About that 24/7 party going on in your computer: the social media timesuck
I came across this interesting analysis of Google Buzz, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace courtesy of boxcarmarketing (and here, if you’d like to follow on Twitter as well/instead).
While I don’t agree entirely with the analysis by Jeremiah Owyang, former Forrester analyst, now Altimeter Group partner, I couldn’t agree with him more when he says Twitter is ‘being treated like a chat room’ by most marketers, ‘not a marketing platform.’ I do think the SWOT portion in particular is less than comprehensive, and I’d like to quibble about the line re ‘Usage by tech savvy, media, and celebs.’
Why quibble about that? (At this point something I’d written got lost between drafts; I’ve tried to reconstruct it in the rest of this paragraph. Just, you know, to make sense!) It’s not that I disagree that – I’m going to call them geeks, not the ‘tech savvy’ because if you own a computer for personal use you’re tech savvy, media and celebs have the largest number of followers, tweet the most and make the greatest use of Twitter. It’s just that I don’t necessarily think they make the best use of Twitter. Most media outlets still automate their tweets, don’t interact with their followers, and don’t get that it’s an interactive medium. Ditto many celebrities. And the geeks – well – again – there’s a lot of navel gazing and infighting amongst Twitter’s earliest adopters and most vehement proponents. And Twitter’s growth isn’t coming from these people; it’s coming from the non-geeks who are beginning to realize social media presents an opportunity. (That’s not quite what I said the first time but it’s what I was trying to say – and where did it go to anyway – between-draft limbo?)
Twitter’s greatest strength is actually the power it gives the user to customize her/his own experience with the medium. Trending topics notwithstanding (you don’t have to even glance at them), what makes it a brilliant platform is the fact that it allows you to listen to and connect with only the interesting people at the party and pay no attention whatsoever to the egregious bores, the time wasters, the hysterics, the gawkers and the ambulance-chasers (no, I don’t mean personal injury lawyers, I mean the people who thrive on fomenting controversy/scandal/gossip). Read more »
Twitter chats – #askdrstu launching Nov. 24, 2009
One of the best (although sometimes the most technologically frustrating) aspects of the Twitter community is the regular chats that take place. Identified by hashtag (#), there’s #litchat (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 4-5 PM EST, with topics like ‘Continuing discussion of THE CRAFT OF WRITING’), #solopr (a forum for solo public relations practitioners to discuss a wide variety of topics, from the joys and sorrows of working alone to media lists, the bane of every PR practitioner’s existence), #agchat and #onthefarm, two chats that focus on the business of agriculture and the realities of farming in the 21st Century. There’s also #journchat, which brings together public relations pros and journalists. As an information exchange and a positive development in creating greater understanding, #journchat may be one of the most exciting chats on Twitter.
To find any of these chats, log on to Twitter and use your search function to search for them by hashtag (on the far right, under your profile you’ll see a search function – type in #solopr or #litchat). Scroll through the tweets and you’ll discover the chat moderator, whom you can then start following, and the regularly scheduled time for the chat.
When Twitter grinds to an almost-halt, the chats can be a frustrating experience. But that doesn’t happen all that often these days, and the wonderful thing about the chats is the commitment the moderators make to ensure they happen on a regular basis. My hat is off to the lovely Kellye Crane, for instance, who not only organizes the #solopr chat every Wednesday from 1-2PM EST, but ensures she’s got a backup if she’s travelling that day so the chat can continue.
New to Twitter as of Tuesday, November 24 is #askdrstu, a series of five scheduled chats led and moderated by Dr. Stuart Clark, author of the award-winning The Sun Kings: The Unexpected Tragedy of Richard Carrington and the Tale of How Modern Astronomy Began.
Five chats are planned for 2009, on Tuesdays beginning November 24 at 1PM EST (10AM PST, 6PM GMT). Each week the chat will focus on a different popular astronomy topic. The first relates directly to the subject matter of The Sun Kings: “What level of influence does the Sun have on climate change?” Stuart will share what he’s learned from fellow scientists Henrik Svensmark, Mike Lockwood and : Kalevi Mursula in Bruges, where he recently moderated a debate on space weather and its effect on earth’s climate.
The other four chats are scheduled for December 1, 8, 15 and 22. Subjects could/will include topics he explores regularly in his role as a science journalist: ‘What is dark matter?’ ‘What defines a planet?’, and ‘Why isn’t Johannes Kepler better remembered?’
Whether you’re an astronomy buff or neophyte, you’re guaranteed to learn something by participating in the #askdrstu chats.
And if astronomy’s not your cup of tea, check out the hashtags used by the smart, funny people you follow on Twitter and find a chat that does make you want to join the conversation.
Crimes against Twitter: how mainstream media and marketers are messing up
The bewildered who aren’t yet tweeting may well be puzzled by the plethora of articles they’re suddenly reading in publications as far flung as the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail, the New York Times, The Guardian, The Spectator, Business Week…. Certainly the English-speaking world is suddenly all atwitter about Twitter (or at least the portion of it who still read either real or virtual newspapers and magazines). Read more »
A new era of oratorial splendour and hyper-literacy
We have entered an age, towards the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, of what I refer to as hyper-literacy.
Technology-enabled, we are able to do things at blindingly fast speed that would once have taken hours, if not days, of work to assemble and collate. Read more »
Making sense of – and with – social media
There’s a great article in Business Week’s Managing section by Rebecca Reisner, entitled ‘Comcast’s Twitter Man.’
Frank Eliason, tweeting as @comcast cares, has often been cited as a model of how corporations can use social media. Reading the article, I understand why – Eliason ‘gets it’ – he knows Twitter is a tool he’s added to his arsenal. And he’s not saying it’s the only tool in his toolbox.
Despite the acclaim, Eliason stresses that Twitter is not a replacement for phone and e-mail help. “This is just one way people have gotten to know us,” says Eliason. “It’s a little more personal. More back-and-forth discussions, and it’s less formal. And it gives immediacy to interactions.”
It’s another way to listen, learn, problem solve, and retain customers. Comcast will still be answering its phones, responding to email and snail mail, updating its web site, and doing all the things successful businesses have always done.
I’ve created a substantial body of links here on using Twitter for business – check them out if you’re interested. You’ll also find some non-Twitter links. Still fascinating, though. 
Update: another Business Week article on how various CEOs are using Twitter, this one by Douglas MacMillan.
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