These days it seems like everyone’s twittering about Twitter, and in this new weekly column we delve behind the stories of some of our favourite Shropshire tweeters to find out more about them.

As well as helping people to stay in touch and enabling businesses to reach new clients, Twitter has become a valuable tool throughout the media, with news organisations ranging from Sky to Channel 4 tapping into Twitter as a resource for news and comment.

On a local level, we’ve been keenly following the exemplary use of Twitter by BBC Radio Shropshire presenter Jim Hawkins, who hosts the popular mid-morning show @jiminthemorning.

Jim uses the site every day to stay in touch with his listeners and encourage them to interact with the show, from ideas for discussions to local debates and topical issues.

He says he’d become a social media sceptic after a disappointing experience with Facebook, but friends Ben Proctor (@likeaword), and Professor Steve Molyneux (@profontheprowl) persuaded him to give Twitter a go.

“Steve came into the studio one morning to see if we could create a Twitter community around the show, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” says Jim.

“It’s very rapidly became a big part of the way we make the show. The whole idea is that it’s a conversation – it’s not just me talking at people, it’s the whole county joining in – and Twitter has helped to make that possible.”

The first thing Jim does when he arrives in the studio is to log on and see what people are tweeting about.

“I’ll ask people what they thing we should be talking about on air, and I’ll tweet updates throughout the process of preparing the programme, from the local weather forecast to comments on what’s coming up on the phone-in,” says Jim.

“Once I’m on the air, the Twitter conversation is pretty non-stop. The show’s producer, @LesWalton, and broadcast assistant, @RadioMaggie, are on Twitter too, so we’ll all be tweeting about what’s coming up in the next few minutes or what’s going on behind the studio glass – that’s one of the things about Twitter that I enjoy most!”

Jim began his career over 30 years ago on a student radio station at Warwick University and hasn’t looked back since.

“I’ve worked everywhere from Brighton to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, but I’m thrilled to be here in Shropshire!” he says.

“I’ve met some wonderful people from all across the county through Twitter. There are dozens of lovely, funny, clever and stimulating people on here, many of whom I would never have met otherwise.”

Jim’s interest in the social networking site has become infectious, and many of his BBC Radio Shropshire colleagues have followed suit, including fellow presenters @ColAtLunch, @ClareAshford and @GenevieveTudor.

“I’ve been amazed at the number of topics we’ve covered on the show because people have tweeted about them,” says Jim.

“We’ve talked about everything from making a will to public speaking to things going on across Shropshire.

“One of my favourites was when @NeilW57 tweeted: “Only in Shropshire can your journey to work be hindered by sheep, and they weren’t particularly worried about it,” – that set us up for a whole hour of great calls in which people completed the sentence ‘Only in Shropshire…’ in different ways!”

Jim says he generally prefers to follow local people and businesses rather than brands, and has become slightly disillusioned with the way some celebrities are using Twitter.

“It seems they’re more concerned with trumpeting what they’re doing rather than engaging in a conversation, and that doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of the site,” he says.

However, he shares the growing opinion that social media can be extremely useful to local businesses, as long as they understand how to use social media effectively.

But with a growing number of talks and courses on the subject, hosted frequently by organisations such as WiRE, there has never been a better time for businesses to give it a try.

“Twitter’s virtue is its simplicity,” says Jim. “Fundamentally, it’s a simple idea that works well.”

By Lara Page