3 Ways to Use Twitter at Work

Twitter is all the rage these days. Even organizations like ESPN and CNN are using their own accounts to spread their message far and wide. But for some people, employers may discourage the use of Twitter in the workplace. I'm going to share a few ways that might help you to get your tweet on at work. In my previous job, Twitter was blocked, but I found some workarounds. In my current position, Twitter is not blocked, and I have used it to great success with researching and connecting to other professionals in my industry. I can definitely make the case for tweeting on the job!

Spreadtweet

Using Excel? You can disguise your Twitter behind a spreadsheet skin with Spreadtweet. All of the basic Twitter functions can be handled from inside this program. If you're not locked in the '90s with the rest of us, and you have Office 2007 or even a Mac, there are versions to match your software's look and feel. Check out the Spreadtweet site for more info.

TwitterGadget

Gmail has some amazing gadgets and gizmos, and one that I found at my last job was TwitterGadget. It allows you to use Twitter inside the Gmail interface. The government can be a stick in the mud, and Twitter was blocked at my last job (along with just about everything else). However, I was able to get my tweet on (albeit not as a power user) through this sweet little tool.

Make a change

This would be the most difficult, but it could be quite beneficial for you and your organization if you can make a good business case for using Twitter at work. Use it for communicating with remote teams, performing customer service, or announcing special sales. Companies like Dell and Comcast are now known on Twitter as very helpful if you have customer service issues.

And even if you don't want to push it at work, why not follow Jobacle (or me) on Twitter?

Add you favorite Twitter tools below!

Comments

[Job Salary]

It's good to take advantage of Twitter at work. Very informative post. I will apply this.

[Karl]

Two sites that allow one to use twitter and may not blocked on work computers are brizzly.com and dabr.co.uk. However, if your boss is getting info on what sites you've been visiting then I imagine these would soon be blocked too.

Depending on what policies are at your workplace you might want to use some discretion however. No point in getting canned on account of using twitter!

My thinking is that there's a gazillion a two ways to potentially waste time on the net and it would be impossible to block them all. If an employee is productive and getting his or her job done, isn't that what should really matter to the boss?

[Spike]

nice article