Two Terrible Trends on Twitter

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Twitter is still evolving. We all know that.

Twitter isn’t going away any time soon. We all know that, too.twitter-logo

But there are a couple of disheartening trends that have taken place on Twitter recently, and they run the risk of destroying this burgeoning Social Medium.*

The Two Terrible Trends on Twitter are:

  1. Twitter being used to SPAM unsuspecting users. It was bad enough when Twitter users started being followed by people with get rich quick schemes, but now we’re starting to get SPAMMED by porn sites. That’s disappointing to say the least.
  2. Twitter being used as an advertising medium rather than a social medium. The idea behind all Social Media is that it’s a conversation and by that we mean a two-way conversation. But with increasing frequency, people are starting to send out Tweets that have no intention of creating a conversation. They have every intention of sending a one-way advertisement, but no intention of a two-way conversation.

Does this mean the end of Twitter?

No. Twitter isn’t going away. You’ll recall that email went through the same difficult adolescence. But now, email is a useful marketing tool that is being used properly with increasing frequency.

So, that’s the bottom line — Twitter isn’t going away, it’s just evolving. And part of the evolution of any marketing tool is the awkward adolescent stage.

Hang tight. It’ll be a bumpy ride. But this’ll all get worked out.

*Special thanks to 60 Second Marketer follower Steve who mentioned in our post called  “How NOT to Run a Social Media Campaign” that Social Media is plural and Social Medium is singular.

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Time Monday, August 31st, 2009, 3:59 am   |   CategorySocial Media  |  RssRSS feed |  CommentRespond  |  TrackbackTrackback

  • http://www.nikolasallenart.com Nikolas Allen

    I totally agree with point #1, the spamming has got to go. (When I realized that my first follower was probably NOT that cute little vixen in the profile pic, I was a little disappointed, to say the least.)

    However, I have mixed feelings on point #2.

    First, Twitter has always seemed more like an outlet for one-way conversation. The use of “#” and “@joeblow” is changing that slightly, but if someone you’re following is posting a bunch of replies to people you don’t know, it still is about as exciting as hearing someone blathering on into their cell phone: a very one-sided conversation.

    (By way of comparison, Facebook is, in my opinion, a far better platform for instigating ongoing dialogue.)

    Secondly, yes, blatant and continuous advertising certainly goes against acceptable social media etiquette. However, if an artist, author or entrepreneur wants to tweet (i.e. advertise) about their new website, book signing or educational seminar, I feel that’s a perfectly legitimate use of a tool which allows us to communicate with many people at once.

    Provided, of course, that they mix it up with the requisite benign rhetoric such as what their breakfast consisted of.

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Hey, Nikolas. You’ve added some good insight here. I guess one way to look at point #2 is to think of Twitter interaction as a spectrum. On one side is totally blatant one-way communication, on the other side is a two-way conversation.

    To be completely honest, I’ve always felt that I have too much one-way conversation on my 60SecondTwitter account. I’m guilty of sending out too many tweets about the articles and videos on our site. I’m trying to get better about that by asking questions, getting feedback and other methods designed to create a conversation.

    (That said, I generally avoid “Happy Friday!” tweets, which I find to be time-suckers.)

    It looks as though you’ve got some good thoughts and ideas on social media. Why not share them with our readers via an article or video? Seriously, it’d be great to get your insights. If you’re interested, you can find our writer’s guidelines here: http://tinyurl.com/mvc2se

    Thanks for your comment. Lot’s of good thoughts.

    Best,
    Jamie Turner

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