What are you doing?
Many are wondering if Twitter will begin to integrate geo-location like Google’s Latitude.
If they are, then they have missed the point of Twitter.
I don’t care where you are, I care what you are thinking.
The relevancy of Twitter comes directly from it’s ability to facilitate conversation. Smart business people use Twitter to network. They tweet strategically. They know they must present value to be “followed”.
Tweets telling me that you are on the George Washington Bridge are irrelevant unless you are late to meet up with me. It’s the equivalent of people who tweet what they had for breakfast. I don’t care. “Spam, spam and eggs, spam, spam, spam, hash and eggs” – Some people’s Twitter streams are like a Monty Python skit. The problem is unless you know these people intimately; their life’s details are, frankly, boring.
Their mistake starts with the assumption that the minutia will somehow foster closer relationships. Connecting over daily drudgery does not create long lasting bonds. Otherwise, you would be best friends with the cashier you see every time you go to the grocery. You might develop a polite banter, but you will hardly be best friends unless you go out of your way to do so.
Effort is required. Real relationships demand that, at times, you “go out of your way.” That’s what builds the value. So, if you want to develop a strong network via Twitter, tweet strategically. Here are a few guidelines for a solid Twitter Strategy:
1. Focus on a subject area. Tweet about your industry. Tweet about your company.
2. Show thought leadership. Pick topics that are controversial, informative, or relational.
3. Tie related subjects together and create some interest. Tell people why they need to know about them. Why are they important?
4. Retweet significant posts to your audience.
5. Have a voice that shows your style. Are you funny, cynical, friendly, outlandish?
If you begin to lose “followers” ask yourself what value you present, then focus your tweets around it. Your Twitter strategy should save time, keeping miscellaneous tweets to a minimum. A last word of advice: before you press send, ask yourself if it’s RELEVANT to your audience.
After all, if you really need people to know where you are all the time, perhaps you should just invest in an ankle bracelet. Then local law enforcement can “follow” you.
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
Leili, I think there are two forms of location when it comes to twitter…
First, is the explicit “i am here” broadcast which you are talking about. Twitter has become a personal publishing / broadcast platform and broadcasting your location to facilitate serendipitous meetups is a valuable piece of the platform. Check out BrightKite and how they push their updates to Twitter.
Secondly, and maybe more important, is the ability to add context to each message. If there was a separate field for each message that says this message was broadcast from this location it then allows other apps to filter down all the public tweets by a location. This allows you to understand what the buzz is directly around you and adds a whole new, interesting dimension to how people use Twitter. Currently people are hacking it together to make it work, but if it was core to the platform it would really be transformative.
What do you think?
Ryan,
Whether this kind of application would be adopted depends on demographics and strategy. As you know not everything is for everybody.
I think people in small rural towns who know all 30 people in their local grocery store when they walk in really don’t need to look at their phone to figure out who they are connected to.
I think that young techies think everyone else is looking at their phone constantly…I have yet to see anyone in the frozen food section checking to see if anyone else is in the store for a “surreptitious meet up.”
I think that constantly broadcasting your location speaks to your narcissism. Why should I care if you are at Starbucks for the 7th time today? Even if I “follow” you? Because I should report you to the caffeine police?
And I think that some people over exaggerate their own importance. What makes you think that human behavior will change so much that virtual strangers will suddenly become real friends because they twitter follow each other? If you have mutual 3000 followers, you will not know them all. Social norms still apply. If you walk up to someone (because now we find we are located in the same shop for instance) and they do not know you, your probably going to get a cool reception. Even if you say “we follow each other”.
Last, I think that many of these kinds of applications will have a narrow audience. Most people complain now about the time it takes to manage their social networking. These kinds of things just add to the information overload. But if you can make a business work around it (which you are trying to do) then hopefully it will be of use.
Completely agree with this post. It took my awhile to grasp the concept of Twitter (coming over from being a total Facebook addict in college). I realize that there’s a sense of responsibility to my company that I am representing on Twitter and my own personal reputation. I have to think carefully before I just spit out those 140 characters. I’ve come to have a better sense of what people will respond to and what people will retweet, but I am still learning! Thanks for the advice!