“So what is going on with so and so,” I asked a friend about a mutual friend of ours one day. “Oh, they’re in Europe. They’re posting about their adventures on a site called livejournal. It’s like an online diary, sort of.”
“An online diary? What a CRAZY idea,” I replied.
The year was 2000, and I had never heard of these crazy things called “Blogs” before. I had only really learned about the intricacies of email in 1996. The online world was not my oyster.
A mere 11 years later, and a couple of things have changed. Well, okay, no, a lot of things have changed. Shortly after my conversation, I decided that I would try this livejournal thing. It ended up replacing the mass emails I used to send. Then I got invites for Friendster and Orkut. How cool it was to stay in touch with that person you used to walk by on your way to class! Then Myspace came along, and that was just ridiculously cool.
Of course, now I wouldn’t remember my Friendster or Orkut usernames if you pointed a gun to my head (please don’t). I haven’t logged into my MySpace account in *at least* a year. I haven’t blogged in my livejournal account for about a year. All of the platforms that used to be completely indispensable to me are now laughably out of date. So while I love Twitter and Facebook and blogging, I fully expect for them to be old hat in a couple of years.
But I love Twitter! #justsayin
If Twitter was a teddy bear, you’d probably be holding it really tight, plugging its inanimate ears, and stroking its little furry head right now, right? How could I say such a thing about this love of ours? This micro-blogging site that is so much more than what we are eating for dinner…how could I say that all of that is bound to disappear? Twitter is different! Twitter, like Gloria Naylor, will survive.
I know it hurts, but let’s face it, in online years Twitter is older than the old man Neil Young sings about. It could be replaced at any moment. In fact, maybe its replacement is already out there and just hasn’t taken off yet.
So what would you do if you found out Twitter had 1 day left to live?
When I said Twitter was a tool, I meant it was the kind of tool that I love and hug and call George
Lately, the trendy thing is to say that Social Media is a tool, not a strategy. Fair enough. So, when a tool gets old or dull or gets replaced by something new and super cool, we just move on to the next thing, right? And thus, losing Twitter won’t really affect you and your online marketing in any meaningful way.
You’re looking a little pale there, friend.
Is it because you don’t know how you would promote your blog content without Twitter?
Is it because you don’t know how you would promote upcoming presentations or events without Twitter?
Is it because you don’t know how you would broadcast coupons and deals to thousands of people at once without Twitter?
The “revolution” is more than Twitter
Here’s something to think about. The Social Media revolution is not about Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn I got the immense privilege of listening to Amber Naslund and Geoff Livingston speak live and in person at the YouToo 2011 Conference yesterday, and they both spoke of revolutions not only in tools but also in ways of thinking about your potential and existing customers. That there, friends, is the real revolution. It is not specific to any given platform or tool. It’s a new way of thinking about business.
If Twitter disappeared tomorrow, your strategy for engagement should not change in objectives or general philosophy. The tools and tactics would change. The specifics would change. In an ideal world, nothing else would.
Are you ready for that kind of scenario?
You might want to start thinking it over.
Image by Dominic Morel. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/cx_ed