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8/14/2019 Is Twitter Conversation or Broadcast by Brian Solis
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/is-twitter-conversation-or-broadcast-by-brian-solis 1/11
Is Twitter a Conversation or Broadcast Platform?By Brian Solis, blogger at PR 2.0 and principal of FutureWorks PR,Co- Author Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and Now Is Gone
Are we seeing the Twitterverse through rose colored glasses?
In January 2009 I pondered whether or not Twitter was a viable conversation platform.
After all, Twitter is one of the darlings of Social Media and it is conversations and the
democratization of content that fuel the rapid expansion and adoption of social tools and
services.
Just ask any social media "expert" and they'll tell you that you must absolutely establish
a Twitter account and commence the process of responding to everyone who Tweets
about your company, market, or competition. But the more I observe interaction on
social networks, and in the this case Twitter, I believe that sometimes it's effective to
also maintain a presence simply by reading, listening, and sharing relevant and timely
information without yet having to directly respond to each and every tweet - perhaps
replying to only the critical or influential individuals that may need immediate information
or direction to steer strategic activity.
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Before you react, continue reading. Observations are just that, but there are numbers
now surfacing that continue to reinforce my examination .
As Twitter continues to elicit discussions on its cultural and interpersonal impact, in-
depth analysis reveals that perhaps Twitter isn't currently a pervasive platform for
hosting conversations at all. And as Nielsen suggests , with only a 40% retention rate, it
may not be growing as fast as we believe either. As a comparison, during the important
stages of defining growth for MySpace and Facebook, retention averaged 70%.
Yet everywhere you turn, Twitter is regarded as the catalyst for people flocking to
engage in the proverbial "conversation" that is so vital to fostering vibrant online
communities between peers and also brands and consumers.
At a micro level, Twitter is indeed significant . The unique, loyal, and revolutionary culture
and behavior it's inducing may well ignite macro reverberations that ultimately effect
how we discover, share, and consumer information. In the long-term, it will at the very
least, influence human interaction, business services, information dissemination,
events, and also media in general.
Just in the past week, Twitter was Time Magazine's cover story " How Twitter Will
Change the Way We Live ." Sports Illustrated also documented how Twitter is " Rapidly
Changing the Face of Sports ."
This (r)evolution will take time to cross the bell curve of adoption however.
Comscore recently reported that in April, 32 million people around the world visited
Twitter.com, sending the micro-community surging past NYTimes.com , Digg, and
LinkedIn.
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Indeed, statistical exploration indicates Twitter is growing in prominence. But, perhaps
its importance, at this moment in time, is more closely aligned with a powerful, new, and
seemingly engaging one-way broadcasting ecosystem rather than a two-way dialogue
channel we initially suspected.
As observed in a recent Harvard Business Report , the top 10% of prolific Twitter users
accounted for over 90% of tweets. In correlation, the top 10% of users in other typical
social networks account for 30% of all content production. Harvard crystallizes the
gravity of this metric though a parallel comparison of Twitter and Wikipedia, "To put
Twitter in perspective, consider an unlikely analogue - Wikipedia. There, the top 15% of
the most prolific editors account for 90% of Wikipedia's edits."
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The Harvard study also noted that among Twitter users, the median number of lifetime
tweets per user is "one." This equates to over half of Twitter users tweeting less than
once every ~74 days.
According to an analysis of seven million Twitter accounts conducted by Purewire and
presented to TechCrunch, 80% of Twitter accounts have fewer than 10 followers and
30% have zero followers.
Purewire documented Twitter activity by number of followers, followings, and Tweets:
Followers
Accounts with 0 followers: 29.4%
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
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Accounts with 1 to 9 followers: 50.9%
Accounts with 10 or more followers: 19.7%
Followings
Accounts following 0 people: 24.4%
Accounts following 1 to 9 people: 43.4%
Accounts following 10 or more people: 32.2%
Tweets
Accounts with 0 Tweets: 37.1%
Accounts with 1 to 9 Tweets: 41.0%
Accounts with more 10 or more Tweets: 21.9%
As TechCrunch notes, 1/4 of all Twitter accounts are not following anybody and more
than 1/3 have not posted a single Tweet. Of active accounts, which PureWire defines as
those possessing more than 10 followers, 10 followings, and 10 tweets, 63.6% follower
more people than they have followers and only 2.8% maintain an equal number of
followers and followings.
This is not unlike content production and consumption behavioral patters across the
Social Web however. Looking at Forrester's 2008 Technographics data, a vast majority
of people are merely spectators with less than one quarter actively publishing any
content anywhere.
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Forrester also segments online engagement and participation by analyzing the actions
of individuals who populate the Social Web. They're labeled as Creators, Critics,
Collectors, Joiners, Spectators, Inactives.
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Right now, Twitter and its potential for progress is limited only by the information,
direction, and education provided by Twitter itself in order to demonstrate and teach
existing and new users how to truly use and take advantage of this new and dynamic
information ecosystem. While Twitter's API is empowering third-party developers to
create Twitterverse of exciting, useful, and entertaining applications that enhance the
Twitter experience, it can not outsource nor rely upon the community to teach the world
how to use Twitter. Providing recommendations on people to follow doesn't really help atall.
In the meantime, Twitter will continue to flourish as a rapid-fire broadcast network until
people learn how to communicate, understand how to participate and what to
contribute, and eventually ease into a collaborative, two-way meaningful dialogue that
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represents Twitter's greatest promise.
Source
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Brian Solis is globally recognized for his views and insights on the convergence of PR,Traditional Media and Social Media. He actively contributes his thoughts and experiencesthrough speaking appearances, books, articles and essays as a way of helping the marketingindustry understand and embrace the new dynamics fueling new communications, marketing,and content creation. Solis has been actively writing about new PR since the mid 90s to discusshow the Web was redefining the communications industry – he coined PR 2.0 along the way.
Solis is Principal of FutureWorks , an award-winning PR agency in Silicon Valley. Solis blogs atPR2.0 , bub.blicio.us , and TechCrunch . Solis is co-founder of the Social Media Club and is afounding member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup.
PR 2.0 has earned a position of authority in the Technorati blog directory and currently residesin the top 1.5% of indexed blogs. BrianSolis.com is also ranked among the most influential blogsin the Ad Age Power 150 listing of leading marketing bloggers.
Working with Geoff Livingston, Solis was co-author of “ Now is Gone ,” a new book that helpsbusinesses learn how to engage in Social Media. He has also written several ebooks on thesubjects of Social Media, New PR, and Blogger Relations.
His new book, co-authored with Deirdre Breakenridge, “ Putting the Public back in PublicRelations ,” is now available from FT press.
Connect with Solis on:Twitter , FriendFeed , LinkedIn , Tumblr , Plaxo , Plurk , Identi.ca , or Facebook---Subscribe to the PR 2.0 RSS feedKindle users, subscribe here.---Now available:
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