I am a bit of an addict...
I thought I wouldn't get involved...
I thought it would be a fad...
Twitter has taken over my life a little bit more than I would have liked!
However, as much as it has turned into another vice I feel a bit guilty about, it has been extremely useful in my day to day work. Generally, I use Twitter to market my work, get word out there about my current projects and find out about what’s happening in the world. There are though a myriad of uses that excite me; here are just a few...
ADVICE via @webeden
I built my website with a great piece of online software called Web Eden and while it is very easy to use sometimes I want to do things a bit outside of the box. What works so well is that I am able to tweet a question to @webeden and they generally get back to me very quickly. This is quicker than sending an email, less intrusive than having a chat applet open or less stressful than speaking to a technician down a phoneline. The other benefit is that other people who follow either @webeden or me are able to either offer advice or benefit from the advice!
CASTING via @chris_allen
I was recently casting a rehearsed reading that I am directing later the month and I was having trouble in casting one particular part. I sent a tweet out to my followers to see if they could help. @chris_allen replied back (someone who I had only recently started following by chance) and I was able to offer him an audition; and eventually the part. This for me really showed the power of the network!
REVIEWS via @Jakeyoh via @ayoungertheatre
One of the most impressive twittering experiences I have had was when I was directing 2 shows last month. I was aware that I was following @Jakeyoh and he was a reviewer for A Younger Theatre.com. Becuase of Twitter I was bold enough to invite him along to the shows and by chance he was nice enough to come along and write a review of the pieces (click here to read it). Of course he may never have turned up but I didn't have to put much effort into inviting him and the payoff was huge.
I believe that twitter has changes the way I communicate with the world. I now have access to people I wouldn't have dreamed of being able to communicate with. People are more likely to give you 140 characters of their life rather than 1 hour of their time. I am already plotting how to use Twitter more and with two of my shows going up to the Edinburgh Festival this year I have already started to follow people I think will have influence!
If you are interested in using twitter to market your work the here is a great guide to how to use Twitter effectively and respectfully; http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/theatre-marketing-twitter/
