(Two) Things That Are Killing Twitter
Four years ago I wrote a post that was part tongue-in-cheek about the death of Twitter but I don’t think I recognized how severe the problem was.
Twitter was the second most important element in my social media diet.
It was a great source of information and connections, a community and a terrific way to drive traffic to my blog.
But those days seem to be long ago and far away.
I still spend time on Twitter, but most days engagement requires far more effort than before, can’t just jump in and start talking to people.
Can’t just start conversations and be pleasantly surprised by how many people join in.
What Happened?
I included the text from the original post below because I thought it would be useful to look back and see what problems I said were causing issues.
A bunch of them are still around, like that old AutoDM. I still hate it and wonder why people use it.
The other issue is automation and I have to say I am part of the problem there.
I automated Tweets way back when and still have some going now. That helped move it into becoming more of a broadcast channel.
For a long time I made a concerted effort to make sure 90 percent of my Tweets were live so that the automated part was miniscule, but time passed, things changed and well…
I still try to pepper the feed with more live tweets, but I am not as good at it as I should be.
There are a variety of reasons why and I’ll assume responsibility for the bulk of them.
Now I wonder if we are looking at a death spiral or just a low moment in Twitter’s history.
The conversation about Twitter leads me to think that I am not too far off in my assessment, but I might be wrong.
Might focus too hard on personal experience and anecdotes there, but than again, maybe not.
Anyhoo, here is the text from that post I mentioned above.
I used a nifty service called When Did You Join Twitter to figure out that I signed up on December 30, 2008.
After four years I have seen a number of changes in how I use it as well as how others do. Not all of them are good.
I Hate AutoDms
AutoDMs are are like the telemarketers of Twitter. “Hi I just met you. Now buy my crap, you’ll love it!”
— TheJackB (@TheJackB) November 26, 2012
I don’t have any scientific data to share with you about what sort of impact the AutoDm has and can only tell you that once upon a time I was guilty of using them too.
It seemed like an easy way to acknowledge new followers and to start building a relationship with them but I found them to rarely give me the warm fuzzy feeling that makes me feel like anything but a number.
The AutoDm doesn’t show me that you have taken the time to read my profile or tweets so I haven’t any clue whether you find me interesting or if I am just another number you use to build your following.
I have built real friendships with people I met online and know that there are real people on the other side of the keyboard but those relationships started because of the personal touch.
Twitter is Like a Cocktail Party Or Barbecue
Twitter is like a barbecue or cocktail party. It is a place to meet people and talk. The AutoDm reminds me of the sleazy man/woman who approaches you at a party with only one thing in mind and it is never with your best interests in mind.
It is an immediate turnoff.
I don’t have a problem with Internet marketers, brands or businesses trying to sell things online. All I ask is that you at least pretend to care about more than what is in my wallet.
Problem Number Two- Broadcast Is Not Engagement
The second challenge and one that is probably far more serious is the proliferation of people/brands/businesses that are using Twitter as a broadcast channel and not for engagement.
Twitter is noisy and cluttered because it is filled with Tweets promoting posts, reviews, sales and all sorts of other crap. It wasn’t always like this and I am well aware that I am part of the problem.
That is because Triberr is one of the biggest sources of traffic for my blog and the primary traffic driver for promoting posts through Triberr is Twitter.
If I want people to pump out my posts to their followers I need to reciprocate so it means that I can send out a large number of tweets in a short time.
A Solution
My solution is two fold:
- I try to make a point to engage as frequently as possible on Twitter so that my stream is not all links.
- I try to make sure the content I share is relevant, interesting and useful to my followers.
It is not a perfect solution but at the moment it does the best job of meeting my needs without completely alienating the community I am working to build.
What About You?
What about you? Do you use Twitter? Do you like it? Do you agree/disagree with me?
