How Organizations Use Twitter

Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign in 2008 was perhaps the best example of an organization using Twitter to solicit donations, raise awareness, and call people to action. During the campaign, tens of thousands of Twitter users followed Barack Obama at http://twitter.com/ barackobama, where campaign staff used the service to provide the thencandidate’s whereabouts on the trail and kick off new donation initiatives. (Even though election laws mean the account can no longer be updated, it has hundreds of thousands of followers at the time of this writing.) The power of Twitter works for much smaller organizations, too. Groups such as churches and local charities can use Twitter to provide an additional way for members to connect, plan, and reach out beyond their immediate community. Preachers tweet about their planned sermons, youth group directors tweet about events, and local soup kitchens tweet when they need help. Whether it’s extra hands for a project, far-reaching assistance with a fundraiser, or some other big idea, Twitter can enable organizations operating on a budget to think on their feet. New organizations have also sprung up through Twitter. Some people have commenced their own donation campaigns on Twitter and encouraged other. Twitter users to donate and then tweet about it. But Twitter isn’t meant for charities. Enthusiasts of just about any interest have banded together on Twitter. Lets take it as an example, you can find organizations for food and wine lovers, sharing recipes and swapping restaurant reviews on Twitter. (You can search for the subjects that interest you on http://search.Twitter.com.) For example, musicians use Twitter to spread the word about concerts, song releases, charitable efforts, and their daily lives as celebrities. (Even Britney Spears has an official Twitter account: @BritneySpears.) John Mayer (@JohnCMayer) live-tweeted from the Grammies. Musicians working hard to make a name have used Twitter to engage thriving, and involved, fan bases. Twitter has also been a big help for community efforts. Whether it’s Amber Alerts, fundraisers, searching for kidney donors, or rescuing James Buck from an Egyptian jail (http://twitter.com/jamesbuck/statuses/786571964), Twitter has shone as a tool for social good. Plenty of people in the world want to lend a helping hand, and Twitter’s platform makes it easy, in real time, with a global network of connections.