I should not be admitting this, but I am pretty late to the game on Twitter. I fully embraced other social networking vehicles like Facebook and LinkedIn but for some reason I could not do the same for Twitter. After a long meeting with our advisory board I was convinced that I should try it out for a bit. One of our board members is a big proponent of Twitter and our social media services team talk about it often. It’s been a few days now, and while still not 100% convinced I see the same value others see…I have to admit I do enjoy using Twitter. It just goes to show that you should usually test something before forming an opinion.
If I were forced to choose between Facebook and Twitter I would still choose Facebook in a second. Initially I could not see the point in updating my status on both Facebook and Twitter but then I discovered the Facebook app that feeds Twitter updates into my status. Now I only need to post to Twitter and it automatically updates Facebook for me. That eliminated one hurdle. Another hurdle was eliminated when I downloaded TwitterFon for my iPhone which made updates pretty simple.
I thought I would post my initial thoughts:
Twitter Pros
- big community of users
- simple to use
- focused on doing one thing and doing it well
- lots of buzz
Twitter Cons
- lots of noise (it is very hard to cut through the Twitter clutter since everyone is talking at the same time…how do you navigate this mess?)
- Facebook offers the same service plus much more (granted Facebook has its share of noise too, but new functions allow users to control what they see and how much)
So while I may not be a Twitter fanatic, I think it serves a purpose because it does one thing well and has built a strong, loyal user base.
Feel free to check out my Twitter posts (as boring as they may be):
UPDATE
I just came across Nielsen data showing Twitter as the fastest growing social network sites in terms of audience. (but Facebook is much bigger currently)
| Rank (by Sept. YOY UA growth) |
10 Fastest Growing Social Networking Sites: Sept. 2008 |
Sept. 2007: Unique Audience (in 000s) |
Sept. 2008: Unique Audience (in 000s) |
% Growth: Year Over Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Twitter.com | 533* | 2,359 | 343% |
| 2 | Tagged.com | 898 | 3,857 | 330% |
| 3 | Ning | 842* | 2,955 | 251% |
| 4 | 4,075 | 11,924 | 193% | |
| 5 | Last.fm | 850 | 1,879 | 121% |
| 6 | 18,090 | 39,003 | 116% | |
| 7 | MyYearbook | 1,422 | 3,056 | 115% |
| 8 | Bebo | 1,299 | 2,418 | 86% |
| 9 | Multiply | 592 | 941 | 59% |
| 10 | Reunion.com | 4,845 | 7,601 | 57% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company, Custom Analysis (September 2008). | ||||
| *Note: These websites do not meet minimum sample size standards. Projected and average measures for these sites may exhibit large changes month-to-month, as a result. | ||||
2 Comments
Hey Peter,
You’re a twit. (Sorry, had to, couldn’t resist, joke never gets old for me.)
Regarding your point as to “lots of noise,” this is the same hurdle we’ve seen with all technological evolution. Each new leap results in more noise and a greater emphasis on the consumer’s ability to identify that which is personally important.
Example: When we first got email, we were suddenly able to communicate with more people, faster. Thus increasing the quantity and flow of information. In response, we learned to filter our emails, create folders and identify spam. Same thing with websites. We started out with a few, now there are millions, yet as consumers, we identify which sites we visit regularly.
Same applies to social media and all those voices and thoughts that you now have access to. As more information is available to use, we become savvier consumers of data, better able to manage/filter all inbound information efficiently.
Additionally, now we have access to first-hand accounts of events. ShareASale CEO Brian Littleton had a great observation…when the LA earthquake hit, he found out first though his twitter contacts, second through the news media. His twitter contacts are credible because he chose only to follow people he trusts.
We have a choice about what to consume. The difference now is not the quantity of data ut there…the difference is that now we have access to it.
https://twitter.com/catango
Takes one to know one Carolyn
Thanks for the well thought out comment. You make a great point, we learn how to filter important information with any media we consume. However, I will argue that other forms of media offer filtering options that make this much easier than those offered by twitter. (or at least as far as I can see right now)
For Example
TV – I can now use my DVR to skip through clutter within tv shows such as ads and boring program chatter
Online – I can now filter websites with bookmarks, RSS, and much more to get only the info I want right away
Although not perfect those options are helpful.
Facebook now offers an option on the news feed that you can select if you want more or less news about a person or group. So if I wanted to learn more about Carolyn I could select “more about Carolyn” and facebook would increase my updates on you.
I just hope to see twitter offer some filter options moving forward. For example, I may love to follow your tweets (and I do) but I may not need to see your direct replies to people (@reply stuff)
In the end I know different folks will want to consume information in various ways and for that reason I am on a few platforms. (why anyone would want to follow my updates I cannot venture to guess)
Thanks for the insight CT!