Get ready Tweeters your microblogging world is about to bust open wide to a size yet to be measured. Ashton Kutcher ("@aplusk") and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams ("@ev") are set to get their Oprah on Friday in Chicago. Hold on to your Crackberries.
The minute I read the "@ev" posting today: "Tomorrow just became a very big day. (Sorry for the teaser -- more later.)" It had mother of media written all over it. Did he forget how many publicists are on Twitter? They see right through that whole "tomorrow is the biggest day of my life " thing.
That's right, "aplusk" and "@ev" got sucked into the Oprah. And I have to say I am a little disappointed. Visionaries don't fold this easy, do they?
I'll be honest; it took a lot of urging from my friend "@valerotti" to join the Twitter tribe. He loved it so much he sent a text along these lines: "is it wrong that I kinda want to make out with Twitter?" To which I responded "Wow, that good huh?" I was a pretty solid non-believer, maybe even a hater.
Seeing that media is my industry, I really had no business not playing, so, I signed on with the intention to educate and inform myself about this underground world of tweets, twats and twerds; all along secretly hoping I could turn around and become an informed hater versus just a hater.
Well folks, I became a joiner. I've been tweeting now for sometime and truthfully the sweet simple little morsels of information and news I can give and receive in 140 characters, is quite lovely and also very useful. My Twittering has helped generate business. I tweet industry tips and media leads for fashion, beauty and lifestyle based companies which directs them from my tweets to my website (thebungalowpr.com) and brings a lot of interesting traffic my way. I've also gained a lot of support for my See + Sprout project (seeandsprout.com) so Twitter is definitely yummy.
But like a light bite of delicious dark chocolate soufflé, a little bite is nice, too much is nauseating. And "@aplusk" somehow slid into slight ad nauseum.
Initially, I chose to follow Ashton for a very simple peek into his entrepreneur activity, because I think he is a smart businessman. I've also found him to be warm, sappy and overall a pretty regular guy. I also followed his lady Demi Moore ("@mrskutcher") just for the heck of it. I got a kick out of the banter between the two of them, as they flirted from across the room via tweets or twit pic for the world to see. It's weirdly interesting to know what they're up to, but in petite doses. I still feel the need to respect their privacy in some ways. I've learned she's got a thing for American Idol, while he works out to P90X. It's like the tabloids streaming live. It's a splash of good and balanced guilty pleasure placed between more useful, informative tweets like breaking news and industry tips.
I've been pretty down with "@aplusk's" general Twittering activity, up until he started this whole "me me me to a million" campaign against CNN this week to see who could hit one million followers first. His begging and prodding and manipulating for followers via goods from EA (Entertainment Arts) and promises of charitable malaria net donations just started to feel a bit icky. In one fell swoop he went from humble and intriguing guy to typical narcissist celebrity.
Basically Ashton took the Twitter follow count concept and turned it into another version of Hollywood's same old obsession and chase for box office numbers. He was already a solid success and favorite for showing up and participating amongst the people in the environment-- but that wasn't enough and that's kind of a bummer.
I personally love when a business kicks some ass without the power of Oprah. Hey, she is the mother of all media make no mistake about that. We all get that she can change a life or a small company in about 60 minutes. But, I also think now and then for Oprah to hear "no thanks" from a brilliant visionary, is good for business and a challenge for her too.
That's what I would have loved to see "@ev" do. I think saying no to Oprah would have created an even bigger and certainly more interesting public relations movement for Twitter. You guys were that good, you didn't really need Oprah.
The infestation of Oprah viewers will I'm sure crash the site for Tweeters everywhere, and bring up that sassy cute Fail Whale (which by the way I adore the design), but once that is fixed, Twitter will just evolve into something else, something perhaps less appealing to the unique breed of early joiners.
My next Tweet is posted here; I think even "@aplusk" and "@mrskutcher" will appreciate.
Go ahead and RT it live on Oprah guys,its 124 characters.