What Are You Doing?

There has been a lot of buzz about the latest social networking craze, Twitter. If you’re not in the know, Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to the question, “What are you doing?” If you’ve used LinkedIn or Facebook, there are some familiar features that help keep tabs on the activities of your friends and colleagues. Twitter allows users to receive updates online, or via email and phone. Like most of the social networking sites, the appeal is not obvious. Most people say, “Why would I want anyone to know what I’m doing?”. While this is counter-intuitive, staying tuned to the activities of your friends, family members and co-workers can be addictive. And once you’re hooked, you get sucked in and find yourself posting updates.

There is a way to tie this back to recruiting and filling jobs. Connecting with candidates who use Twitter provides recruiters with a very efficient communications platform. While sending updates that read “I just got my haircut” or “I’m eating sushi” won’t help anyone drive placements, posting “2 week Admin Assist position available, downtown Boston, $25 / hr, 617-478-9100” will. This message would reach people very quickly and people could easily toggle their subscription to your updates on and off based upon their availability – which is much cleaner than unsubscribing from a mailing list. Of course, not all candidates are using Twitter, but with 2 million members, it’s certainly gaining ground. And your competition might already be using it.