Why you need to get active on Twitter

Twitter is the real-time soundtrack to the biggest moments and events across the globe and Kenya is no exception. Think of it as a global marketplace- where people gather to get the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people in real time. 

This is where you come to reach out to the world, or your friends and family- wherever they are. Get on your soapbox and share your thoughts with elected officials or go sotto voce to the neighbor next to you. Discover, debate and joke- it’s all up to you.

Here are some reasons to activate that Twitter account.

Discover the latest news: Social media has really changed how we consume news and information. Many people, constantly connected to the Internet, get to first hear about an incident or event on Twitter before they get the in-depth analysis on the same through other channels. #KOTNewsAt9 is testament to this fact. As NTV, KTN and Citizen TV remain off air in the current #DigitalMigration standoff, Kenyans are staying up-to-date and discussing the latest news that has captured the country’s attention. Many journalists are on Twitter and keep their followers up to date with regular alerts.

Connect with public personalities: Not only does Twitter connect you with topics that are of interest to you, it also brings you close to public personalities. From @UKenyatta to @BarackObama, and from @KimKardashian to @JustaBand, Twitter is the platform where you can communicate and engage with your leaders and celebrities you admire.

Your TV and Live Event Companion: Twitter is a powerful companion to live events, including live TV broadcasts and popular programmes. Twitter was born on mobile and since the vast majority of Tweets shared are in real time, information freely flows in real time. So if you happen to miss an edition of Blankets and Wine where your favourite artist was performing, Twitter is the place for the updates you need.

Grow an audience for your brand: People use Twitter to discover new information about topics that matter to them, including brands that they interact with daily. Entrepreneurs can take advantage of this and generate conversations to grow their following. Consumers can also easily access brands and put questions out to them in real time. Want to find out how @uber_kenya works? Why not ask @nakumatt what offers they have at an outlet near you?

Twitter has recently launched some cool features this year to help get that much closer to what matters to you.

While you were away: With this feature, Twitter users are able to see a recap of some the top Tweets they may have missed from the key accounts they follow while they were on the go. To fill in some of those gaps, Twitter retrieves a few of the best Tweets users probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise, determined by engagement and other factors.

Group Direct Messages and Videos: The group DM function lets you start conversations with any of your followers and they don’t all need to follow one another in order to chat. You can create a group in just a few taps. When you’re added to a group, you’ll get a notification. Twitter also upgraded the video sharing experience: you can now seamlessly capture, edit and share videos right from the Twitter app.