The Christian Science Monitor picked up on this newly released statistic and ran a short article online about is as well.
Interestingly, the Christian Science Monitor article indicated that Twitter's problem is its retention rates, and that an online business cannot survive with such numbers. My question is how can an online business survive when it's not adding any value to our lives?
Yes, Twitter is a media darling right now. It's riding that roman candle of techno-popularity. Does, or will Twitter eventually have some form of significant place in society?
Possibly, but right now it's nothing more than a time sucking distraction.
But Oprah and Asthon Kutcher use it, you say. It interfaces with Facebook. The President used it, and Gavin Newsom announced his gubernatorial candidacy with it.
All this is true, but look at Twitter and you'll see why so many people who use it do not return one month later. Everyone using it thinks they're a movie star. Using it assumes that out there, somewhere, other people really care about what you are saying.
I have to admit that I use it. I have a Twitter account, and I use it to reach followers with whom I've connected, and with whom I'm not connected through Facebook. I use it to announce when I have new Bent Spoon Media postings. When I tweet, that tweet becomes my Facebook status so I don't have to update two websites that help me broadcast my messages to my circle of “friends.”
I am being a hypocrite, but when you're critiquing technology that risk is around every corner. When you're critiquing technology, and doing so through the written word, given how the industry of content creation (writing) is changing, being a hypocrite is practically impossible.
The most useful method of distributing written content today is through electronic channels: blogs, online magazines, social networking sites. So to critique a service like Twitter while also using it is hypocritical, but also the position of a fledgling content creator trying to create a name for himself, who wants to leverage all the tools he can for exposing others to his messages.
Because I too use Twitter, my hypocrisy aside, do I see the intrinsic value of Twitter?
No. An unadulterated “no.”
Even before the Associate Press article came out I had been wondering whether or not to continue using Twitter. Some people have done a wonderful job leveraging Twitter to build their own online presence. It's a great tool if your demographic is the typical Twitter users: techno-savvy individuals, digital natives, and technological first adopters. For me, I want to talk to everyone else who sees technology as fun, and sometimes useful, but still asks the questions, “why do I need that? What is it going to do for me?”
So what does Twitter do? We've talked about this before. But finally the darling of the media is losing some of its luster as users show, through their quitting the service, that short electronic posts, informing others of what you're doing throughout the day, are essentially a waste of time.
RJ Lavallee is the author of IMHO (In My Humble Opinion): a guide to the benefits and dangers of today’s communication tools on sale at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and lulu.com.
