Nicole in D.C.

Note to readers: I apologize in advance for any twoveruse of twitterfied twords that might occur.

In my few weeks on Twitter, I’ve noticed there are a lot of different uses for Twitter depending on who you are. There are the people who use it simply to be twopular by following trending topics and attempting to talk to celebrities. There are those post every single thought running through their head. There are those who use it for networking personally or professionally. And there are those who don’t have a purpose on Twitter and kind of

In my experience, there are two groups who seem to use Twitter the best: nonprofits and comedians. I know this might be a stretch, but I’m going to try to make the connection

The best tweeps I’ve come across truly engage their audiences. Several of the nonprofits I follow tweet regularly about their cause, but don’t overdo it. They use Twitter not just as a promotional tool, but also as a communications tool to talk to other nonprofits and thought leaders. The twommunity they’ve formed is strong and growing.

Comedians do this incredibly well, too (my favorite is @mindykaling). Although I choose not to follow celebrities on Twitter, they provide some of the best content (I try to stay away from their tweets because, otherwise, I’d read nothing else).

Both groups get that you need to post regularly to keep your followers. Most nonprofits or nonprofit professionals I follow tweet a few times a day (at least a few times a week) so I keep them in the back of my mind. The more they post, the more twonnected I feel to their cause. Celebrities, of course, have a leg up in this category because… well… they’re celebrities. They often don’t even need to tweet in order to retain followers.

Additionally, they use Twitter as a tool to further their goals. Nonprofits have built a community in which everyone has their own expertise and is ready and willing to share their knowledge with others in the nonprofit sector. If they have a question about how to build a subscriber list, they can post it to twitter and answers instantaneously.

The best celebritweeps are those that don’t write about what club they’re going to or being in the record studio… they’re the ones that write about their daily lives. They are able to communicate about their work (when we’re most familiar with their end-result) and make it relatable to normal people. Musings about daily life that we come across as well make them more relatable and more popular in the twitterverse and IRL (had to throw that in there).

The absolute best thing about Twitter is that it allows you to become whatever you want to be. More than anyone else, these two groups seem to get it.