Before answering the question “Is Twitter a Terrible Waste of Time?” posed by Justin Kirby of Debatable, I think we first need to ask the question: why do you use email? It most likely has something to do with communication. I use email to connect with people and businesses I know. I Tweet for an entirely different reason. I use Twitter as a distribution tool.

Twitter for me is the equivalent of using email to mass mail all of your contacts. I believe individuals and corporations use Twitter as a communication tool that facilitates mass content distribution. Twitter is just a single corn chip penetrating the proverbial seven-layer dip we all enjoy at Super Bowl parties.

In fact, I would ague online marketing has become the process of developing distribution layers to reach niche networks online. These distribution layers rely mainly on social networking applications. And, presto we have the birth of a new industry buzz term Social Application Marketing or SAM. I’m working on a feature piece for iMedia that I’ll share soon.

I view Twitter as simply one distribution layer in a larger system of distribution that individuals and corporations create to engage audiences. And, the key to success with engaging large audiences is to identify, claim, activate, and communicate using multiple tools. The mistake I see most enterprises making is relying on a single destination profile page or application tool that is used to push up a piece of content. Many firms simply miss the next step of socializing the published content into other networks and tailoring the piece they have published.

So, is Twitter a terrible waste of time? The question almost hints at some mystical secret but the answer is always right in front of us. Interact and you’ll find out for yourself and or for your business.

TAGS: twitter, email, social networking, Facebook, Justin Kirby, Debatable, seven layer dip, audience machine, todd tweedy

PHOTO CREDITS: 1. Rumer Tweet, 2. Demi Tweet, 3. Twitter is over capacity. to many tweets, 4. installed tweetdeck