Will Twitter driving mainstream media content lead to extinction of the haters?
Posted on 04 May 2010 by Lucy
In the last week (has it amplified this week?) Twitter has generated a LOT of mainstream media content: twitter commentary from people at the Logies (who subsequently got fired for said tweets), the PM following a porn account , Mrs Barack Obama’s first tweet, Lance Armstrong using Twitter to announce he is having another child, Danni Minogue leaking a TV Award on Twitter, NBA star Chris Bosh asking twitter followers to help him decide his NBA future, the Queensland Premier using Twitter to gauge daylight savings support, politicians are tweeting each other (this link titled “A vote of confidence for Twitter” is a recommended read, it talks about monitoring social media’s impact on upcoming federal election).
I could go on and on. It is everywhere. The examples above cross sports, politics, business and entertainment. Also and importantly, non-profits and social causes are gaining huge traction and support that wasn’t possible before through harnessing online social networks.
I have come across a lot of people asking “But why would you bother?”who say things like “I don’t care what you have for breakfast, I don’t want to read your tweets,” although you do hear this kind of thing a lot less frequently now it is still around.
I read this article in Media Bullseye this morning and thought this was an excellent quote:
It’s the world’s dumbest waste of time, except for those who have figured out how it makes them smarter. It’s a stupid collection of bad day paeans and ham sandwich ennui. Yet it’s also an engine for connecting people with one another, and sharing information through networks pre-lubricated by trust. Well, when you put it that way, it sounds awesome. And it can be, when people focus on what the technology does instead of how people are using it. What Twitter does is bring real-time to everywhere. The distance that separates us reduced, entire dimensions fold in on themselves and hide between status lines. The world is a smaller place.
The conversation on Twitter use has definitely shifted from why would you, to why wouldn’t you. If you come across a Twitter hater I think this article is a useful one to study up on and quote to help them “See past ham sandwiches and focus on the delivery of value.”
I think Twitter ’s growing profile in mainstream media AND the fact it is driving a lot of news content might lead to extinction of the haters. Maybe for this group seeing Twitter taken seriously and delivered up (daily related to sports, entertainment, politics, business…) by the mainstream media makes it something they need to know about. We’ll see.
Tags | Twitter
Hmm, interesting. I don't attempt to sell Twitter to anyone. It's one of those things that you either get…or you don't.
Before joining Twitter I was a business owner, I failed to see how it could benefit me in any way. Until I realised that I could effectively send a "newsletter" that used to take me a full day to compile & make pretty in a series of 15 second Tweets.
Soon after joining Twitter I made a rather dramatic change to my lifestyle and started a not-for-profit organisation. Twitter almost single-handedly has raised for my own NFP and other charities I've got behind nearly $100,000 – just in the last 9 months
I'm going to Indonesia in June to take 10 orhpaned children off the streets who are at risk of being sold to the Indonesian child sex trade, almost exclusively through networking on Twitter. And I am NOT a social media expert or guru. I have a relatively small group of followers.
I dunno – I guess it depends who you ask. Pretty sure if you ask those 10 kids in a few years time what they think of Twitter, they'll be sold.
@cate Thank you and all the best for your trip in June, you are doing amazing things. You can read more about Cate's work here:http://project18.org.au/
@Erik You're lucky, I have experienced recently some haters are still around with very (!) strong negative opinions on Twitter.
@cate Thank you and all the best for your trip in June, you are doing amazing things. You can read more about Cate's work here:http://project18.org.au/
@Erik You're lucky, I have experienced recently some haters are still around with very (!) strong negative opinions on Twitter.
Twitter is a weird animal because it's the sort of thing that looks entirely different depending on the angle you happen to be viewing it at.
If I were to open a new account and pick 50 accounts at random to follow, there is a more than reasonable chance that what I would get would be plain, vanilla, unadulterated garbage. People going on about their breakfast bagels and Retweeting whatever random hashtag happens to be in trending.
If, on the other hand, I was a little more selective and followed a group of people who worked in my industry or at least treated Twitter as a conduit for information, then I would see it as the amazing channel for connection and communication that I truly believe it wants to be.
Same thing would happen if the only people I had in my cell phone were telemarketers.
What do I think of Twitter? I think it's fantastically interesting channel for some people to communicate across. I think it works for some like text messaging or email works for some. I think as it evolves we'll start seeing even more uses for it show up and we'll be treated to all kinds of new use cases we wouldn't have expected.
I like Twitter and I like this post, thanks for linking me to it.
Maybe it's because my social circle is mostly on Twitter anyway, but I don't think I have heard any Twitter "hate" for the last year or so. Curiosity from people who want to get in on it (say to promote their band), yes. But hate? Not so much.
@Steve Thanks, that is a really useful way to explain the value proposition, it is what you make it: it is who you follow, how you connect and what you share and do.
Some good thoughts here.
The 'Twitter haters' will be around for a while simply because people are still discovering Twitter; inevitably, as more people discover it, some of them will go on to decide it's not for them and possibly hate it.
Whether it's Twitter and Facebook or their successors, the idea of connecting to a large audience of people online with short, regular updates will be around for a while yet. The actual platforms themselves are simply tools, and – like any tools – their effectiveness depends on the user. In the early stage of adoption, people need to figure out how to best use the tools so there's likely to be some pretty bad examples. The impact of people tweeting what they're having for lunch etc has been overshadowed by some great examples of how Twitter can disseminate important information quickly, rally people for a cause, etc.
The haters won't disappear, but they'll become fewer and fewer as we see more examples like the ones you used above.
By the way, @catebolt, your last line says it all. And agree with your comments too, @Steve Spalding.
Thanks for the post!
Great post, Lucy! I love twitter – but I'm social & I view it as a cocktail party. And I love cocktail parties. But sometimes talk is dull at parties, sometimes mundane, sometimes electric, but always interesting (to me).
But it's not for everyone. Twitter has extreme value connecting people, sharing reviews, learning new things, having access to people you can't always see in real life…
What I love the most about twitter is the insights into other people. If I observe long enough, most people reveal themselves (good and bad) so I get a better idea of who I can trust, what agenda someone has, and what people value.
It's just one of many channels. I say, the more the merrier. The fact I can find out when I friend is pregnant or getting married, what the red dust covering Sydney is, that I need to run immediately away from Bondi Beach because there is a tsunami warning – is AWESOME!
Thanks for posting such thought-provoking insights. But I prefer not to judge the haters – we are doing exactly what they are doing to us. I've been a nay-sayer in my time. It's best to let them find out on their own and then participate w/out being embarrassed or humiliated because they were late adopters.
Meanwhile, more nibblies & cocktails for us! Cheers Lucy and cheers Twitter!
; ) kristin rohan
Lucy, nice post, and you highlight the fact that there has been plenty of press of late, which is evident when you string it all together as you have!!. But as you also know, I am spending a few weeks away on 'something else' – where I spend every day for 16 days with people who know nothing about twitter, and they are not haters…just not interested. And you know, it is nice…there is always another perspective…
@Luke Thanks and absolutely, those who don't know about Twitter or give a hoot either way and are into others things and perspectives are fine with me, it's those I've come across that go on about how banal and useless Twitter is with no basis for how people are using it powerfully that I refer to in this post
Great post Lucie, and thanks for tweeting me to let me know about it. Twitter haters annoy me (which is a problem for me, since they are also likely my potential customers!).
Often people don't understand that the people on the other end of Twitter are real people, which is why Twitter seems a big waste of time.
When I describe it as an ongoing Chamber of Commerce meeting that they can dip in and out of, some people click. They realise that important conversations are had in the midst of everyday trivia, and the trivia is really important to grease the wheels of more intentional conversations.
But if anything the divide seems to be wider now than it was 2 years ago. Yes, many more people know about Twitter, but even more don't seem to have a clue; they don't even seem to have heard about it in the media.