It always blows my mind when I meet other young people who are fiercely anti-twitter. It makes no sense to me. When I challenge their stance, and push for clarification, it’s only a matter of time before I get this response: “I don’t care what people are eating for lunch.”

I can respect this train of thought. We really shouldn’t care about the eating habits of our peers, but the fact of the matter is that we do. We all care about the mundane details. They are fascinating tidbits that expose a great deal of information about our friends. This is why AOL away messages were the shit during my college years.

I could go on for a while about why the boring aspects of our lives are actually quite interesting, but I’m going to try to keep this post relatively short and to the point.

When I hear this excuse, that people don’t want to be bored with trivial information, it sets me off. It’s a generic response from people who are unfamiliar with how to effectively use social media to their advantage. It’s also an opportunity for me to explain, what I believe to be, the importance of monitoring and engaging in online conversation.

I had this very debate last week and this is how I remember breaking down my argument (I know there are a lot of self-proclaimed social media “gurus” out there. I wouldn’t touch that title with a 10 ft pole. This is just a point of view I decided to put together because it was raining and I didn’t want to go outside).

1) Follow Industry Leaders

It doesn’t have to be about creating content. At the very least, all young professionals should be able to identify and follow the key players in their respective industry. In doing so you gain access to real-time conversations that may shed some light on your own career choice. You don’t have to piece together a single message to appreciate the 140-character wisdom of someone else (and, as previously mentioned, the occasional lunch divulgence).

When I joined twitter I used articles on Mashable to find influential people to follow. Now, with the help of twitter lists, it couldn’t be easier to source the right people. Find someone you want to follow, check out who they follow, rinse and repeat. It’s also worth paying attention to @ reply conversations. I’ll use advertising for an example since it’s my chosen field. If I notice that @garethk is speaking a lot to @malbonnington it’s worth clicking each handle to see what they’re all about. Oh, Goodby & BBH, I’ll follow both.

I understand that advertising is a very tech savvy industry and many of its contributors rely heavily on social media. I get it. But, that doesn’t mean that other fields are nonexistent in this space. Actually, I would suggest that most other industries are catching on to the benefits of social tools like twitter and have become increasingly aware of its value. If you truly care about your industry and your profession, you’re crazy not to tune in and see what’s being talked about.

2) Digest Content

This is my favorite. So, assuming that you’ve joined twitter and are now following people, it’s time to take it all in. Scrolling through your twitter feed should be exciting. It’s your chance to learn something new. Everyday. The best part is that you customize your news feed. You control the information you read and share what you want.

You can breeze through hundreds of short form stories while waiting in line at the grocery store. Maybe you favorite some with links to read later. Whatever the message, you’re now better informed of the topics that matter most to you.

For example I follow several news sources from New York. A few months back I read about a tragic car accident on the Taconic Parkway, a few miles from my parent’s house. I called home to check on my family before they knew what had happened. Not only did I confirm that everyone was safe, but I also alerted them that they might want to take Route 9 instead of the Taconic when they drive to work.

As far as professional advantages, I think it’s limitless. It’s always important to be in the know. I should know the names of agencies, their clients and some of their top talent. I should know about and have seen the new Old Spice commercial. Knowing specific details about your industry helps strengthen your awareness and most definitely makes you more conversational and relevant.

3) Observe Trends

I’m pretty sure “big ideas” aren’t limited to advertising. You can use twitter to see what’s happening in other industries and pull these ideas into your own work. This is how innovative ideas come to life (Like when Bill Bowerman looked at a waffle iron and revolutionized Nike running shoes). There is always value in being well versed and socially aware.

Monitoring twitter’s trending topics is a simple way to stay abreast of pop culture too. Actually, that’s exactly how I found out about Justin Bieber. I don’t know much about his music, nor do I really want to, but I know he’s out there. From his social media following I am well aware of his popularity and appeal.

Trends can also be monitored through twitter search, which will provide real-time tweets on any given subject. If you work in urban development in San Francisco, you could check to see if people are talking about the freshly painted bike lanes on Market Street. If someone complains you’re there to relay the message and help stop problems before they start.

In addition, this type of proactive mindset can also help seize opportunity. My parents run a small day camp in upstate New York. My brothers and I recently convinced them to start following other camps and local businesses to see how they are utilizing social media. We quickly realized that none of our competition was up in social spaces and have since integrated twitter (and facebook) to the camp website. Now we can successfully connect with campers and parents to bring them up to speed on new developments on the campgrounds. We’ve taken this step to strengthen client relationships and create a year-round experience and not just a summer destination.

4) Create Content

Your tweets, if you do decide to publish them, will showcase your opinions and encourage creativity. The awesome part is that creating content is completely voluntary and can only make you’re social profile more enticing to others. Social media is all about sharing the information you find interesting. In doing so, you project little bits of yourself to others who will then decide whether to follow you.

My followers are probably aware that I love street art. I like to share work by my favorite artists and promote gallery openings in San Francisco. The more I talked about art, the more artists began following me. This cycle has encouraged me to share more about my passions in an effort to be more human and less machine.

If you don’t want to write your own posts you can always retweet. This is a great way to spread a post while crediting the original author. The retweet feature always reminds me of advice I received from a former boss at BBDO. After a meeting he pulled me aside and reminded me that no one can hear me if I don’t speak up. The retweet is a great first step at speaking up, but if it’s all you post it’s a slight cop-out. You have opinions why not share them?

5) Establish Yourself

Make a name for yourself. Poke your head into conversations. Retweet with total abandon. If people didn’t want you in their debates they wouldn’t be broadcasting them to the world. The more you throw your handle around the more people will recognize you as an active member and opinionated, worthwhile contributor. I’ve been successful with this a few times, but I need to keep at it.

I honestly believe that promoting your digital self is a very important networking tactic. Someone (most people) might not know who Joe Bertino is, but maybe, just maybe they’re familiar with @jjbert. It just takes time and effort to force your way into the professional circles that up until now have been off limit to the masses.