Is Twitter too big to be useful?
A couple of months ago, Jonathan Fields wrote a fantastic post for MyEscapeVelocity.com called The Fine Art of Chunking. If you are feeling overwhelmed, or if you have a really big project in front of you that just seems to grow the more you think about it, you should definitely give his post a read. As a preview, what Fields talks about is that instead of trying to take on a project or a huge goal all at once, it can be helpful to “chunk it.” Do this little thing, then that little thing. Before you know it, you’ve accomplished an awful lot.
Do you find yourself “chunking” when you’re on Twitter? I know I do. And I know we’re not alone.
The big picture
Let’s talk about Twitter first as the whole network. The whole enchilada. There are hem hem hem millions of people using Twitter every day. We are getting news from Twitter. We are getting advertised to on Twitter. We are following celebrities on Twitter. And most likely, we’re trying to get our voices out there in that mess too.
If you are using Twitter for business, it can seem like the prospect of you getting the word out about your specific business, not to mention your specific industry, is pretty small. It can feel like you are a drop in the ocean. We’ve talked before about how so often, no matter who you are, you send out a tweet and get an extremely small fraction of a response from your followers.
Some people are finding this very discouraging and are searching for other ways to get their business in front of people. However, there seems to be a growing trend out there. People are chunking Twitter so that they can be seen and heard and so that they can promote their businesses.
What do Twitter chunks look like?
If you haven’t joined a chat on Twitter yet, I highly recommend that you give it a try. Here’s a whole list of Twitter chats. Pick one that looks interesting. What you will find is that in chats, people are geared towards engaging with other people. It’s a conversation rather than a broadcast, right? Well, slowly but surely, it seems like these chats are developing into communities. Now, for me, I keep meeting new people via the chats I participate in, and I am privileged to be able to add many of them into my network of interactions. Other people use the chat hashtag even when the chat isn’t happening so that people can go in and see what else people are saying and doing.
Another really interesting Twitter chunk is the #usguys community. Perhaps you’ve seen that hashtag being used in your stream. It’s tough to say exactly what #usguys is, except to say that I think it might be the missing link between the Twitter of the now and the Twitter of the future. It’s an ongoing hashtag that evolved into occasional “official” chats. It’s a way for people to see each others’ tweets all the time. It’s a growing community floating on the stream that is Twitter at large.
The small town and the big city
Chris Brogan uses outpost terminology to describe places where you are communicating beyond your blog or website. Well, I think these Twitter chunks might become outposts within your Twitter outpost. In a great conversation I got to share with a lot of great people this morning, including Sean McGinnis, Tom Moradpour, Carl Sorvino, Chase Adams, and more, we discussed the fact that in the case of #usguys, the community under the hashtag has become self-sufficient. Members can always share ideas and be heard. Members can always introduce new people. Members can always tweet a post in and get feedback. Friends are there. Supporters are there. If the rest of Twitter is the big city, there isn’t a huge incentive to travel there. Out there, you are just another drop in the ocean. In a chunk like #usguys, you’re a person who gets heard. All the time. And not just heard – you get greeted warmly. You get to joke. You get to be yourself. And you get to get your message out there.
Can business grow in chunks?
Here’s my question. Whether you are trying to build a personal brand or grow a business on Twitter, the goal, ultimately, is to use Twitter as a tool to reach a lot of people, right? You want to meet new people, you want to build relationships, and you want to get the word out there to people who might not know you or your company.
If everybody starts gravitating towards chunks, or outposts, or small towns, is Twitter really going to remain a tool that can be used to grow business or brands? If you keep talking to the same group on a daily basis, and if you don’t find the at-large Twitterverse to be particularly lucrative, is Twitter really helping your business grow? Are you growing your brand if you are building deep relationships with a few people rather than passing relationships with thousands?
Here’s where you chime in
What do you think about the world of Twitter right now? If you are using it to grow your business or your personal brand (or both), are you finding that it’s more useful to stay out in the big stream, or do you find yourself gravitating towards the same people, the same Twitter chunks, on a regular basis? Do you feel that is helping or hindering?
I’m truly excited to converse about this. I’d love to discuss this topic with you!
Image by Robin Utracik. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/RobinUtrac
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The chunk or small town/big city analogy is interesting. Twitter can be too big to be useful, but that’s about your goals, strategies and how you manage it. Are you a selective follower? Do you filter the noise, use tools like lists and Tweetdeck to organize the chatter? Maybe give certain hashtags or chunks their own column?
For business marketing, if you’re only talking/listening about your brand, you’re missing so much of the conversation. Twitter is also search: industry, competitors, etc. Follow the customers’ conversations where they lead: small town chunks, big city streams and sometimes, off of Twitter.
IDK.. I do both. I have people with whom I’ve connected, and yet if I limited myself to just those groups, I’d be isolating myself and therefore hindering my potential business growth. I’ve met people on Twitter via both the big stream and smaller chunk. But I’ve made the real connections by following the conversation to communities, forums and mostly, blogs via commenting. So Twitter makes the introduction, but the relationship is built elsewhere. FWIW.
Your response truly gets to the crux of the issue.
Are the business relationships of the future going to be the ones that we build in our chunks or communities? If so, that may mean that it’s going to take much, much longer for business to grow via Twitter in the future. Is it better to cast a wider net, or is it better to dig deeper but maybe have to be patient for awhile longer?
Patience is hard to come by when you need/want business, and waiting with Social Media is not something people generally are excited about right now. The immediacy of the communication, in many peoples’ minds, I think, should yield to an immediacy in growth.
It’s a lot to ponder.
Now you’re getting at the marathon vs. sprint problem, our impatience as we’ve come to expect instant gratification and are losing the discipline to put in the time and effort. There’s a reason WORK is part of networking. Still think that wide or deep, fast or slow will depend on a particular situation. Sometimes a quick answer will be all we need, other times the steady quest will win out.
I like that. There’s no i in team, but there’s work in networking. Very true, too 🙂
It is true though, so many people expect not just ROI, but instant gratification. This just may not always be feasible. Sad but true.
Margie–Only you would write a post called “Is Twitter Getting Too Big” while everyone’s worried about the Pew Center Research that shows that only 6% of US adults use it.
That said, in a sense, Twitter is a big stream of information flowing by. As an individual, you need to have a way to sip from the fountain to gather useful nuggets without being overwhelmed.
Twitter can also be used to engage with others, although this can be less apparent, especially for newbies. Chats are a great way to connect.
Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen
I’m not all that worried about the Pew study. The US has actually always lagged behind Europe in Twitter usage, plus surveys always have a margin of error. Plus, if you go to the actual study, it says 8%, so I’m kind of confused!
That being said, whether it’s 6% of online Americans or 8% of online Americans, that in and of itself is still a LOT of people. What would be the ideal number for Twitter?
I haven’t a clue 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Margie,
It is really great to read this in final form. I remember having a very similar conversation with you about this months ago. How can I forget the word “chunk.” In all seriousness, (for once) I found myself gravitating towards the same people because it was really informative, convenient and fun. All these people had something to offer but I am a prospector at heart and always love having a new conversations with new people.
One of the biggest fears I had, was branching out and network with my competitors. But so far, I have enjoyed meeting people with a similar business experience on Facebook, Twitter,Linkedin etc. They have shared support, a fresh view on industry needs and secrets.
Hey Kyle,
That’s a good point – if you are joining people with similar interests and backgrounds it’s entirely possible that you might bump into a client or a competitor. That’s why I think it’s so important to act in a professional manner if you’re out here for business. However, as you point out, the joy of being able to converse, learn new things, and see your world through different perspectives is something I’m very glad I have been able to experience.
Thanks for coming by!