• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Is Twitter a Conversation or Broadcast Platform?
By Brian Solis, blogger at  PR 2.0  and principal of FutureWorksPR, Co- Author Putting the Public Back in Public Relationsand Now Is Gone
 Are we seeing theTwitterversethrough rose colored glasses? 
In January 2009 I pondered whether or notTwitter was a viableconversation platform.After all, Twitter is one of the darlings of Social Media and it is conversations and thedemocratization of content that fuel the rapid expansion and adoption of social tools andservices.Just ask any social media "expert" and they'll tell you that you must absolutely establisha Twitter account and commence the process of responding to everyone who Tweetsabout your company, market, or competition. But the more I observe interaction onsocial networks, and in the this case Twitter, I believe that sometimes it's effective toalso maintain a presence simply by reading, listening, and sharing relevant and timelyinformation without yet having to directly respond to each and every tweet - perhapsreplying to only the critical or influential individuals that may need immediate informationor direction to steer strategic activity.
(cc) Brian Solis,www.briansolis.com- Twitter, @briansolis
 
Before you react, continue reading. Observations are just that, but there are numbersnow surfacing that continue to reinforcemy examination.As Twitter continues to elicit discussions on its cultural and interpersonal impact, in-depth analysis reveals that perhaps Twitter isn't currently a pervasive platform for hosting conversations at all. And asNielsen suggests, with only a 40% retention rate, itmay not be growing as fast as we believe either. As a comparison, during the importantstages of defining growth for MySpace and Facebook, retention averaged 70%.Yet everywhere you turn, Twitter is regarded as the catalyst for people flocking toengage in the proverbial "conversation" that is so vital to fostering vibrant onlinecommunities between peers and also brands and consumers.At a micro level, Twitter is indeedsignificant. The unique, loyal, and revolutionary cultureand behavior it's inducing may well ignite macro reverberations that ultimately effecthow we discover, share, and consumer information. In the long-term, it will at the veryleast, influence human interaction, business services, information dissemination,events, and also media in general.Just in the past week, Twitter was Time Magazine's cover story "How Twitter WillChange the Way We Live." Sports Illustrated also documented how Twitter is "RapidlyChanging the Face of Sports."This (r)evolution will take time to cross the bell curve of adoption however.Comscorerecently reported that in April, 32 million people around the world visitedTwitter.com, sending the micro-communitysurging past NYTimes.com, Digg, andLinkedIn.
(cc) Brian Solis,www.briansolis.com- Twitter, @briansolis
 
Indeed, statistical exploration indicates Twitter is growing in prominence. But, perhapsits importance, at this moment in time, is more closely aligned with a powerful, new, andseemingly engaging one-way broadcasting ecosystem rather than a two-way dialoguechannel we initially suspected.As observed in a recentHarvard Business Report, the top 10% of prolific Twitter usersaccounted for over 90% of tweets. In correlation, the top 10% of users in other typicalsocial networks account for 30% of all content production. Harvard crystallizes thegravity of this metric though a parallel comparison of Twitter and Wikipedia, "To putTwitter in perspective, consider an unlikely analogue - Wikipedia. There, the top 15% of the most prolific editors account for 90% of Wikipedia's edits."
(cc) Brian Solis,www.briansolis.com- Twitter, @briansolis
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...