Why Twitter will survive.
Posted on Tue, Jan 19, 2010 @ 02:55 PM
This morning I received an email from my Aunt that contained a bunch of useless facts- the perfect kind of fodder to entertain my 137 Twitter followers. I scanned through the one-liners, and selected what I considered the most interesting: That the QE2 moves 6 inches for every gallon of diesel that it burns (interesting no?). And moved on with my day.
About 4 hours later, I noticed that I had been "@" mentioned. I clicked open the message and received the following:
"TheQE2 Story:@sjpetteruti QE2 actually moves 125 feet per gallon. This is an oft-repeated myth. Isn't the internet wonderful..."
I couldn't have imagined a better depiction of Twitter's unique value- and the very reason why Twitter won't go the way of myspace. Twitter allows strangers to instantly share information with each other, and to verify each other's data. You don't need to be "friends" with a person to interact with them, and value exchange occurs somewhere between the time of an Instant Message and an email: two unique attributes no other social media service currently offers. (In case you were wondering: The QE2's Official Website actually claims that the ship gets about 50ft/gallon- but you get the point). Countless companies have improved their image by creating a Twitter account and actively monitoring it (Think of Comcastor Dell Computers). Having the ability to constantly be hearing from, and addressing, potential naysayers, is an invaluable tool. Twitter offers business the opportunity to directly correspond with their public- all in real time. I would never have thought that the QE2 has an active Twitter account, or at least an energetic evangelist, but that just goes to show there is no market too niche for public interfacing.
What is best about this example however is not that the QE2 is on Twitter, but that they exhibited all the best practices in using it. Consider what went into this exchange:
- TheQE2Story is actively monitoring Tweets using search.twitter.com or twellow.com
- TheQE2Story crafted a polite and timely response informing me of my mistake.
- TheQE2Story then follows me on Twitter, creating another fan and further building its social sphere.
The last piece of the process is my response to this correction. I was faced with two choices: I could either hide this information from my public, ashamed of my eagerness to publish an unverified fact. Or I could bring the truth to light, and dent my journalistic reputation. Ultimately in the interest of transparency (which is what Internet Marketing is all about) I did the right thing and re-tweeted the correction. After all, 137 people count on me as a source of reliable mindless facts.
At KeChange, we work with our clients to give them a unique mission and purpose for being on Twitter, and use the aforementioned "best practices" to promote their presence. What is your reason for being connected? What value do you provide the public that they cannot get anywhere else? If you haven't figured it out yet you better get thinking, because Twitter is here to stay.