Talking Twitter With CityOnline
One of the great things about social media tools is that they let you connect with people you’d otherwise never meet.
One of the people I’ve gotten to know and like over the last little while is fellow Brit Danny Brown, founder of the 12 for 12k challenge. We finally met face-to-face at PodCamp Toronto this year; you can see a brief video I did with Danny here.
Another benefit of these tools for PR people like me is the ability to get to know journalists and the kind of things in which they are interested. Not only does it help me to be better at my job in general; it also helps me to be better if the time ever does come to pitch them. Over the last couple of years I’ve gotten to know numerous journalists including, more recently, City TV’s Kris Reyes.
On Friday these two aspects of social media came together as I appeared on City TV’s CityOnline show with Danny and Kris, to discuss Twitter in the wake of the Kutcher/CNN follow-fest.
The video of the show (about 20 minutes) is below.
Key points:
- Twitter lets you connect with and learn from hundreds of people as though they’re your next-door neighbour.
- The Kutcher/CNN thing runs the risk of reducing relationships to a numbers game, with people being expected to move in crowds in a popularity contest. However, if you watch the video where Kutcher celebrates crossing 1 million followers, it’s clear that he has thought it through, and his conclusion bears considering. We’re now at a point where one person can have a voice as loud as a mainstream news network. Ok, so it doesn’t apply to everyone and yes, he’s a celebrity, but that simple fact should still make you stop and think.
- If you follow people who only talk about how great their lunch is, you’re following the wrong people. Twitter lets you choose which conversations you participate in; pick the ones that let you learn, connect and grow
- The privacy concerns associated with Twitter are nothing new; all “web 2.0” services have the same issue; it requires discretion and, for children, a level of supervision
Interestingly, from the phone poll conducted on the show, the majority of respondents viewed Twitter as a fad. It may well be; I guess time will tell. From my perspective, the tool itself isn’t that important in this respect; the changing and growing variety of communications tools is the more important part. Kneale Mann has an interesting take on this:
“The early adopters are certainly tweeting about the many downsides of Twitter becoming the mainstream. That’s what early adopters do.
If you live on the fringe, don’t expect a crowd. And if it shows up, don’t be shocked. What you were talking about before the masses arrived may actually gain traction and (shock horror) popularity.”
