Twitter Tweets Are Not Sweet

Like many of you, I've not yet signed up for Twitter as I 'm not convinced that I need one more techno-gadget thingy-bob to babysit in my day. Further, I'm not really sold on the value of Twitter now that I have "Status Updates" on my beloved Facebook.

However, I got to thinking that maybe Twitter would be a nice tool to have while I am attending the Search Engine Strategies Conference in New York City at the end of March. There is so much information to learn there, and I got to thinking I could Tweet out all the good little Internet Marketing gems that I was getting in real time to the inquiring peeps who want to know.

Good idea! Many pats on my own back. (Although in reality, I can do the same thing via my iPhone and the Facebook app and I don't have to convince all my friends to get a Twitter account.) So, I went over to Twitter.com and dove in.

I signed up for an account. Easy enough. Then I went to "Devices" where I attempted to identify my phone number. NO GO! "That number is already in use," Twitter helpfully advises me.

Well, no it isn't. So, I look for avenues upon which to investigate. There are none. Twitter gives little avenue for the user to solve the problem. The website flips the user out of a help module and back to the sign-up screen. No progress made. So, I write to customer support (after a really big DIG through the site to find Customer Support) and ask why my number is in use, and can they make that right so I can get my Tweets going over the airwaves.

Three days later, haven't heard a word. Not even an acknowledgement. Don't know that I will. I found the website design and flow to be reminiscent of sites in the early 90's, customer service to be non-existent, and twice I've received a message, "Twitter is over capacity! Too many Tweets." Umm, okay. I will say the graphics are totally cute though.

So, why do I need Twitter again? Can anybody shed wisdom? I'll keep trying and let you know how it turns out.

Moral of the story: Tweets appear to be only for Twits. Tee hee :-)

Jennifer Bunker