Twitter is a fun tool to get out pithy short messages or a way to promote your website like many Social Media Whores do (did I mention you should be subscribed to my Twitter Feed as well?). I have seen a lot of interesting stuff on Twitter (and a deluge of the absolute bilge, including folks being impersonated and having bogus info posted in their name), but as with all tools caution must be exercised, as the cartoon of a few years ago said, “On the Internet, no one can tell you are a dog”.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some great Twitter feeds to track:
- Our amigo (and Leaf Lover) the Blunt Bean Counter who is actually putting out great Tax Filing tips, to remind you of some things you may have forgotten.
- Evelyn Jacks is offering the same kind of tax help too
- There are a lot of Government Agencies as well like Stats Canada and the CRA that put out useful tweets as well
- There is even a Canadian Finance Blogger Twitter List
- I like the Dalai Lama too, he has nice spiritual messages on his feed.
There is a limit to the information you should be taking from Twitter as “the gospel”, however.
What tweek’ed me was an article in the mainstream media about folks actually picking up “Stock Tips” from Twitter, which sent a cold chill down my back. Why, in the name of J. Paul Getty, would you be taking the word of a faceless media stream as a great reason to dump down your hard-earned cash?
Two reasons scream why this shouldn’t ever work:
- You don’t know if this really is a person writing this “tip” and what the motives are of this tip either.
- If you see it on Twitter, MILLIONS of others can also see it, and by the time you act (even if it is a real “tip”) it will be too darn late.
Use Twitter as a social media sounding post, pick up ideas and concepts, but take all of it with a grain of salt. If you are a subscriber to my Twitter feed, you will notice my Avatar is the same cat you see sitting on my laptop, makes you wonder if the cat is running the show doesn’t it?
Hey! How am I going to push up the value of my penny stocks so I can make a killing when I dump them if you teach everyone to ignore bad advice on Twitter?!!?!?
Don’t worry, I’ll tweet about International Buggy Whips and their new Z10 whip!
What’s the difference between taking stock picks from twitter and taking stock picks from experts?
Probably not as much difference as the experts would like you to believe.
Maybe, but you might be getting advice from my cat on the Internet.
BCM:
That wasn’t a desk, that was a coffee table (which needs to be organized too).
Media Whores gotta get their word out.
As for the Blue Team, well it’s a right of spring that the snow will melt, and the Leafs and Sens melt away with it…