Anyone who knows me knows what a Twitter pimp I am. So I get a kick out of traditional media types lining up to talk about how stupid Twitter is. Until I read this.
Daniel Lyons nailed Twitter perfectly using a lot of the arguments I’ve had to use when presenting to clients about why it has value. Lyons is right. Twitter is stupid. He even quoted from last month’s study by Pear Analytics that found 40 percent of conversations on Twitter were “pointless babble.”
The Twitterati get their (our?) hackles up when our favorite tool/toy gets described as “stupid.” We’re not wasting our time here. We’re not doing something that’s stupid. But so much of it is.
Think of all the irritating and annoying cell phone conversations you overhear. But you don’t throw your phone away. Think of all the stupid Nigerian millionaire schemes, jokes and chain e-mail letters you get. But you can’t live without e-mail. Think of how much time and money the federal government spent making sure the public was ready for the digital TV conversion. This is the medium that brought us “Jackass” and “Jerry Springer.”
Yet each medium is vital to us and we use it how we choose to use it. I make plenty of stupid comments via my own Twitter account. But our agency’s account is a vital tool for us and our clients. The small percentage of us who get value beyond the entertainment of the service should be glad we found a utility for the service. And if you use it to share stupid jokes and pictures, that’s fine too. Like all media, it’s not perfect for everyone and we ought to keep our hackles under control.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Well said Sean. It’s true we should keep our hackles under control but where is the fun in that? Basically my mama always said ” you get the best use out of a tool as you put into it.” Humm that sounds kinky, but you know the old saying… right? Probably not since she was talking about our wine making tools. Suffice it to say I personally have gained so much insight on our company by putting ourselves out there that if anything using social networks especially Twitter has made us stronger, smarter, and twitter-holics
I doubt something that makes you $3 million dollars just from “stupid” tweets is anything worth not using. Just ask Dell
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social_media_roi_dells_3m_on_twitter_and_four_bett.php
Twitter is only as good as any other marketing tool and finding the right saucy recipe to make it successful for the industry it is being used!
Cosmin,
I agree wholeheartedly. But Dell’s not Tweeting stupid stuff. Personally, I’m not trying to move any merchandise on Twitter. I’m just enjoying the community I’ve got there. Just like I enjoy the goofballs I play poker with or the times I sat in the high school cafeteria cracking wise. And that’s what works for me on Twitter.
Sean