Twitter is Work, Damnit!
Inspiring this blog post is Augie Ray of social media and Forrester fame, who tweeted this gem today:
The latest numbers show most people give Twitter a 10-tweet tryout and give up. Augie wanted to know why people quit on Twitter.
He got a few interesting responses including:
- @dan_larkin “There’s no “getting started” assistance. A host service looking for those people and engaging with them would fit the medium.”
- @digital_chuck “Lack of engagement. First time users give up before they learn how to follow and engage with people who have common interests.”
- @geoff_bilbrough “no patience”
- @triveraguy “I doubt that it differs from the typical adoption rate for trying ANYTHING new. Twitter is just measurable & more in the spotlight”
Twitter is not for Quitters
I am not telling you how to Twitter and am all for finding your own way. That typed, 5-minutes a day and 10 tweets isn’t engaging. It is drive-by shotgun marketing, just shooting farts into the wind.
Would Coke run five commercials and stop? Would Apple try only one iPod and never make changes? Of course not; you have to try, try and try again. Find what works, make it your own.
My response, which he retweeted (and thanks for that Augie): “Didn’t realize Twitter was work. Like anything- you get back what you put in, SM takes investment of time and commitment.”
Tough sell: Social Media is Work.
Just this morning I read a post about a blogger who put the time and work in to blogging and tweeting, and as a result is working for P&G at the Olympics. While others consider Twitter a time suck, she invested that time and energy and it paid off for her and her business.
Social media is job and for any kind of connection or business success, networking is essential. Twitter can be a powerful and effective tool, if you commit to it.
Don’t get me wrong, I know we in social media, PR and marketing take ourselves (and our blogs and tweets) too seriously at times. I know so many folks with “real” jobs that don’t involve any SM, or even online presence and just roll their eyes when I mention Twitter. (I know more people NOT on Facebook than on, just say typing.)
Twitter is not for everyone. If you want Twitter to work for you, you gotta work at Twitter.
The point of this Code Yellow rant is simple: Twitter is Work.
Gini Dietrich just did a wonderful post on women and equality in the workplace. All about how both genders need to step up to the professionalism, close those gaps. Then there’s this.
The Crime: Summer’s Eve tells women the way to close that pay gap, get that raise is … to douche… Continue reading
14 Responses to “Twitter is Work, Damnit!”
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February 24th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Nice blog post. Like your blogger who put in the time tweeting and blogging and is now working for P&G, I spent a lot of time blogging and tweeting over the course of a couple of years, and that helped me land my new job at Forrester. It was HARD work–I estimate I spent 3000 hours in two years–but it was a passion and the value I got back (aside from a new job) was substantial–information, knowledge, connections, and friends. You don’t get that with 10 tweets and an abandoned Twitter account!
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Davina K. Brewer Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Augie, ITA about the value of social networking. I’ve learned so much by being more connected, using tools like Twitter to develop and build relationships.
It’s an investment in myself and my business and the payoff has been worth all of the work and effort.
Thanks for reading, sharing your comments!
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February 24th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Excellent piece..really enjoyed it!
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 4:35 am
Caroline, thanks for reading. Glad you enjoyed the post. -DKB
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 5:30 am
Newsflash – Twitter is hard work – http://bit.ly/bQW1Mv
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
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February 25th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Ron, Twitter can be habit forming for sure. What quickly caught on for me was finding and meeting smart people, expanding my network and better still, helping them grow theirs.
Having a friend or buddy is good, any kind of support system. I made some great Twitter friends in the beginning, and it really kept me going. Thanks for reading, sharing your comments. -DKB
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I’m relatively new to Twitter and yes, I would have loved some help when I started. But unlike many new users, I did not do it for a client, I did it for myself. So the expectations were different. I wanted to know more about SM so I decided to invest time in it and I promised myself that I will take «the time it takes» to better understand its powerful features. BTW I can’t understand people following THOUSANDS of people. How can you do that and being effective and efficient at the same time… Well, I guess I still have a lot to learn
!
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Excellent stuff. Too many people and organizations underestimate the time and effort it takes to make social web marketing effective. In addition to the posting there is the tracking, analyzing, evaluating and reporting necessary to show the ever so much sought ROI.
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Joe, I’ve found that some companies–and some of the people who run them–underestimate the time, energy and thought initiatives that go into doing anything productively: writing a newsletter, developing a presentation and yes, social media marketing and networking. If it wasn’t work, wouldn’t everyone being doing it? (even if badly?) Thanks for reading, commenting. -DKB
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Twitter is work! Twitter has a very simplistic concept and I think that gives people this misconception that it is doesn’t take dedication. I know when I first made a twitter account I had no knowledge of hash tags, how to properly re-tweet or any other functions surrounding twitter. It wasn’t until I began following people and trends that interested me when I really began to grasp Twitter. Great article!
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Sylvie- Anything worth doing takes time, ITA. I used to think even following a few hundred people would be hard to manage, but then I just started using the tools to manage it. TweetDeck to sort people into different groups, various search tools to look for topics of interest, the MrTweet tool to let me know how often someone tweets in a day, and so on. I am always adding people, looking for those I think will share something new, be interesting to follow. I’m sure I’ll stop adding folks at some point, heh. FWIW. -DKB
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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February 25th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Twitter is Work, Damnit! @3HatsComm http://ow.ly/1bqia
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March 7th, 2010 at 10:32 am
I have read several SMT pieces today on Twitter, and none of them have adequately addressed the fact that Tweeters can be a HUGE turnoff for people new to the platform. I think the platform itself is great, but the signal/noise ratio is atrocious. I have tried and been unable to get past that (and I have created and maintained 3 Twitter accounts over the past year). If Twitter fans want more people to "get it," they should consider how their own behavior (including the condescending attitude that some project) keeps folks away. There’s tons of evidence throughout the digital world and elsewhere that people are willing to do the work if they perceive that work will create value for them. Perhaps a better question is, "Why don’t people want to do the work that Twitter requires?"
This comment was originally posted on Social Media Today
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March 10th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
So true. Twitter is work! by @3hatscomm http://bit.ly/c4xT7e
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
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