Do Writers Need Twitter?

I've heard recent controversy about Twitter and whether or not certain people need it and the services it can provide. While I can't speak for other businesses, I do have a good idea of what Twitter can do for writers. That being said, how do we answer the question, "Do writers need Twitter?"

I suppose it's not really an issue of whether or not you need it but instead of what it can do for you and how it can help your career. No matter what type of writer you are, there are many opportunities to be had with Twitter. Learning these will help you answer this question for yourself.

When you learn about these opportunities, you can decide for yourself if you think you need it as a writer. Here are some things that Twitter can do for you:

· Allow you to meet other writers
· Network
· Socialization if you work at home a lot
· Promote your books or articles
· Link to blog posts
· Drive traffic to your websites
· Create an online presence
· Spread word about upcoming events (book releases, book signings, etc)
· Look for writing jobs
· Stay in contact with clients
· Get ideas from Twitter streams
· Follow the news; get ideas from news


Now that you know what Twitter has to offer as a writer, you have to make a personal decision about whether or not you need and want it. In my opinion, maybe writers don't need Twitter but they can certainly benefit greatly from it when they learn how to leverage it properly.

Lisa Mason is a freelance writer with a specialty in Internet content and SEO articles and the author of How to Earn a Living Writing for the Internet as well as two poetry anthologies and a how-to poetry book. She has written thousands of articles, hundreds of ebooks and thousands of website pages and related content.