Reading David Carr’s New York Times article today, Why Twitter Will Endure, I was struck by a simple thought: say what you want about social media, Twitter is one intelligent source for using the web efficiently. David does a great job at drilling down on how even a tuned in, plugged in, at times overloaded and busy journalist went from skeptic to advocate in the past year. And I agree with his piece, wholeheartedly. That’s right, in this age of connectedness, and access to more information than we know what to do with, much less how to process the multiple sources available to us, Twitter is the best way to cut down on surfing the ‘net or spending hours researching the essence of any topic because when everyone uses Twitter –and that is pretty much the case as usership approaches the 100 million mark — anything you want to know is instantly at your fingertips. That is incredibly valuable, regardless of what you are looking for or what you may be interested in. At any given moment. In real-time. It’s where breaking news breaks first, so as a media professional myself with a variety of clients from different business sectors, Twitter is my go-to source for keeping ahead of the curve, and in the know.

In David’s case, he shares:

“I have found transcendent tacos at a car wash in San Antonio, rediscovered a brand of reporter’s notepad I adore, uncovered sources for stories, all just by typing a query into Twitter.”

It’s this collective voice and eternal pipeline of information that will result in Twitter’s evermore usefulness, and therefore, longevity.

THE TIME IS NOW

Make this the year that you embrace social media basics, not just Twitter, but everything from blogging to Facebook, for your brand. Spend time figuring out your social media strategy and what tools make the most sense for your brand. If you are already building your digital footprint, congratulations! Take some time to evaluate what is working and what isn’t. Look at ways to take your community to the next level. How can you drive engagement, and really learn from your fans? Your customers? Your followers? What will you do with all the information you are discovering on the social web to make your brand’s customer experience better? What is your cost/benefit ratio? Have you peeked in on your competitors and looked at how they are leveraging social media tools for their brand? What can you learn from them?

If you are a marketer who has been reluctant to embrace social media, I hate to sound like a therapist here, but what is holding you back? Don’t you want to be wherever your customers are? The livelihood of your business depends on your ability to adapt, leverage and thrive in the new rules of customer engagement. Take baby steps, but step forward you must. Simply get yourself set up, and do nothing more than listen. Listen in on all the conversations that are happening. Find out where your customers are. Where the thought leaders of your industry are. Where interesting people are talking about the things that you care about. Trust me, you will quickly find out the beauty of social media. At some point, you will decide when you want to engage, and then the real power of the digital age will kick in for you. You will be part of a community building process around your brand, and you will be taking an important step to securing your future.

When people complain about social media like Twitter, for example, and say things like “I don’t really care what someone is eating for lunch,” they really aren’t taking the time to adapt to the modern age, and that unfortunately is like holding on to your rotary phone or refusing to buy a cell phone.

Sure, having all this access to all this stuff comes with the realization that we also now live in a world of major distraction and this can often lead to procrastination. It also means that the lines have blurred between personal life and professional life. But, the age of social media means that we are all one connected global community, and the world is more transparent than ever. People are sharing important information, as well as the experiences they are having. As marketers, we need to know which ones impact or influence our business. On the positive side, the cost to figuring out who your brand advocates are also just got a whole lot more manageable, as well as your ability to adapt or react to the experiences they are having. Like this one, from David’s article:

“Beyond the throbbing networked intelligence, there is the possibility of practical magic. Twitter can tell you what kind of netbook you should buy for your wife for Christmas — thanks Twitter! — or call you out when you complain about the long lines it took to buy it, as a tweeter on behalf of the electronics store B & H did when I shared the experience on my Blackberry while in line.”

The cost to ignoring this important cultural development? You do the math.

Bottom line: figure out how to tap into the power of social media to build your brand and your sphere of influence.