Chapter 14
Safko, The Social Media Bible
Just as we usually say Kleenex rather than facial tissue, so do we say (and think of) Twitter rather than microblogging. In a very short period of time, Twitter has become a generic term for microblogging (just like Google has for searching the web). According to Safko, microblogging is text messaging, and it began with the advent of the blog. Twitter was one of the first, now the dominant, providers of microblogging.
While it’s easy to equate tweeting with microblogging, Safko says that microblogging can also include social media interactions as notes on photos pasted on Facebook. And sometimes microblogs stand alone, but sometimes they serve to promote and direct audiences to larger blogs (macroblogs?).
But with any social phenomenon comes the clucks and expressions of concern over its effects. With microblogging these include the trivial nature of most posts; our growing obsession with microblogging and social media in general, presumably at the expense of direct, in-person human contact; micro spam; and, related to the second item, the fail whale, in which the network infrastructure that supports so many people’s obsessions becomes overwhelmed by the volume of it all.
Many see microblogging as a symptom of our hyperconnected and ADD-ridden society. Others point out that people, including some of the great authors of all time, have been microblogging for hundreds of years. Undoubtedly true, but they probably didn’t have the audiences todays twitters have, nor did they share the trivia of their daily lives.
This chapter gives several good examples of how microblogging, and specifically tweeting, can be put to use by business, political organizations and other institutions. It can give the appearance of very personal service (mainly because it creates a two-way conversation with any customer who cares to follow you, making it possible to listen to customers’ concerns). Thus, the company or organization can appear to be responsive. If it is sincere, responsiveness will be more than appearance. And that response can be quick. Finally, and this applies especially to politics but also to businesses, it allows you to make your followers constantly (or almost so) aware that you are still out there.
By the way, I had hoped to say this in 140 characters, but I couldn't.
By the way, I had hoped to say this in 140 characters, but I couldn't.
Dave are you on Twitter? I will follow you if you are. I find that my students really object in principle to Twitter until I make them use it and then they "get it." It's a matter of who you follow and how you're using it, but if you use it to stay informed and connected, it can be powerful. I think though a lot of organizations are not understanding really how to use it to listen and build relationships, they're just talking at people, not with them.
ReplyDeleteI am on Twitter, but I rarely use it. I REALLY need to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to involve social media in my day-to-day activities.
ReplyDelete