A sure sign that a fad or trend is going mainstream is that how-to conferences start to spring up. I just got a notice of a Twitter conference. Here's the PR blast highlights:
Let's do a little deconstruction, shall we?
MC Hammer --> Celebrity Twitter feeds make sense. It's just People and US with a live feed. Hardly a dialogue
Guy Kawasaki --> another personal brand. Makes sense for him, too, to keep his high profile.
Virgin America --> using it to respond to individual questions and highlight deals. Gives people a place to rant or rave. The more effective business approaches to Twitter seem like this to me. Opens a door to accessibility to the corp. that has been pretty closed until now.
One of the things Twitter is not, is a way to reach young adults. They are less likely to be on Twitter. The most likely group? 45 to 54 year olds. Next most likely: 25 to 34. All that texting you see young people doing with their phones? It's much more likely to be some kind of SMS or instant messaging application. They're sure not reading the tweets of their twittering parents.
Twitter Traffic Explodes, by Sarah Radwanick, at ComScore. Found the link on Guy Kawasaki's Twitter feed, but he didn't post the link. Annie Colbert, one of his ghostwriters did. Except she signs her tweets, so she's not really a ghost unless you don't know what the initials AC at the end of the posts mean. See how complicated this thing already is?
Twitter Older than it Looks, by Alexei Oreskovic at Reuters. Courtesty of the ComScore story.
[edited 5May09 to shorten the PR blast quote]
TWTRCON SF 09 INITIAL SPEAKER LINE-UP INCLUDES MC HAMMER, GUY
KAWASAKI, VIRGIN AMERICA’S PORTER GALE, INTUIT’S SETH GREENBERG,
EDELMAN DIGITAL’S STEVE RUBEL AND PAUL SAFFO
Conference Focused on Twitter for Business to Be Held May 31 at
San Francisco’s Hotel Nikko...Technologizer founder and editor Harry
McCracken will provide the official live Twitter feed.
Tonia Ries of Modern Media (a host or sponsor of this event) thinks you can get a head start on your competitors by having a Twitter strategy now:KAWASAKI, VIRGIN AMERICA’S PORTER GALE, INTUIT’S SETH GREENBERG,
EDELMAN DIGITAL’S STEVE RUBEL AND PAUL SAFFO
Conference Focused on Twitter for Business to Be Held May 31 at
San Francisco’s Hotel Nikko...Technologizer founder and editor Harry
McCracken will provide the official live Twitter feed.
“Companies are finding they can use Twitter to reach and engage customers, influence opinions and activate markets. Business leaders who develop Twitter strategies now will have a head start in tapping the potential of this powerful new platform.”
Let's do a little deconstruction, shall we?
MC Hammer --> Celebrity Twitter feeds make sense. It's just People and US with a live feed. Hardly a dialogue
Guy Kawasaki --> another personal brand. Makes sense for him, too, to keep his high profile.
Virgin America --> using it to respond to individual questions and highlight deals. Gives people a place to rant or rave. The more effective business approaches to Twitter seem like this to me. Opens a door to accessibility to the corp. that has been pretty closed until now.
My Take:
Yes, Twitter has it's uses. But there will be lots of abuses, too. It's not a magic bullet. And you can hardly call a Q+A function a "Twitter Strategy". Or perhaps I just don't get it.One of the things Twitter is not, is a way to reach young adults. They are less likely to be on Twitter. The most likely group? 45 to 54 year olds. Next most likely: 25 to 34. All that texting you see young people doing with their phones? It's much more likely to be some kind of SMS or instant messaging application. They're sure not reading the tweets of their twittering parents.
Resources:
What Mr. Kawasaki has to say about using Twitter: (It triggered a lot of commentary)Twitter Traffic Explodes, by Sarah Radwanick, at ComScore. Found the link on Guy Kawasaki's Twitter feed, but he didn't post the link. Annie Colbert, one of his ghostwriters did. Except she signs her tweets, so she's not really a ghost unless you don't know what the initials AC at the end of the posts mean. See how complicated this thing already is?
Twitter Older than it Looks, by Alexei Oreskovic at Reuters. Courtesty of the ComScore story.
[edited 5May09 to shorten the PR blast quote]
