by Katie Elfering
- Twitter gets a lot of grief for letting people share the most mundane aspects of their lives (“I just ate a Pop-Tart”) or for being a tool that encourages self-promotion and narcissism. But lately, Twitter has started shaping up into an almost (gasp!) practical utility for consumers’ lives.
- One of the most obvious examples of this shift is the customer service that many brands have implemented on Twitter. JetBlue and Comcast have become 140-character service experts. Newer entries, like HyattConcierge, are taking off by offering specialized tools to help travelers on the go.
- Another oft-mentioned Twitter tool? The ability to report breaking news. From earthquakes to planes in the Hudson to the aftermath of elections in Iran, Twitter users are posting events the second they happen.
- But beyond brands and breaking news, cities and states are starting to see the value in using Twitter as an info disseminator. New York state’s transportation and travel service, 511NY, has Twitter feeds that alert NYC residents to traffic conditions and emergencies on the city’s subway and highway systems. @SF311 lets Bay Area residents send messages to the city government about city utility issues. And the Stolen Bike Boston Community Alert program uses Twitter to help catch bike thieves by posting descriptions of stolen bikes for citizens.
- Online classifieds? Try 140-character classifieds. iListMicro lets consumer swap and sell goods. Users tag tweets with “#ihave” or “#iwant” to get their listings added to the service.
- Even day-to-day activities are getting the Twitter touch. PackageTrack lets consumers track incoming deliveries from FedEx, UPS and the USPS. After users follow @packagetrack, it updates them each time a package status changes.
- Twitter tools can even keep consumers healthy and safe. After the recent rash of food recalls, the FDA set up a Twitter feed to keep concerned consumers up-to-date and (perhaps overly) informed about what’s safe to eat.
- Maybe the most useful Twitter tool in today’s economy? TwitterJobSearch, which uses crowdsourcing and link-crawling to track job openings. Twitterers can search for jobs in categories or by company and save desired gigs in a special account. 140-characters to find a career? Works for us.
