I give up. Twitter is the proverbial elephant surrounded by blind men. It’s something different to everyone who uses it, and even that seems to change quite quickly as new tools are launched and users find new ways to use Twitter. Is it a mouthpiece for celebrities? Is it a place for brands? Is it a broadcast medium? Is it for conversations?
The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to all of the above, and that probably contributes in large part to the allure of Twitter. People choose to use it for different things and they’re creating new ways to use it all the time.
In addition, what you can use Twitter for is not a completely free choice. To a certain extent, the number of people you follow and that follow you dictate what you are able to do with Twitter.
There is no distribution without followers so can’t necessarily use it to ‘broadcast’ anything, assuming you want to be heard. But, at the same time, it must be impossible to hold a ‘conversation’ with 10,000+ followers whether you want to or not. Of course, I don’t know for sure, because that is not my experience.
I like Andrew McAfee’s approach best. He and his MBA class brainstormed Twitter’s properties a while back and it’s a really good list. Thinking about Twitter’s attributes might provide a more objective method for determining what it can or should be used for.
Posted on June 12, 2009
My name is Phillip Baker and this is my personal blog about finding value in a world of free information.