK and USA as well as Spain we are a long way off the social use of Twitter that those countries have. The concept of a Twitter Meet Up may seem strange, but at the end of the day Twitter can be viewed as just another hobby or club, and the world over for years and years people with similar interests have been meeting up to discuss their mutual interests and passions.
I actually have mixed views on this at the moment! It can become addictive, and I feel that one thing I love about living in Spain is the fact that people spend more time talking face to face than staring at screens, but on the other hand I have found it useful for getting restaurants and hotel recommendations when driving through Spain.
If you want to Follow me on twitter my user name is @myapplestuff. As a rule I follow people back, I tend to like to give people a chance rather than pre judge!
Maybe that is reason enough to give Twitter a try?
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