Twitter – I Don’t Get It
Last Updated on February 24, 2024 8:56 am by Jeffrey Powers
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I just don’t get it –
This is the line I heard today from a fellow IT person. He then proceeded to say “The younger people do it more. I guess it’s not a part of my generation”.
Wait a minute. I remember an article that says older people DO like twitter. But they are not staying on twitter. So who is right?
I got on to Twitter a couple years ago. I didn’t start using it until I really got Geekazine going. I watched others like Leo Laporte and Chris Pirillo take the lead. I was there when the “Fail Whale” was a running joke. I saw people decide to give up twitter due to it’s issues. I even saw as Ashton Kutcher hit a million.
The other day, a report came out saying that within 12 months, only 40 out of 100 people joining twitter will still be using the service. The rest will be “Dead pool” accounts. Basically, you offer a free service, so people join up to see if it is something for them. They use it, don’t get into what the service is about and never log on again.
Even though this may be, I wonder how many just need a little more time before they embrace? I have done that – In 98, I had a Geocities page that sat for a while before I started to do something with it. When I finally decided to do something, I was on the site every day.
Twitter is a one trick pony. You send a “Microblog”, and reply to others. That’s it. There is no Mafia Wars. There is no “Send a friend a drink” or “Smack them over the head with a Lemming”.
They have some things, like Color Wars – or more recently – Follow Friday. Still, those things have no cool graphics or flashy looks. Heck, there isn’t even any “Emoticons”. Some Twitter clones have the ability to get you pictures, video and games. Yet, we don’t flock to those – we stay with Twitter.
So who flocks to Twitter? Well, when you have a big name like Ashton or Oprah use it, you will get a lot of “Intrigued” users. But are these the people that only go on to a computer to check their email, Facebook or MySpace? Are these the people that even have a computer that is less than 3 years old?
What we do know about Twitter:
A lot of people find it a good marketing tool. I believe that if it wasn’t for Twitter, I wouldn’t have met 2/3rds the people I know. I don’t think I would have the contacts to help me with my site – therefore I would have to go alone on it.
Do Older people like Twitter? – According to Nielson, if you are 35-49 years old, you are the most apt to use this social network. However, the numbers of those 50 and over are higher than you might think. Some people say that it’s easier to use than Facebook. Not that much on the site – Therefore it’s easier to use.
Is Twitter good for the Brain? – Do you have that one person that sends the email containing only 1 paragraph, but the paragraph is one long sentence of 500 words or more? Do you read those? How about this: Do you get those emails that are 5 words or less? Would you be more inclined to read That email?
Twitter shows you can say something in 140 characters or less. There is no time to embellish or sit there writing the same stuff again all over again… wait… I mean all over again.
While you don’t become a literary writer from Twitter, you might just realize that writing doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out item.
Can We get to talk to celebrities on Twitter? – While I would guess Ashton and Oprah have assistants looking and replying to certain tweets, I know many celebs that are avid Twitter users and sometimes will reply to your message. @Alroker – I know he replies.
Maybe twitter is not good because we haven’t found the right program to run it. You can go to Twitter.com or you can get a program like Twhirl or Tweetdeck. You can get the program to your phone so you can just use it from there. You can even put it in Facebook so you can save time.
All in all, Twitter is not for anyone. Like it or hate it, you cannot ignore it’s staying power. You also cannot ignore the other websites that have created a name for themselves because of Twitter. Interestingly enough, if Twitter was to go away tomorrow or change the rules dramatically, those sites might have to scramble to adjust, or just go out of business because their model relies on a twitter interface.
As for that one person, I can argue all I want on why it’s a great item to utilize. It might change his mind, but most likely not. I guess I just have to accept the fact they won’t get on twitter – at least, not right now…