ChickSpeak

You may think Twitter is only about knowing what your friends are doing every minute of the everyday-what time they woke up, that they’re still sleepy and that they’re having a grilled cheese for lunch. But keeping up with friends is really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes it.No matter where you turn, someway or somehow you’re bound to hear about Twitter. While watching the news on TV, you can see Twitter comments from viewers. You hear about comments made Twitter talked about on the radio.

There are even serious interviews taking place on Twitter itself. One of Twitter’s biggest impacts was during the Iranian elections when it helped influence Iranians to assemble and march against what they felt was unfair.

Celebrities have also jumped on the Twitter-wagon. Remember the race for a million followers between Ashton Kutcher and CNN’s Breaking News feed?  Or maybe the day Oprah joined Twitter? I don’t think I’ve seen the Twitter fail-whale (the symbol that represents too much activity at one time) more in one day than I did the day Oprah joined. Did you participate when Hugh Jackman offered $100,000 to a fan’s favorite charity? All they had to do was convince him useless 140 characters or less.

There’s no denying that Twitter has taken the world by storm. Yet regardless of all this hoopla about it, what’s the point in you joining Twitter? What do you get out of it?

The answer is a lot. If you use Twitter to its full capacity instead of tweeting about mundane tasks in your everyday life, the benefits are endless. Here are some of the pros of Twitter to get you started:

Keeping up with the news

With almost every news channel on Twitter, the flow of information never stops. Maybe you aren’t like me, but I don’t always manage to catch the news and reading through a newspaper even online can be daunting. And as strange as it sounds, online blogs and newspapers aren’t the fastest source for news anymore either. The reason Twitter is such a great a great source for news is because everything happens in real time. As more events unfold, news sources can quickly tweet the details. If a news story interests you, there is often a link included with the tweet that leads to the full story.

We suggest BreakingNews, The New York Times , CNN  and CNN Breaking News.

Keeping up with your industry news

Like keeping up with breaking news, Twitter is also a great source for keeping up with current happenings in your industry. Whether you’re trying to break into the industry or already in it, it’s always important to stay knowledgeable about your field. And like regular news, industry news is also tweeted in real time.

If you’re job searching, follow the companies you’d like to work for on Twitter. If you have a job, follow your company, but also follow competitors to keep up on what they’re doing. Keep an eye out of news sources or blogs that also cover your industry or company

If you’re a media junkie like me, I strongly suggest you follow @Ed2010News, @MediaBistro, @WoodenHorsePub, @Foliomag and, of course, @ChickSpeak.

For other industries, use the various twitter directories such as Just Tweet It, Twellow or WeFollow to find CEOs and other industry officials as well as people who follow your industry.

Honing your job search

Many people are currently out on the job search, and times are tough. Most employers tell you the same thing: “Make yourself stand out.” Well, that’s easier said than done. Luckily, Twitter can help you improve your game.

First, there are hundreds of career coaches and professionals who are constantly tweeting incredibly helpful advice. They give advice on resumes, cover letters, job searching etiquette and so much more. Unfortunately, it will be up to you to pick the out the right advice for you to follow, but it’s better to have lots of advice opposed to no advice.

Some of our favorite job and career professionals include Alison Doyle from About.com, Dan Schwabel, Steven Rothberg of CollegeRecruiter.com and LinkedIn. This list is just the beginning though, so don’t feel limited to only following them!

Second, many companies and job boards are constantly tweeting about open positions. You can even search for jobs nationally and locally. By following companies you’re interested in, not only do you keep up with industry news, but it can also lead to hearing about new positions.

There are also hundreds of job boards and job search options on Twitter. We suggest starting with TwitterJobSearch, then follow MonsterCareers and SimplyHired. Then get personal with the job search-just like following people related to your industry, look for job boards that serve your specific industry. Use the directories mentioned above to get a headstart.

Finding the best sales and deals

If you’re looking for a place to score free things or great deals, Twitter is an awesome place to go. I have received a free book, a free career coaching session, tickets to an advanced screening of The Terminator and tickets to multiple events for free because of the people I follow on Twitter. Although I didn’t win, I also tried to win a free plane ticket for Orbitz. All I had to do was either follow the person or retweet a post.

How do you find these deals? Follow all of your favorite brands, magazines, airlines, stores, authors, etc. Companies are constantly trying to reach out to consumers whether they use free giveaways or fabulous sales to draw them in.

Some of the sales codes are only tweeted about on Twitter, too! Use directories to search for Twitter accounts specifically related to savings and deals as well as sites like CheapTweet, Amazon , SlickDeals, Orbitz  and other deal saving sites are all on Twitter!

For tickets to events near you, follow local blogs or social sites. Many of these sites will have their Twitter accounts listed somewhere on their Web sites. Once you find a few to follow, you’ll begin to notice that many of them repost tweets from other sites, which will help you find other organizations, blogs and people that may offer free giveaways or links to great deals.

To stay updated with ChickSpeak, follow us on Twitter here.

Cassandra Zink graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She is in love with all things media, is addicted to iced green tea with mint, loves going to the beach and hopes to travel the world one day. Follow her on Twitter.