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The Twitter conversation "cloud" can give businesses an early read on consumer sentiment, said Shiv Singh, global social media head at advertising and marketing firm Razorfish.
[tech.yahoo.com...]
Are you missing the boat because it's just an "IM" thingy? :)
This thing is going to have a fast burnout rate. Its absolutely been compromised by the media and corporations and the origonal people who jumped on this device are likely abandoning it because nobody really cares what Ashton Kutcher, John Mayer, Larry King or Heidi Montag are paying somebody to tweet is typing.
Mark my words, this craze is peaking now and will be mostly ignored in a matter of months.
The new account is going to take some thought. I think Twitter can be useful.
because nobody really cares what Ashton Kutcher, John Mayer
Funny you mention that because Ashton Kutcher does his own tweeting and he's a hoot, my wife loves following him and Demi Moore.
was ranking too high (#4!) in the search results
Why was that a bad thing?
You had a high ranking link to talk to people and canned it, some would've killed for it.
BTW, with the juice Twitter has in Google your new account will also rank high in very little time.
Mark my words, this craze is peaking now and will be mostly ignored in a matter of months.
Doubtful as it has already started changing the way some major companies, like Comcast, are handling support on Twitter and I find it very effective. You skip right past the phone queues to a live human in a fraction of a second.
Plus the live news aspect is simply amazing.
Twitter is a hub of human consciousness never before seen where an event happening in real time can reach thousands or millions within seconds.
[edited by: incrediBILL at 2:27 pm (utc) on April 21, 2009]
Ignore it at your peril it can only get bigger.
Personally I find it tedious and mind numbing. I neither know nor care who Ashton Kutcher is, and I have no interest in the minutiae of other people's lives even if they are currently enjoying their 5 minutes of fame.
Let's face it the world is dumbing itself down to a point where people are entertained by, and excitedly interested in things that are of no consequence. Soon someone will announce a brain interface and we will all plug in matrix-like and forget the real world.
By the way if any of my pseudo-friends, followers or others are interested I have just cut my toenails, had a glass of milk with my evening medication and am now going to bed.
I have no interest in the minutiae of other people's lives
Then why use forums?
Pop over to the AdSense forum and see who's posting verbosely about their CTR being up or down today, or the Google forum and see who's up or down in the SERPs today.
Same exact thing except forums have a longer format.
Then why use forums?
Imagine if they had it in the old days,Re: Alexander the great april 21st " Today I plan to smash my enemy with elephants"
Re: Alexander the great April 22nd. "Enemies had thousands of mice, elephants went mental who blabbed?"
I neither know nor care who Ashton Kutcher is, and I have no interest in the minutiae of other people's lives even if they are currently enjoying their 5 minutes of fame.
I'm with Old_Honky. I dug around on Twitter, created an account, and from time to time log in to see what it's doing . . . but I just don't get it. My interest was momentarily revived by this thread [webmasterworld.com], but I still don't see it. Guess I'm a complete moron. :-(
I only keep my account somewhat active because I feel I have to to cover my bases. If I was in another business I would not waste a second on it.
I follow about 250 people but rarely read their tweets unless I happen to be doing my weekly mandatory tweets and I'll scan the current tweets in the timeline. It amazes me that I can go on almost any time and see the same few people tweeting.
The only people that get real value are the ones with followings before they come to twitter like some of the popular bloggers or Guy k. Twitter gives them and easy and free way to communicate with their masses without writing a blog post.
"You have to be a complete moron to ignore it."
In fairness, that is not rational thinking calling people morons. Everyone is different, and everyone has a different way of getting his or her information. e-mail, web, news sites, edu sites, wiki, IM, etc., and now, we have Twitter.
If people cannot find a use for it, that's fine. If you can, then that's good, too.
As with any new concept, it takes time for it to build momentum. I think it now has some momentum. The problem many people find is that it doesn't work straight away.
Let me give you a hypothetical scenario.
I have a new service I want to introduce to market. I can, of course, issue a news release, blog about it, comment on other blogs, etc., but, now, I can now also tweet about it.
How would I prepare to tweet about it?
Firstly, I’d make sure my profile page said what I want it to say.
Then, I’d look around Twitter for like-minded people and businesses. I'd start following them and carefully watch what they tweet about, learning all the time.
I'd start reacting to some of their tweets. Retweeting, or replying, and using hashtags. That helps build a reputation. It helps get comments in the timeline, too. Once other people start finding and following you, you're getting there.
You're starting to get yourself in a position to launch your service. In very simple terms, blog about it, then tweet about it and link to your blog.
However, if it looks like an advert, you're asking for trouble.
In very simple terms, that's how you might use Twitter in a business way.
I've also found that those just commenting on the last time they went to the bathroom are the people I don't want to follow. But, if I can get the scoop on a new product or service, that's great.
In addition, some high profile Twitterers just self-promote all the time, and it becomes rather tedious. Some i've stopped following because they tweet all kinds of irrelevant stuff, all the time. Those that discuss topics of interest are good contacts to follow, imho.
Who can survive without a Second Life alter ego?
Who will survive without a mobile ready site?
Who can live without update his blog ten times a day?
... and even "How can you live without a site in Geocities or Tripod?"
I've also found that those just commenting on the last time they went to the bathroom are the people I don't want to follow.
Is that why you quit following me? :)
Then, I’d look around Twitter for like-minded people and businesses.
See, now, this is where I fall down. I've looked around, and all I can find is forms to invite people, search by name, search by email. The few personal contacts I have aren't on there. I don't see all the powerful searches people are raving about. The whole interface seems empty and . . . pointless?
When I first visited there to sign up, I was using FF and couldn't even find a join button [webmasterworld.com]! Had to use IE just to join.
It all seems very "fruity." :-) I'll keep checking in, and am open to listening as always . . . just not seeing it yet. :-(
However, if it looks like an advert, you're asking for trouble
Most of what I see on Twitter is an advert. That is why I am predicting its demise.
I suspect (don't really know) that the people who were the early adopters and who were not in it for self-promotion are already abandoning it and are on to something else. How long can Ashton Kutcher find things to tweet about before he is bored to tears of it?
This thing reeks of a fad to me. ... but I have been wrong before.
PS: On a related note, today I logged on to Facebook and realized that I can't remember the last time I did (over 1 or 2 weeks ago) and even their annoying emails to tell me I have an email in Facebook (that's like Gmail emailing you on Hotmail to tell you that you got a message, just plain ridiculous) don't event get me to login anymore.
I see people using Twitter to make new connections with other people in their space, and in ways that would never have happened elsewhere... certainly not in the way that either myspace or facebook work.
Ok, I don't understand this. I'm with the 'moron' crowd.
What does twitter offer that you can get from myspace/facebook/blogs/IM/forums/social bookmarking?
I have a couple of blogs, but that is about it. I never saw, and still don't, the commercial use in Myspace and facebook, except for a small minority that really thrive with the technology (Tila tequila? lol).
For social bookmarking, I've seen commercial potential, but not worth it in my opinion, compared to the potential in old school SEO. I actually really tried this.
Blogs, I've adopted, although begrudgingly I must admit.
Whether it takes or not, remains to be seen. Although I have a gut feeling this will end up with the geocities fad.
Is that why you quit following me? :)
I'm not trying to convert anyone on here, however, I suspect there are some misconceptions.
There is no comparison with FB. This is entirely different.
Just following someone does not always help either party. I'm not into numbers, i'm into quality.
Next, use search to explore the keywords and keyphrases of interest to you and your business. See who's talking about your interests (hobbies or business). Look at their profile, then their tweets and decide if you want to follow them. Be selective.
HTH
Added
I also see some real SEO pros, whom I respect highly, failing to use it to the best advantage.
So, this is what we're missing.
I guess that whatever the technology or the means of communication, where ever a crowd gathers us humans just can't resist rushing in to try to sell 'em something.
My feeling is that it's rather sad, but unfortunately inescapable.
Syzygy
Garbage in, garbage out.
Follow him, whose mind is not filled with garbage.
- K'ung fu-tzu (Confucius), 498 BC
I rest my case.
(Info from the BBC and the Sun Newspaper)
hehehe
Well, that was funny, and he's a treasure, but, don't follow him if you don't like such tweets.
Some of the value cannot always be seen by the blinkered approach. Take the blinkers off and look at the opportunities.
Take the blinkers off and look at the opportunities.
It's happened before.
What does twitter offer that you can't get from myspace/facebook/blogs/IM/forums/social bookmarking?
I can follow people who are of interest to me, but who are not necessarily my 'friends'. Be that a TV personality, or someone working in the same city and sector as me.
For example, I'm following someone who I think I met once at an event, but he's not a 'friend'. He is in the same city and same profession as me, and I'm learning about events he's attending and colleagues he's networking with, that may well be of interest and use to me in the future.
He is in the same city and same profession as me, and I'm learning about events he's attending and colleagues he's networking with, that may well be of interest and use to me in the future.
Tweets though. Retweets? Hell, I'm having a hard time just getting past that part.
