I must have read about the waste of time that is Twitter. But I have to disagree. In fact, Twitter has freed me up a fair amount of time … on a daily basis … since I figured out how to use it.

Yes, I know people who only tweet about mundane happenings (okay, stupid): what they eat, what they feel, where they go, how their favorite TV show is so disappointing. And that? Despite those who claim that you should follow everyone who follows you (Twitter tag?), It’s really an individual decision.

The beauty of Twitter is that you can use it however you want. Follow people who are talking about the things that interest you. Much easier than worrying about how you will follow 15,000 people every day. And by the way, you’ll find that most of the people you follow don’t Tweet as often anyway. So stop worrying about HOW you will do it. Decide what works best for you and move on.

Along the same lines, following someone whose tweets are starting to bore you? No problem. Just click “unfollow”. There are no hard and fast rules in the wild west of social media.

As for the time saving statement I made … let me rate that. Using Twitter in conjunction with Facebook and LinkedIn has freed me up a lot of time.

Since many of my colleagues (and some clients) are using these tools, we can communicate with each other through social media or social media instead of email. Once you’re on a social media site or page, you can quickly send a ton of messages and move on. Even better, you can post an update, talk about an event, or share an article with all your colleagues at once.

What I found is that instead of finding more than 300 emails in my inbox each morning, I could have 75. This means that I can check emails in 15 to 20 minutes, not the two hours it took me once each day. Sure, part of this stems from the fact that 140-character microblogging forces you to be concise. But what is wrong with that? It does not mean that you forget to write. It just makes you a more efficient communicator.

I love the fact that I am now receiving much more information than I am choosing to receive. Tips and tricks that help me work better, faster and smarter. Articles that keep me updated on the latest Facebook updates or Twitter tools. Not only do I work more efficiently, but I get a lot of information … in REAL time.

If there is a downside here, I don’t see it.

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