Just two or three years ago, if someone had mentioned to you that they’d spent the day tweeting, you’d wonder if they’d been to a bird call impersonators convention.

It was created back in 2006, but Twitter has really taken off in the UK in the last year. It’s not just a way to connect socially but is also an important business tool – when used carefully, of course.

If you’re not sure about Twitter, the easiest way to think of it is as texting online, or a shorter and quicker version of Facebook. Users (tweeters) post messages of 140 characters or less and follow people who interest them – as you follow people who interest you.

For business owners, Twitter is a chance to connect directly with consumers as well as others in your industry. A chance to forge new links in an informal setting, it’s also a place where ideas can be shared and discussed. Yes, all this in 140 characters!

There are pitfalls to be wary of when using Twitter, of course. This year’s election has seen a few politicians come a crumble by posting up off the cuff yet rude comments about members of the general public – or, in the case of one politician, posting up some early postal vote election results!

NSDesign can guide you through the process to ensure that you use Twitter in a way that’s fun and productive rather than destructive. When navigating a new application, it’s handy to have some expert advice so that you can make friends, not foes, online.

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The way you phrase your tweets can give away how happy you are – just ask basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, who was today named the ‘happiest tweeter’.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh’s Business School analysed the postings on Twitter by 13 celebrities, using a computer programme to reveal word patterns that pinpointed underlying emotions. From this, the researchers were able to work out the relative happiness of the celebrities. The most miserable celebrity, apparently, is Snoop Dogg.

Given that emotions clearly come through in tweets, I’ve been pondering how businesses could generate the best emotional response from their audience. Initial results of the analysis show that 80% of the tweets could be divided into just six cognitive categories: communication; time; personality; place; cognition; and “Look”, which according to the researchers is a PR mechanism to direct followers to the places and things the tweeter wants them to focus on.

The study showed a marked difference between political tweets and other celebrity tweets, with the former revealing themselves to be more one-dimensional and less emotional than the latter. Obama and Schwarzenegger tweet constantly about health, while Al Gore has a lot to say on the subject of climate change.

So, how can businesses use the results of this study to their best advantage? I think it boils down to acting more like a celebrity than a politician: make references to a variety of cognitive categories; let your emotions show (to an extent!); and try to vary the subjects you tweet about.

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