Do you use Twitter? Do you buy things on Facebook?

[Alawen]

I'm trying to understand Twitter. I've tried fooling around on it several times over recent years. I have @AlawenP99 (wow that's ugly) and @myrealname. One of my professors used it and I could kind of understand how it was useful for a bunch of academics in related fields to stay in touch, but it still seemed really noisy for the content involved--his feed showed up over his slide presentations. Most people I know who use Twitter use it to follow their favorite performers and celebrities. Have you found a way to make it useful or productive?

I'm also curious about how people interact with businesses on Facebook. Do you ever research companies or products through Facebook? Would anyone with purchasing power where you work use it for that function?

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read or respond to this. I'm loosely connected to marketing and the social media aspect is leaving me a little confused. I understand what businesses are doing from my own experience and web searches, but no one I know from my personal or professional lives interacts with businesses through social media. Everyone seems to look at a company's website and read reviews from editors, bloggers, and customers. Sometimes people seem to check out things like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Angie's List, but there seems to be a lot of suspicion that there are a lot of shills websites as well as in customer reviews.