Twitter's Ghosts



From AdAge today:

Twitter is not dead, but nobody really cares that I put milk on my cereal this morning.

Taddy Hall, of Meteor, suggests that while still a revolutionary tool, Twitter's value is declining because the value of your followers is declining, too:

The currency in Twitter is followers. Fine, but one of the essential attributes of currency is that it is either intrinsically valuable (gold) or a proxy for value (greenbacks). And what we have with Twitter is a currency (followers) of little or no value -- intrinsic or implied.

What we have all realized is that the best way for me to get you to follow me -- more "currency" for me -- is for me to follow you. I scratch your back and you scratch mine. That neither of us pays any attention to the other's tweets is a trifling concern.

My advice for businesses using Twitter: Make your tweets relevant and useful. Link back to a relevant page on your website or an equally relevant blog post. Don't tweet everything that comes across your desk or your wandering mind. And be prepared for the day, coming perhaps sooner than later, when Twitter is no longer effective. Don't worry, there will be something new to take its place.

Now, if only I could be the one to invent that something new....

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 4, 2009 at 12:06 PM

    I've heard the latest currency is listeners:

    RT @dhollings: #etoolkit LISTENER RATE measured by running similar tweet w/ trackable link 4 times a day for week. Monitor Retweets Clicks DMs & @ replies

    ReplyDelete

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