I answered a question on Twitter tonight. The question was something to the effect of ‘how would you like to see politicians use Twitter’ and my answer was something to the effect of ‘whichever way works best for them’.
Now, without an explanation that sounds like a lamo non-answer. What I meant was: There are different ways of using Twitter that work for different people. They are not necessarily dialogue-oriented or personal. But they work in each their own way.
Examples:
- Barack Obama (@barackobama) used Twitter for fundraising, rallying and link-pushing. NOT for dialogue. It worked for him.
- Dell Outlet (@delloutlet) use Twitter for a mix of customer service and offers. NOT for personal stuff. It works for them.
- Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki) recently admitted to using ghost writers on Twitter, but he uses them for pushing quality content. It works for him.
- CNN (@cnnbrk) use twitter for breaking news, and while Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk), who, amongst other things uses twitter for posting pictures of his wife’s ass, beat them to a million followers, it still works for them.
So, while I’m all for figuring out how best to use Twitter, we must start by aknowledging the fact that different people, organisations and companies use different channels in different ways.
We cannot always assume that the way we prefer to use, say, Twitter, is right for everyone.
We cannot assume that all the followers of, say, our new Danish PM, want to speak with him on Twitter. Perhaps they just want to know ‘what he is doing right now’ (the original question posed by Twitter). I personally don’t give a rat’s ass about the quys schedule (the topic for most, if not all his tweets), so I don’t follow him. It’s simple. I don’t know WHAT the guy could tweet that would make me vote for him, so in a sense, why the heck should he waste his time catering to me?
I love the fact that I can have conversations with people on Twitter – if you want, feel free to follow (@appoulsen), but I absolutely respect the fact that those who think I might use Twitter in a ‘wrong’ way will unfollow me.
Anyhoo – that was my two messy cents. Just didn’t know how to cram it in to 140 characters.
And feeling good about this morning’s declaration of love from drug of choice to me.
Coffee really does love me!
I must say, I’m pretty impressed by the plans forming at MySpace, and by their aproach when it comes to localisation. As the image shows, MySpace are comitted to a local presence in a host of different markets (Denmark among others), and actually managed to become THE social network in Germany, probably because of a very early localised version.
Anyhoo – watch out for MySpace in 09. There are some very interesting things just around the corner. Especially if you’re into music. Actually, if you can get your hands on an American I.P. adress you can check out some of the new stuff already.
If you’re into music and you like top-lists, I suggest you check out last.fm’s best of 2008. It gives you the low-down on what last.fm’s users listened to and loved in 08. There are three types of lists: albums, artists and tracks, but I won’t spoil it for you by telling you who tops which charts. Go have a look for your damn selves.
Posted in music | Tagged best of 2008, lastfm |
- 365 days
- 928 uploads to Flickr
- Some 40 videos on Vimeo
- A facebook page
- A blog of his very own
- A whole new set of worries
- A whole new outlook on life and love
My kid turns one today and I cannot BEGIN to explain how much he means to me.
Happy b-day Alvin.
Your dad loves you very much.
Since the rest of the world seems to be doing it 24/7 these days. In fact, I’ve kinda had it with the hype (don’t get me wrong. I agree. The right guy won. History is made. Change and hope and all that).
But I really need to mention this group on Flickr. A message for Obama is a group of people sending just that – a message for Obama. To me, it is a perfect example of how a message that is presented visually (even when it’s just writing on a piece of paper) is so strong. It carries context and emotion. I dig it!
Oh, and on the humorous side, I think this guy sent the funniest message of the bunch.
Nearly exactly one year ago, I wrote a blog post on microblogging and campaigning. Today I wrote a blog post over at Re:s blog on corporate microblogging (in Danish), and I’m currently working on an article on microblogging for Poets & Plumbers. I wonder if it has all come full circle or if microblogging is finally hitting it’s peak on the hype cycle. Either way, it sure is all the rave at the moment!
Esteemed colleague Mads Kristensen (consultant over at vadnu.com) has suffered a major life crisis in the course of the last couple of weeks. He has very suddenly lost his wife to cardiac arrest, and has been – and still must be – in the midst of emotional chaos. Now, why am I blogging about this? Well, first and foremost because Mads does.
Over the last couple of weeks he has turned to his network on Twitter and Facebook to vent and find release for some of his frustrations. And the network responded with sympathy and encouragement.
It has been no less than moving to follow, and it gave me a completely new perspective on how social media can (also) be used.
I take my hat off to you for being so honest and open, Mads. And I wish you all the best for the future. I’m sure you’ll emerge powerfully from this crisis.
