Why Twitter Is Overrated
Some people are saying that Twitter and other social networking outlets are making blogging obsolete for promotion. Ben at Instigator Blog has a good post explaining why you shouldn't believe the hype. Here are his key takeaways:
- When you discover someone’s blog (via a link, referral, etc.) it’s not uncommon to look through a few posts, or even dig into the archives. The same cannot be said for Twitter. On Twitter you may look at a few tweets, but you can’t really build up enough of a profile of someone from that. So you make a much faster “follow or don’t follow” decision. With a blog, you dig deeper. Most of the time when someone follows me on Twitter, the first thing I do upon viewing their Twitter profile is check out their blog. That’s where the “meat” is…
- Blogs still generate more meaningful commentary from your audience. Sure, a bunch of people might re-Tweet something, but that’s not the same as having 10 or 20 or 30 or more people comment on a post.
- Blog posts are eternal whereas Tweets are forgotten. Although most old blog posts really don’t drive a lot of new traffic, they’re still more accessible and meaningful to search engines, and will pick up more traffic than old Tweets. Do you even remember what you posted on Twitter or FriendFeed last week? Probably not. Do you remember what you blogged about? A blog is truly an archive of your life, experiences, thoughts, opinions, etc. Twitter is like someone with no long-term memory.
- Twitter is now used quite actively to drive people somewhere - to get them to click through to somewhere. Brands do it. Marketers do it. Everyone does it. Blogs are destination sites.
- As fun as it is to post something pithy and quick on Twitter, blogging is still a better medium for expressing yourself, for weaving in more thought, multiple ideas, other people’s input and commentary. Blogging is strategic. Twitter is strategic too, but less so
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Reader Comments
He shoots....AIR BALL
Did you even read the original articale that you just copy and pasted here? You infer none of the article.
Don't quit your day job man.
Twitter + Blog = Ultimate Marketing Funnel
I kept hearing about Twitter from authority sites for months and I finally went there. It looked like a complete waste of time. Case in point, who cares if anyone is doing their laundry.
Reluctantly, I signed up for an account and I'm so glad I did. In fact, it's becoming one of the most powerful promotional tools in the web 2.0 arsenal. Take away, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, but please leave me Twitter and YouTube.
Yes, you can use Twitter as a spam tool, but that's not it's power to me because quality people will stop following you or even block you.
Twitter's power is the efficiency of connecting with new people of like mind. One can do a search for a keyword or someone's name and follow them. They will receive a messag that you are following them and most will study your profile and Twitter posts to see if they see any value in following you back. If they do, then you can immediately start a private conversation with some of the most influential people in the world.
If I didn't have Twitter, then many of those authority figures would be difficult for me to get through all their gatekeepers and filters.
Those experts are more likely to do a private direct message (DM)with you because they know that their new follower must be terse. Most gurus can handle a one or two line response. If they see value, they form a relationship with you instantly. If they think you're a bozo, they stop following you or if you're a pest, they simple block you.
I used to book experts for seminars and sometimes it would take me months before I could get word in to a speaker that didn't know me. Now, in a couple of Twitter posts, I can have direct access. I followed Guy Kawasaki and he followed me back. Guy is a famous marketer with 9 published books, but I can no have a conversation with him with no time invested on my part in the chase.
The ultimate tool is to send a Twitter post out, then put a link in there to your latest blog post. With authority followers on your Twitter list, you can drive the most influential traffic that you have ever dreamed of. It keeps my head spinning.
To me, one is not better than the other, rather Twitter & blogs are the perfect marriage.
On Your Side, Glen Woodfin
http://twitter.com/GlenWoodfin
You wouldn’t by a nail gun if you were fixing a bicycle.
As someone who literally entered college when Facebook was launched, I am in a sweet spot. Not only do I work in the industry but I’m old enough to critically evaluate new technologies. I am also young enough to remember a brief era of social networking before the hype.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that there’s a small segment of society that consists of slightly tech-savvy 40+ babyboomer/Xers who, for some unknown reason, feel the urge to propel any and every new social technology (i.e. Twitter) into the realm of “necessity”. (You know who I am talking about)
Churning out books and buzzwords at a dizzying rate, I often question whether so-called "new media experts" get it themselves. I’ve met with several of these “experts” and while their intentions are positive, I feel that this “new tool fever” is more about impressing their “un-tech savvy” peers than actual ROI; the investment being your time or money.
Face it; you can't make every new social technology an integral part of your life. There are too many options and overlapping technologies. For instance, you can't be Mr. Blogger, Joe Twitter, Mrs. LinkedIn, Dr. Facebook, Captain Digg, and Admiral Wiki. The aforementioned tools are just the tip of the iceberg. While some would have you believe that they “do it all”, they either don’t sleep or are not productive using any of them. Don’t spread yourself to thin. You wouldn’t by a nail gun if you were fixing a bicycle. So why waste your time with tools if they don’t facilitate your specific goals?
You need to pick and choose what works for you. Twitter is great, but it depends what your goals are. If I was on a road trip, I might use Twitter to keep everyone back home up to speed. If my goal is to keep my employees communicating, I would use a Wiki. If I am interested in linking up with colleagues from my first job, I would utilize LinkedIn. If I was a small business owner and wanted to network with the sole purpose of generating new clients and exchanging business leads, I would use our tool Referral Key.
I agree with Matt. As you can see, I happen to like to give robust responses. As a communication platform, a blog is much is more suited to my style and needs.
Warm regards,
Christopher Ott
VP New Media Marketing, Christopher Ott
Referral Key
http://www.referralkey.com
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