TECHNOLOGY

Twitter, Unmasked

Who is really writing all those Tweets? Professional microbloggers.

By Kurt Soller | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Feb 13, 2009

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  • Posted By: ludditte @ 03/27/2009 8:03:51 AM

    Another dopey service for the graffiti generation to microblog every aspect of their self important meaningful life....lol
    I can't wait to sell more advertising to these morons.
    jk

  • Posted By: blindbanana @ 02/17/2009 4:00:49 PM

    Dell"s Pearson seems to be stuck in the one-way thinking that has traditional media and customer relations on the defensive. You better hire someone that can listen for you and they better be able to listen fast because social networking moves at the speed of light. All it takes is 140 well-composed characters to move your reputation in the world one way or the other. You better know who is composing those characters and what their opinion is so you can compose your own. It's not all about listening and it's not all about putting your messages out. Like life, it *is* about all of it at the same time.

  • Posted By: blindbanana @ 02/17/2009 3:55:33 PM

    Dell's Pearson - "I don't think you can hire someone to listen for you." Um... yes you can and you would be wise to do so. This statement shows the one-way thinking that is why traditional media and customer relations continue to lose ground to social networking. It's not just about putting it out there and it's not just about listening. It's about all of it together. Well-rounded companies will embrace well-rounded public relations, marketing and customer relationship programs. Less well-rounded companies won't. Either way, who you are in the world as a company will be reflected in your social networking program. You can't help it.

  • Posted By: Bookchick @ 02/15/2009 7:34:41 PM

    Excellent tool for consumer feedback without cost of surveys and without directed questions. Real customer experiences. Could be dangerous but all have chatrooms and networking now, so better to be informed?

  • Posted By: mastersauce @ 02/15/2009 9:56:27 AM

    I think this article misses the trees for the forest if ya get my meaning. Twitter isn't the forum for large companies. I agree that having one can give a voice to a large faceless entity. But Twitter is thriving on the smaller level. Comedians, actors and songwriters in particular. People like musician Jonathan Coulton, comedian and actor John Hodgman and actress and internet phenom Felicia Day all update their own accounts and respond to peoples replies. Jonathan Coulton uses his to keep people up to date on his shows and asks for song requests. John Hodgman uses Twitter to reinforce his persona that he has worked hard to create on stage. And Felicia Day's account is very personal and really lets people into her life. All used differently, but the same in that they are all "building the brand" of themselves in the new grassroots that is the internet.
    Twitter can be useful in a corporate sense, look at woot.com's Twitter. Their website sells only one item a day and that item changes everyday. Allowing the customers know that a new item has been posted through Twitter is just using the model to your advantage.
    However, as the article stated, the average Twitter uses is smart. They know when they're being fed PR drivel and when they're actually talking to a human being inside the company. Companies would do themselves a favor by allowing an employee, who isn't in PR, the necessary few minutes a day to update 140 characters and reply to a few questions.

  • Posted By: Prokofy @ 02/14/2009 3:22:29 PM

    I was recently disappointed on Twitter to find out that SecGen isn't the real UN secretary general, he's just Some Guy who figured out to go in the deeper recesses of the un.org pages and find the real SG's schedule posted daily and twit that.

  • Posted By: Prokofy @ 02/14/2009 3:21:19 PM

    I was disappointed recently to find that SecGen on Twitter isn't the real Secretary General of the UN twittering his schedule and whom he is meeting with, it's just Some Guy who figured out the back pages of the un.org deeper recesses that have the SG's schedule posted each day, and he twits that.

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