October 19, 2007
Explaining Twitter
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One of the biggest challenges I have faced over the last two months has been explaining Twitter.
Twitter (and micro-blogging in general ala Facebook status updates, Jaiku, Pownce et al) is just SO out of the ordinary for 40-something business communicators.
Sure, all the people I talk to understand blogging, even if its not something they do themselves. They are always surprised at how powerful blogging can be as a force for change and as a representative of lobby groups, but they ‘get it’.
To a lesser degree they also get podcasting. They very much get vodcasting/vidcasting and YouTube.
But Twitter? Twitter? WTF?
Alex Manchester at Melcrum usefully describes it as ‘ambient presence’. Taking his idea further, and keeping it within the normal experience of my audiences, I liken it to background radio — the idea that you can keep it on in the background of your work and just get a general ‘feel’ for what is going on in the world around you.
As an example of this, just this morning as I skim read my Twitter feed from last night to now, I come across these gems (’Twitterdipity’, as my brother-in-arms Paull Young says) from my fellow Twitterati:
Seth Godin via Steve Rubel: “My post on wikipedia really hit a nerve with a large number of readers. In many cases, the feedback I got was that the article in wikipedia might be wrong or vandalized. And if the underlying article is wrong, well, then you would be wrong. And being wrong is… bad… Short version: if your job can be completely written up in a manual, it’s either not a great job or it’s going to be done by someone cheaper, sometime soon.”
Google Webmaster tools, again via Steve”Now, Webmaster Tools lets you view potential sitelinks for your site and block the ones you don’t want to appear in Google search results.”
From Doug Haslam: “I am officially convinced that email is unreliable. But I still need to use it b/c of co-workers, clients etc. blech” Doug, I feel your pain! I’m still receiving tales of trouble with , but I can never replicate them!
Dan Cornwall is compiling a list of useful (for us) free resources on the net. Nice one, Dan! Plus he finds a great US Govt site that lets you have free videos (like landing on the moon, etc)
Via AussieSlang comes news of a tourist site where you can go to find out more about Australia
Steven E. Streight (aka Vaspers) lets me know that I can use ‘hearts’ in Twitter, via a tiny bit of code. Cool! “Twitter pals, you don’t have to use “heart” or <3 anymore. Just use & hearts ; (remove spaces) = ♥ “
Sam Grant (and others, but can’t find out who got to it before Sam) about yet another brilliant vid (Information R/evolution) from Michael Wesch (author of the superb The Machine is Us/ing Us.) Note: hi-res .wmv version of ‘Information R/evolution’) over at mediafire.com, for those of us who love using videos in our PowerPoint presentations)
Here’s Michael’s Information R/evolution video for you to watch right from this blogpost:
Currently listening to: Cheikha Rimitti - Arabica Vol 1 - Nouar
Stumble it!
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6 Responses to “Explaining Twitter”
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October 19th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I do like the phrase ambient presence, and background radio too, very descriptive!
However, I couldn’t possibly lay claim to thinking of the idea. I was put on to that expression by the very knowledgeable knowledge manager Matt Moore, who in turn has just said to me it’s not his phrase either!
A quick search on Google suggests it may originally belong to one Michael Beigl, but I’m not entirely sure.
Regardless, I do think in a world where information overload is a reality, while massess more information may seem like a bad thing, the very idea of background radio actually enables you to pick up bits of information from the flow.
We can’t possibly hope to keep on top of anything and everything, but we can use these tools and our networks to try and filter out, or skim from the top, the most important/helpful/relevant/insert-your-phrase-here bits.
Alex
October 19th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Hey bro, check out this one for a great explanation - http://guydz.com/moneypowerwisdom/twitter-through-a-heart-surgeons-eyes/
(Via @chrisbrogan in where else but Twitter today)
Two trends I’ve noticed:
Twitterdipity - Serendipitous moments via Twitter.
Twitternicity - when two people tweet a similar thing at a similar time. Like a few months ago when you and I pinged about seeing Harry Potter on opposite sides of the globe
October 19th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I think the ambience reference originated with Leisa Reichelt’s post on Ambient Intimacy .My own explanation of twitter is “the face popping over the partition conversation” on steroids and with a global audience. Hence the need to select presence that means the most to you, and my personal wish that some faces would pop up less often than others. I don’t mind if your face pops up to tell me something trivial, like your dog just fell over the daisies, or to tell me about the most exciting URL that changes the way you work forever. Just don’t do it every 2 minutes or I will never get any work done or hear anybody else (have deleted people for that reason.)
Ultimately, Twitter tells me about YOU and your sphere of influence, be it information or social. I love the blurring of the lines
Yes, it is hard to tell people what Twitter means. Maybe it should be called HeadPopper. Or Headboppers. LOL
October 21st, 2007 at 1:52 pm
[...] 12-Step Social Media Support Group Readings Twying Twitter is Step 10 in my AAse 12 Step Social Media Program for PR Pros. If you need more convincing that you should check out Twitter, go read Guy Kawasaki’s How Twitter Made My Website Better and Lee Hopkins’ Explaining Twitter. [...]
October 24th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Hey Lee. I picked up Michael Wesch’s video via a tweet by the great Euan Semple -http://theobvious.typepad.com and twitter/euan.
Your post echoes Clive Thompson’s equally eloquent description of Twitter as a tool that creates a ’social sixth sense’. His article featured in June’s edition of Wired magazine and was blogged by Neville Hobson on 7 July: http://www.nevillehobson.com/2007/07/07/the-granular-appeal-of-twitter/
October 28th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
[...] effect has been defined as ambient intimacy, the social sixth sense, amongst others. I’ll take a quick turn at trying to define the essence and why I think it [...]