A while back, I wrote a post introducing many of you to Twitter. At the time that I wrote that post, I was following about 10 other REALTORS. As of today, I am following about 30. Now I’m not trying to take credit for increasing the presence of the RE.net on Twitter, but I’m certainly glad to see it. There is actually a very regular and vibrant community of real estate Twitterheads out there. If you haven’t checked it out yet, now might be a good time.I admit that when I wrote the original post about Twitter, I myself wasn’t even totally sure how useful Twitter could really be to REALTORS. In a somewhat ironic twist, the 2007 NAR Convention revealed a very valuable usage of Twitter– live-blogging.
Live-blogging is exactly what it sounds like. It means that a person blogs, in real time, about something that they are witnessing. Twitter happens to be perfect for this. It is brief, and very responsive, allowing immediate coverage of just about any event. One major bonus is that because there is a mobile interface (m.twitter.com) and an text-messaging interface, you don’t even need an Internet connection or computer.
What I decided to do was live-blog the presentations that I attended at the convention. Here is a sample of what my Twitter stream looked like for the presentation by former Notre Dame football coach, Lou Holtz (the first tweets are at the bottom).
I did this for each session I attended, quoting directly from the presenters, and occasionally adding in my own thoughts and editorial comment. Notice that all of this came from about 10 minutes of Lou’s speech. I had about 150 separate tweets as a result of the Zillow/Google presentation (luckily, I had a wi-fi connection for that, otherwise I might have needed thumb surgery).
The amazing thing about the whole experience was that the other REALTORS who follow my Tweets were having a blast. For them, it was like being at the convention (without the travel, hassle, and temptation to gamble). For me, it was a lot of fun, it forced me to pay attention (which was tough in some of the sessions), and the archive of my tweets served as my notes. Everybody was able to get something out of the experience.
When I first started using Twitter, I had never even considered live-blogging as a potential use for it. Now, however, I think about how I can expand that use. I’ve got plenty of ideas for the upcoming InmanConnect in New York.
Much of the social media technology that is out there right now functions in the same way. You may not be able to find a specific use for it right now, but just give it a chance, and who knows what you might be able to accomplish.
(if you want to follow me on Twitter, just sign up and visit me at twitter.com/RealEstateZebra)
loren nason
November 27, 2007 at 4:50 pm
I’m still torn in the usefulness of twitter. I think it can be useful to a tech savy crowd but most will not find a use for it.
Utterz is cool and seesmic seems cool.
Candy Lynn
November 27, 2007 at 5:50 pm
I’m one of the Twitter converts! I followed the Zebra thru the convention. It was great. I could not make the trip this year but did not feel totally left out. I learned from the mini-blogs from each session.
tweet tweet all you tweeterheads!
Kris Berg
November 28, 2007 at 9:31 am
I’m not on the Twitter bandwagon yet. Daniel, I admit I was enjoying your NAR posts for awhile. I finally had to disable the text message feeds, because I was trying to present an offer and was getting “dinged” with incomings every 2 seconds about what Lou Holtz was saying. My clients weren’t all that interested, at least at that particular moment. 🙂 Good job on being a pioneer, however!
Daniel Rothamel
November 28, 2007 at 10:39 am
@Kris– I can appreciate that. I never turn on the SMS notifications. I just track “zebra” “rezebra” and the replies. Then, I check m.twitter.com for the people that I am following.
@Loren– I know what you mean. I think that Twitter is useful, but not in the direct, lead-generation way that agents typically look for.
@Candy Lynn– Tweet back at ya!
Athol Kay
November 28, 2007 at 11:36 am
Anything screaming for my attention every few minutes better be wearing a diaper IMHO.
Twitter sounds like it was invented by people who don’t have children or don’t own those little dogs that trophy chicks carry around in thier purse.