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Sphinn Home » Social Media
Despite The Hype, Twitter Isn’t A Mainstream Social Marketing Tool
Social Media News Source: http://searchengineland.com
Published: Mar 17, 2009 - 06:39 pm
Story Found By: kevgibbo 1061 Days ago
Category: Social Media
Every so often a site comes along that, in the amount of hype it generates, blows away everything that has come before it. Not so long ago it was Second Life, then Facebook came along and now Twitter is scattering all before it in a blizzard of press-coverage that many of its start-ups peers would give their trendy offices & table-football sets for.
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from janecopland 1061 Days ago #
Votes: 3

One of the problems with all these social media types getting all excited about the (fictional) endless possibilities with Twitter is that they can’t see the online world as it exists outside of their little marketing, techy bubble. If you spend ten hours a day on Twitter, of course you think that it’s the premier social site of the moment. All your mates and nemises are on there. Thus the rest of the world ain’t far behind. Right?It’s just as absurd as assuming that because all your mates Techcrunch, everyone does.Hilariously, you hear a lot of "social media experts" go on about how bored they now are with Facebook. They’ve been using it since 2006 and are soooo over it. If Twitter ever takes off to the extent that 76 million Americans use it, these fickle, ahead-of-the-curve social types will have moved onto something else. I like the irony.

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from NatashaRobinson 1061 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Finally - someone dares to speak the truth about the hype! +1000 what Jane said.

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from fantomaster 1061 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Yes, it’s all about the excitement which, expectably, wears off sooner or later - as all innovations do. Impulse driven people will typically harp on whatever happens to be the fad of the day until it doesn’t tickle them anymore.This said, things don’t generally go away that soon, either. Whether some early adopters are "borded" with MySpace, Facebook, or whatever, these platforms still exist and are doing pretty well. And, all things being equal (which, of course, they never really are), they are likely to go on for quite a while yet.After the hype follows the reality check by default. But what this does show, albeit ever so indirectly, perhaps, is two fundamentally different types of people/temperaments (marketers, if you will): A. The "early adopters" (usually a self-proclaimed elite in love with terms like "bleeding edge" etc.), who will chase just about every new opportunity to make a buck as long as competition is small to non-existent, moving on once the market gets tight.B. The "go afters" who won’t risk resources on stuff that hasn’t been tested and proven by others first. They’ll be late to the inauguration party, to be sure, but they will typically develop the more long term, ideally: sustainable opportunities. Usually, they won’t be into much of the hype group A thrives on.So a lot if not most of your assessment really depends on which type of approach you prefer to subscribe to.

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from pageoneresults 1061 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Despite the hype, Google isn’t... I guess the title of this post could be changed to reflect the hype about any online product and/or service. I remember when Google came on the scene. There were similar conversations floating about. :)Twitter going from 1,000,000 users to 6,000,000 users in one month? Not something to hype about? ;)

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from sugane 1060 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Twitter isn’t a mainstream at this point. That’s true. But when we see a possibility of its becoming the mainstream, we should definitely star testing it and prepare.

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from dengshaowei 1060 Days ago #
Votes: 0

twitter is only at his beginning

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from ciaran 1060 Days ago #
Votes: 0

I totally accept that the same thing could be said of any brand/service in its infancy, and Twitter’s recent growth has undoubtedly been meteoric. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still quite niche.I love Twitter and regularly encourage companies to get involved (where it’s right for them): but I’m worried that the current hype might actually damage Twitter - people will sign-up having read the hype then defect in their droves if they can’t work out a use for it. Does anyone remember Plurk?!

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from Nunney 1059 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Good discussion. Worth adding:* current tweeters are influencers, including bloggers who will link* we like links* the growth curve (steep)* the benefits of being early with a presence (your account will be found. More so if you list your subjects in your bio, eg specific sports)* Second Life has flying penises on it, is uber-geeky and at heart a video game* twitter is just people talking (and linking) - no gimmicks - and people have always loved that* twitter allows people to talk in a way that nothing else ever has* twitter is a tool that can be used for many things* facebook (for what it’s worth which is a few billion dollars) tried to buy twitter and are now copying twitter, ie they’re scared shitless* there are already lots of case studies of businesses finding success with twitter. it’s not so easy to find them for facebook (despite its numbers). This includes coffee shops and Dell computers. Please correct me on this as I’m looking for case studies.* i doubt any hype will damage twitter any more than skittle hype will damage skittle sales

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from ciaran 1057 Days ago #
Votes: 0

Nunney - all valid points, and ones I tend to agree with. I just worry when it starts being described as the most important site, like, ever - a bit of perspective never hurts.

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