Mark Luckie was just a casual user of Twitter, regularly sharing the same mundane thoughts and feelings with his followers as the majority of the site's users do.
That all changed in April 2009 when he was laid off from his position as a journalist at a respected US magazine. After the tweets and messages of empathy from fellow scribes slowly petered away and a fruitless search for a new job began to frustrate, he decided, as a means of distraction, to plough much more time into sharing thoughts and ideas (journalism-related and not) on Twitter.
Luckie's follower count swelled from 2,000 to more than 5,000 people throughout the duration of his unemployment, with hundreds of his musings being re-tweeted across the Twittersphere. As insignificant as these numbers might seem, Luckie cites them as one of the main reasons he was eventually selected for his now-current role as a multimedia producer at the Center for Investigative Reporting in California.
Luckie explains in his blog, "...it was undoubtedly these impressive numbers and a demonstrated knowledge of the power of social media that played a role in my hiring and differentiated me from others with similar skills."
He continues, "It took being unemployed to really understand how Twitter could be used to foster community and relationships... For me, Twitter will always be both a guardian angel and one kick-ass job placement board."
Mark's tale demonstrates Twitter’s inherent strength in allowing users to form bonds with like-minded users, share ideas, and – in developing an increasing following – a clear reflection to potential employers of an individual’s ability to garner reverence and respect.
And there ain’t nothing Luckie about that.
Post by Andrew Macarthy
Source: Click HERE
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