Is Twitter a Big, Fat Waste of Time?

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Okay, let’s get this straight — Twitter is the new “hot thing.” That’s no surprise to anyone reading this blog.

But is Twitter a complete waste of time?

A few days ago, BusinessWeek.com wrote an article called “How Companies Use Twitter to Bolster Their Brands.” The article highlights many of the companies that are using Twitter to track customer “chatter” about their brand.

Companies like Dell, GM, Kodak and Whole Foods Market follow Twitter in an effort to keep track of what people on the micro-blogosphere are saying about them.

Getting this kind of “we care about our customers” PR is great for Dell, GM and others. But is Twitter really just a big, fat waste of time for the gazillions of people who use it?

At The 60 Second Marketer, we’ve used it to connect with people in the Social Media world, and that’s been a very, very positive thing. It’s also been a great way to interact with people on the cutting-edge of new and emerging media. But the vast majority of employees who use it spend a good portion of their day writing self-centered Tweets like “Sitting here on a rainy day wishing I was somewhere else.”

Is that a productive use of company time? I dunno, but it sure doesn’t look like it to me.

Views contrary to mine are welcome. Have at it.

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Time Tuesday, September 9th, 2008, 8:35 am   |   CategoryTwitter  |  RssRSS feed |  CommentRespond  |  TrackbackTrackback

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  • http://www.twitter.com/kwegner Kyle Wegner

    While I often tweet about off-topic subjects such as politics, gadgets, news, and personal stuff, being “personal” and real through Twitter has helped me foster some real, positive relationships.

    I now have a solid following on Twitter that I can leverage any time I have a specific question about SEO or if I want to promote my own website. I am certain that the active members following me would not connect with me personally without my off-topic tweets, as those show that I’m not simply a self-promoting spammer, but a person just like them. While tweeting about the weather may seem mundane in and of itself, all of the microblogs put together shape a real, visceral image of the person sitting behind the keyboard.

    I agree that many people can take the personal tweets a bit too far, turning Twitter into a liveblog of their life, but I wouldn’t discount all messages personal in nature.

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