There's More to Influence on Twitter Than Being Famous
Who are the ten most influential people on Twitter -- the social media/micro-blogging service -- in Washington, D.C.? Top ten lists are always fun, but they're not always accurate.
D.C.'s wonky newspaper Politico announced its list of top ten "twitterers" (I'd suggest the term "tweeters") and I'm afraid I have to take issue with a lot of the choices. In recent months, Twitter has seen a surge in famous and notable people opening Twitter accounts and sharing tidbits from their lives or snippets of political or newsy insights in 140 characters or less. But having a famous name or reputation does not a good Twitter community member make. Those deeply involved in social media today know that.
The Politico list includes some people who could be fab at the Twitter machine -- Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, Meet the Press host David Gregory, former VP and almost-President Al Gore. The top ten are all interesting people, but many are missing the point of the Twitter community.
Claire McCaskill only "follows" one person, yet over 8,000 want to read her thoughts. More than 69,000 people want to read what David Gregory says, but he's only interested in about 80 of them, mostly his colleagues and other news people. And Al Gore, it's not really kosher Twitter etiquette to have 160,000+ people on your list and then only be interested in what two of them are tweeting.
Apparently someone hasn't clued in these high profile tweeters into what social media is about. It isn't like traditional news or political outreach. Until a few years ago, MSM and those running for office followed a pattern -- put a message out there and hope that enough people will listen and be interested. No need to really interact or respond. Conversation was really at a minimum. And that's how these notables are approaching Twitter -- posting messages or amusing info, but not engaging in a real way with the community and their "followers."
So, that's why I have a little problem with the Politico's Top Ten list. The ten who were chosen might be high profile, each in their own way, but to really be a top ten Twitter user, more is needed than making one way noise.
"Social" media. Social is the key word and a lot of politicians and journalists who are trying to see what's up in the Twitter-sphere aren't getting that. The funny thing to me is this -- it ain't rocket science. None of these top ten D.C. tweeters would talk at their friends or colleagues in person. Yet, that's exactly what they're doing on Twitter.
So who is a top ten Tweeter in Washington, D.C. if not the list offered by Politico? I'll get back to you on a full list from the nation's capital, but a few models would be CNN commentator Leslie Sanchez, poet Maya Angelou, and political strategist Joe Trippi -- they all follow a fair percentage of those who follow them, they offer interesting thoughts in addition to posts that promote their personal agendas and, yes, they put themselves out there in a more personal way and actually interact with those who want to read their "tweets."
It's really not that difficult. But if so many high profile people can't "get" 140 characters worth of social interaction, it's no wonder much about the mainstream media and politics are doomed. Norah O'Donnell, 28 out of 1255? You can do better than that. Take a page from your colleague David Shuster. Or better yet, check out uber-social media maven Guy Kawasaki.
So, for those notables who really want to do well on Twitter, trust my advice. If you do, it will be eye-opening, informative and well worth your while. Plus, you might actually get something out of the experience in return.
Joanne Bamberger is a professional writer and political/media analyst & consultant in Washington, D.C. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the political blog, PunditMom. You can also find her at BlogHer, where she is a Contributing Editor, and MOMocrats.
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It seems disingenuous to implay that public figures and entities have an obligation to interact with the public as if they were actually friends -- I doubt people would expect that. I think it's similiar to the way my teenagers use Myspace and facebook -- they only have conversations with their real-life friends, and update their pages accordingly, but visit the blogs and pages of bands, celebrities and sports figures without any expectation that they're going to make contact, which would be unrealistic and a little sad.
Unfortunately, this is how a lot of people use Twitter. Much like Facebook, they collect a bunch of followers. But they don't interact with most of them. Next time you find someone who has 200+ friends on Facebook or 200+ people following them on Twitter, ask how many do they interact with. How many of their Facebook pages do they regularly visit? How many of them do they follow on Twitter? This is why social networking has a bad image and feels so high schoolish. Too many people use these tools to feel important, but rarely make the effort to reciprocate the attention they receive.
Twitter is a bunch of nonsense. Give it another year and people will be on to something else. What a joke.
Yeah, I don't get it either.
"I'm standing on a platform waiting for the train."
"I'm at the deli ordering ham and swiss on rye."
"I'm on the toilet taking a crap."
Who the heck really wants/needs to know this stuff???
We've compiled thousands of conversations on Twitter. It's complex - reminding one of the 'blind men and the elephant' fable.
With that caveat, we'll provide some observations.
- It's a contest for some - to build the largest following base. We don't know why.
- For some, it's a means to talk among small groups. There are scientists with an open database, connecting instruments to feed tweets that other robots analyze.
- Virtually every NCAA basketball team tweets their fans - see http://s.t
- Publications, bloggers, starlets, and political leaders do use it as a means to broadcast to fans.
- There are billions of tweets, but little conversation. see http://tv.
- There is a narcissistic self for some who enjoy micro-blogging their every action to a large group of followers. Despite the popularity of the Internet for the web variant of pavarazzi's and reality shows, we're not sure anyone is listening despite large numbers of followers.
- All the top 10 lists that have been published are incomplete. It's impossible to analyze the whole from a distance - blind men and the elephant.
Twitter is an open d/b that crowdsources from millions. We've just begun to see the innovations.
-DJ Chang
http://n.t
I prefer actual face to face talk with someone..t
In New York City HOT HOT HOT Award winning Off Broadway Playwright LARRY MYERS
have conjured a chirping new play 'twitter theater'
this is the dramatic Dummy's Guide to Twitter plus urbane, witty twitter
I read the script & all I can say.....is Im atwitter
The entire point of twitter is that it is not facebook, that you are not obligated to be 'friends' with everybody who reads your posts! People like you are why twitter was needed and many people were unsatisfied with the traditional social networking sites. Who wants a bunch of needy people who think you are obligated to be their friend because they read your posts? Interaction is voluntary not obligatory.
Too many commentators overlook the fact that the point of social media is "the conversation" and not simply the number of followers one has. Your article addresses this core principle well.
(As an aside, the @mayaangelou account you reference in your article may have changed since the writing of your article, as it currently contains no comments and is following no one.)
http://Twi
I disagree strongly with Joanne. Ideally, Twitter is social, but realistically, you can't take incoming calls from 180,000 people at once. Twitter is a broadcast platform as well as a social network, and for congresspeople and celebrities it's best used to let people know what you're working on throughout the day. It is exciting to know what your congresscritter is working on, even if most (like my rep, Barney Frank) don't have the time to go through our replies!
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