Thursday, April 2, 2009

Tweet, Twit, Twat - Whatever you call it, everyone's doing it

Am I the only one who is kinda disturbed by how fast twitter has become a daily word in our conversations; it's like we cant escape it. From the time you wake up and turn on the morning news to the nighttime when you are perusing the internet looking for last minute blog topics, it's there.

There has been so much talk about how great a tool twitter is to any media industry that it is no surprise that the PR industry picked up on it early. Now many top members in the industry are stressing that Twittering become as common as the traditional press release or PSA.

To most this may come as no surprise since we as a class have been using it in its basic sense to communicate upcoming information to followers. In this link however it is suprising to see the age groups who are the ones pushing for this.

Its the older members of the PR industry, the grumblies who worked "back in the day" and had to walk 15 miles to work and wrote 200 press releases on a typewriter a day and liked it and blah blah blah who are pushing this as the next big thing.

I can't help but find humor though in the complete faith our industry has put into a site that manages little over 75 percent uptime. 

As big a breakthrough Twitter may seem, it has a glass jaw and a narrow foundation, once it becomes something everyone is using, no one will want to use it.

I have embraced Twitter as a new tool and soon everyone else will. Yet it seems though it may be a passing fad....who knows though.

For your enjoyment here are some videos from around the net, poking fun at Twitter.


Twitter Cartoon on Current News - as seen in my web design class

6 comments:

Who Am I? said...

Now at the beginning of last year in my Writing for PR class we were asked to write a paper on any kind of social media. I chose Facebook, mainly because I didn't trust the Twitter revolution. I thought it was pointless and wouldn't catch on.

Let me tell you, I was wrong. It is crazy how many people tweet these days. I can't believe it. Even the Dali Lama is on twitter (who would have thought). I didn't get it last year, but I see now Twitter is the next movement in the social media world. And now, I am obsessed with it.

ashleyb said...

I just don't get the obsession!! All the talk about it really irritates me, it's probably because I don't Tweet nor do I have the desire but...I guess I'll eventually have to jump on the bandwagon. But like ya said I'm interested to see where the phenomenon goes.

Alli Bequette said...

It's incredible to see how much Twitter has grown just in the past couple of months. I joined Twitter last semester and ever since then I've been hooked. It's a great way to get the lastest news updates, stay connected with various trends and so much more. I think it's important for people in the PR industry to join Twitter in order to stay involved with not only their targeted audience, but competing companies as well. I'm excited to see where Twitter will go from here in the world of communications.

nbrewer said...

Last year I didn't really understand Twitter, but I recently got hooked on the popular social media tool and use it far more than my Facebook which is dying out almost as quickly as Myspace. Lately it seems like Twitter has blown up everytime I watch the news or E! I constantly hear news about Twitter- the most recent is Demi Moore saving a life via Twitter. It is amazing how quickly the popularity has grown.

Andrea Lloyd said...

Twitter has become this new social media networking tool that should be used only as networking, not as a new form of press releases or PSAs. I think it is hilarious that people like The Ellen Show make fun of Twitter and send out so many Tweets in one show. I don't take Twitter serious and neither should you. It will out grow itself soon and we will move on to the next best thing...

Anonymous said...

Well to begin with, nice blog title.

Next, I think that the reason it's being pushed by an older demographic is because of its simplicity. Twitter is the most basic of technology. You open a page, write 140 characters or less and hit enter. There's not a lot to it so it's easier for the older less technology-inclined group to adapt to, they embraced it because anyone can. It makes technology simple and communication brief. Who doesn't appreciate that?