Twittering Away Your Time
Now that Oprah’s followers and the media blitz have come and gone, is Twitter still “it”?
Here’s the stats from Is Twitter Dead? Who Killed It?:
• HubSpot says more than half of all people who signed up for an account never posted a tweet (55%), aren’t following anyone (56%) and have no followers themselves (53%).
• Nielsen Online notes that 60% of users bail on Twitter after creating an account.
• Harvard Business School says the average Twitter user tweets once and never again and 10% of Twitter users post 90% of the Tweets.
• Twitter’s meteoric growth came to a screeching halt in May. Mashable reports that during the month of May, Twitter’s visitor growth suddenly “flatlined,” growing only a 1.5%.
• TechCrunch says that the ol’ 80-20 rule is in full effect on Twitter: 20% of Twitter users are creating 80% of the activity.
• A survey from Pace University and the Participatory Media Network found that only 22% of people between the ages of 18 and 24 use Twitter (though nearly all have social networking profiles).
• Thursday is the biggest Twitter day.
Is Twitter the new cool?
Twitter is mostly a one-to-many medium. Young adults, who grew up with online communication, have no desire to talk to strangers. They love communicating with friends and acquaintances, which is why social networks like Facebook are overwhelmingly preferred.
Twitter is appealing to people with something to sell, or people who want to network professionally. It’s also a great way to follow a hobby or intellectual interest.
In other words, it’s for older people.
I’ve been asked my opinion by a lot of businesses on Twitter… and I compare it to the gold ads on TV; when something is sold as a no-lose proposition – you’ll lose. When Oprah encouraged her army of homemakers to get on it, you knew its time was passed. Worst of all, now that it has mass, it’s now becoming the new home for spammers.
This isn’t to say I say no to Twitter outright… it is a good way to keep your competitors and industry group informed of your latest exploits, your golf score, and your inner thoughts. But Twitter can eat up a lot of time and attention, and with the challenges most of us are faced with, you’re better off spending the time and effort on something that brings in a return.
When someone tells you that Twitter is working marvelously for them in business, ask them how and also for some proof. The beauty of the Internet is that almost everything is measurable. Unfortunately, I’ve only heard successful stories from people that are selling their Twitter marketing services.
If you are determined to try Twitter – look at @DellOutlet, @Zappos , @JetBlue and @WholeFoods. These have made Twitter work – they use it as a way to reach out to customers… and if you have a large customer base it is a good way to communicate specials, problems and news to a small segment of them.
… Next, the Facebook for business question. The reality of it is that if you want to find old friends, keep up with your current ones, use Facebook… you’ll find relatives you didn’t know existed. (I keep thinking I need to pay more attention to my list… it’s kind of creepy seeing my niece and nephews drunk college party pics showing up on my wall every Saturday morning.)
If you want to network at a higher level or use a social network for business development purposes - use LinkedIn. It has a professionalism that’s conducive to doing business, and I’ve met a lot of people there who have turned into great business contacts. I’ll never have 1,000 friends, so bragging rights don’t come with Linked in… only results.
Twitter for business, in 140 twitter characters:
Twitter will suck away valuable attention. Measure results and know the thousands of followers you think you have, have all gone back to work.
(P.S. LKG. This wasnt written with you in mind 
