Calendar
Network
Feeds
- 46
- Sphinn It!
Went Hot: June 13, 2008 - 11:12 pm
Posted By: PixelBella 386 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://adwordsconsultant.blogspot.com)
Category: Other Social Media
Which category do you fall in?
12 Comments
Comments
I made the mistake of trying to talk about twitter where I work... Never had so many blank stares in a presentation.
Really knocked me off-kilter.
@miketighe Everybody thinks twitter's ridiculous at first. I did too... but I was sooooo wrong. LOL The "why" questions that kept coming up are endemic to conversations with noobs about twitter.
Thinking about Brian having >800 Twitter friends. Is this a male thing? Since men have 1/4 the vocabulary of women, maybe Twitter fits the male form of communication, fewer words. So, is Twitter's 140-character limit more suited to men and thus helps build friendship easier?
Aha, Twitter sexism, from Dana, I see ;-) Just kidding!
Weird, isn't it though? Some say social media is better for women because they like to "converse" and it's all about "conversations" but then, aren't all SEO and PPC and social media geeks basically nerds? Lots of guys who like to talk- guys who are more like women, really. j/k again!
There was a cool study on men/women social media and how women have advantage til you talk about superfamous superstar status- those people are usually men. Wonder if anybody has a link to that. But why is that? The glass ceiling in social media for women? Or women aren't as ambitious?
(coffeetalk voice) Discuss.
Ambitious? (fur on back of neck raising) j/k
Yet, let's address Men Social Media "Superstars!" And, how this relates to Twitter as well (all in fun, of course).
1. Social Media is about the conversation.
2. Women excel in conversation. Look at 3-4 year olds in a nursery. Girls are playing together and telling stories. Boys are playing with toys and uttering "Zoom! Zoom!"
3. Women are better marketers because of their verbal superiority.
4. Women end up helping companies, often run by men, and do such a fantastic job that the man gets the spotlight.
5. Women communicate on a relational level. Heck, ever seen a man get up from a table at a restaurant and ask another man to accompany him to the Men's Room?
6. Men talk a lot about themselves.
7. Men do a good job talking with fewer words and thus talk more about themselves.
SocialFucious say: Men of few but many words Tweet and Sphinn themselves to Social Media stardom.
Love to hear your opinions, Tweeple and Sphinners.
Hmmmm. Can't figure out whether this is serious or all kidding so until I do, I'll throw out 2 giant stereotypes for thought -
1. Size matters to men. For the non-tech guys you know - ask them about the horsepower in their ride - they'll know. Ask your women friends? (sounds of crickets chirping) I see things like Twitter to be the tech-leaning guy's version of the same. I rather doubt our own Danny Sullivan could tell you the HP under the hood of his mini off the top of his head, but he knows how many followers he's got on any given day.
2. Relationships matter to women - actual relationships. Which is why we hear about the raw number of conquests from the likes of Gene Simmons and Wilt Chamberlin, as if it's some kind badge of honor. From women? Not so much. You're more likely to hear about the boyfriend, fiancee or husband than last night's forgotten romp.
As I said before - these are stereotypes. There are *always* deviations from the norm.
I backed away from making this a quality over quantity comment, but I think it bears considering. I'd rather have 3 really good friends than 30 random acquaintances. And I think the whole race for friends/followers/fans/whatever in any social media platform is just funny. I particularly love the myspace folks that have tens of thousands of 'friends'. Really? But how many of them will pick you up at the airport. Or bail you out of jail in the middle of the night? ;-)
So I really think it's just a horse race. And the whole "my list is bigger than your list" just resonates more with men than women, in general, for what are probably evolutionary reasons.
Righ on Michelle! What a fantastic analogy about the horse race, "Size matters to men" & "Relationships matter to women." Thanks for shedding some keen stereotypical insight. I guess voting is my Sphinn to your comments!
This is all in fun, but made me think about how men use Twitter. Wonder if anyone has studies on gender usage? I posted an article that shows a graph of the top users, who are men, here: http://pixelposition.com/social-media/twitter-biased-men/
So Brian, you can be proud of your Twitter horespower! :-)
Michelle, my car has 260 hp under the hood!
ZOOM ZOOM!!!
@Michelle and PixelBella-
You're both female chauvinist pigs and I'm highly offended!!!! ;)
I think I'm going to have to write a blog post on this comment thread. Too much good material to ignore. I will comment on this though:
"So, is Twitter's 140-character limit more suited to men and thus helps build friendship easier?"
That's correct. The 140 character limit provides the framework for back and forth dialogue that promotes an actual two-way conversation, thus negating the stereoptypical female's predilection toward dominating the conversation. In doing so, Twitter opens the door to better communication between men and women through duologue, as opposed to the soliloquies we have become accustomed to listening to. Or not. ;)
BTW - you two remind me of that old Beatles' song:
Michelle ma Pixelbelle,
Sont les Mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
Tres bien ensemble.
That’s all I want to say...
:)
Sean,
"Predilection?" That's a pretty big word for a guy! And, you write songs... Were you trying for keyword density for "ensemble" here?
Maybe you're more female than you realized! Verbal equity gained for you with this one!
Dana (aka PixelBella)
News Update: Brian Carter unfollows 300 "friends" on Twitter.
Mr. Carter succumbed to the Sphinn pressure after visiting his psychoanalyst. He divulged he had been waking up in cold sweats at least 140 times each night while struggling to understand the horsepower of his car. His followers waited with baited breath for each tweet, secretly sending cosmic Twitter rays of support.
Mr. Carter's psych explained the meaning of the dream. It was time for him to get a life and build more meaningful relationships, even if they were only online. Mr. Carter was distressed and only able to utter 140 burst between gasps of air; however, his heart rate slowed and he slowly wiped his palms dry as he unfollowed 300 @s. Those who did not mail Christmas cards last year are now forgotten.
His final step in therapy will be another visit with his audience to help them understand the reason and answers to their questions, "Why Twitter?"
Hilarious. Dana, you're the one that needs therapy. LOL - "struggling to understand the horsepower of his car" that's a good line.