Twitter: The Answer To a Call For Help!

By all accounts, Twitter has hit the big time. For those who are still unsure of this social media superstar, Twitter is what is referred to as a micro-blogging platform. More specifically, it is a conduit for you to relay what’s going on in your life in bite-sized chunks (140 words or less).

You are able to follow others, just as they are able to follow you. With this “following” feature, you are then able to reply directly to them or send private messages. The more followers you have, the wider you are able to cast your thoughts and opinions.

Twitter has become a very useful way to not only broadcast what you are doing, but a way in which friends and followers can interact, and more importantly ask questions or seek advice on just about any topic.

A Little History:

My team and I have been working through a recent acquisition of our company, which requires a fair bit of realignment of our infrastructure. Those who have gone through this in the past know this is no small feat.

Things were progressing well until we began to change over our e-mail systems, which by all accounts should’ve been a fairly simple task – requiring just a few man hours to complete our objective.

As we began to ramp up our efforts, our firewall decided it evidently was going to play along, and choked our efforts to move quickly and efficiently (for those that want to read more about this adventure, please read What’s in a Checkbox: Part 2?).

Twitter To The Rescue:

After 2 weeks of battling the issue with no luck, I sent out a call for help via Twitter. My friend, Tsudonimh (KnowTheNetwork.com) answered. He offered a phone number to call him, and we were off.

I called in and he listened as I rattled off the details. While we weren’t able to solve the issue together, he was able to confirm that everything was configured properly and that I was not, in fact, insane!

There was indeed an issue, and my logical conclusion of probable cause was well-founded.

The Community Wins:

Social media is often touted as technology that connects people. There are many different formats and facets to the recent explosion of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and FriendFeed – but none so real as the community these outlets foster through their high-tech hallways where passers-by happen to become friends who otherwise would not have had occasion to know one another.

This was a grand moment for me! A call for help answered by a friend I would not have met had I not begun my blog and joined Twitter.

Please share your Twitter success stories here! I would love to hear of examples of how Twitter came through for you.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.