Twits
Robert Scoble and Steve Rubel had a very interesting discussion earlier on whether “social media” is the proper term for the whole big kettle containing blogging, podcasting, etc.
I sure wish I could point you to it so that you could read it yourself. Unfortunately, their discussion was on Twitter, and unless you were subscribed to both fellows’ Twitter streams, you might have missed it.
Fortunately, I was subscribed to both Robert and Steve, so I could follow the conversation. But what if I was only subscribed to Robert? Here’s what I might have read:
- @steverubel: most online media is now two-way at least in part. Agreed. about 6 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to steverubel
- @steverubel: a better example would be my Kyte.tv channel where you can leave your own video as part of my channel. about 6 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to steverubel
- PodTech is different from TV because you can leave comments and interact with the media. about 6 hours ago from twitterrific
- @steverubel: so you think online media should just be shortened to “media?” I’m not so sure. I like “social” because it still connotes 2 way about 6 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to steverubel
- @steverubel: he’s a fake blogger who got caught.
about 6 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to steverubel - @steverubel: what would you suggest using instead of “social media?” about 6 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to steverubel
Oh, did I mention you need to read it bottom-to-top?
Look, here’s what I suggest you do so that it makes sense: open up Scoble’s Twitter feed, open a new tab in your browser, and then open up Rubel’s Twitter feed. Start with about the 6th Twit down for Rubel, about the 7th Twit down on the second page for Scoble, and switch tabs until you’ve read their back-and-forth.
Of course, that assumes that you read this pretty soon after I post it. If it’s a few days later, or a few months later, I’m not sure what to tell you. Just keep scrolling through the Twitter pages until you find something that seems like it matches up, maybe?
Scoble also had a nice rant earlier. I can’t point you to it. Let me go copy and paste it for you. Okay, first I go to Scoble’s Twitter feed, let’s see… starts on the 4th page in. So here’s the first part…
- arikb: yeah, email still has SOME value. But going down all the time. I far prefer people not send me private notes. Scalable communication. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
- PR people are the worst in the email regard. Speaker planners are close. I don’t answer a lot of my email anymore. If I did, I’d never do. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
- It’s amazing that in this age of Twitter that people still send email. I hate email. I hate direct Tweets. I hate Facebook messages. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
The bulk of the rant from the 3rd page…
- @hardaway: Facebook messages are still private. I answer my public “wall” posts first. Public first, private second. That way I get scale. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to hardaway
- @jaxn: very few people call me on my phone. I guess that hasn’t yet turned into a problem. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to jaxn
- @ChrisDoelle: 10 tweets comes because you all keep talking back to me. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to ChrisDoelle
- @webword: Mike Arrington is a hard guy to get ahold of, especially when he’s digging through 100 new hot companies. But he watches Twitter. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to webword
- @dharrels called me a “tool.” OK wiseguy. You want to answer my email? I didn’t think so. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to dharrels
- @maceo87: you miss the point. Email is not as good a communication style as the others. Email sucks BECAUSE it is not in public. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to maceo87
- @tildesley: not really. I can consume and answer Twitters much easier than email. And if I don’t catch them you can help answer too!! Scale! about 12 hours ago from web in reply to tildesley
- @pinkfu is complaining that I mashed a blog post into several Twitters. Heheh. Guilty as charged. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to pinkfu
- @Tildesley: I don’t want to converse with most of the world. There’s no way I can do that. So, the subset on Twitter sounds just fine! about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to tildesley
- @loiclemeur: Twitter has a page called “replies.” I use it often. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to loiclemeur
- Basically this is my gesture to the world: I am not answering my email and I’m not going to start. I’m overloaded. Tweet me. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
- @nikf: if I answer a question in public space it is answered for everyone. I bias toward public conversation first. That’s why email sucks. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to nikf
- @tildesley: the best way to get ahold of me? Blogg comments. Twitter. Pownce. Kyte. Facebook. Phone (my number is always public). about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to tildesley
- @jeffledoux: Twitter IS better than IM already. Far better. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to jeffledoux
- If I want to get a hold of Mike Arrington, for instance, i know that writing a Tweet about him will get his attention far faster than email. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
- @dweezel: that’s the whole point. Most of my email does NOT need to be private. It’s far better to do most communication out in public. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to dweezel
- Or people asking me to blog. Very low quality stuff. If PR people were forced to do their work in public their entire method would change. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
- @jasonw22: yeah. I’d never get anything done if I answered my email. Most of it is people asking me to speak. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to jasonw22
- If something really needs to be private than email is great. But most of my email doesn’t need to be private. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
- I always answer things in public space first. Why? Because those communications scale. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
...and it finally wraps up on the 2nd page:
- OK, start quiet mode. I’m not ignoring anyone, just gonna quiet down cause I know when I through 20 tweets I piss people off. about 12 hours ago from twitterrific
- @seekground: but the advantage of public messages is even if I ignore you others can answer your questions. A lot of my email is tech suppor about 12 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to seekground
- Translation to the past 20 tweets: I need an assistant to answer my email. Outsource what you hate. I hate email. about 12 hours ago from web
There. Is that readable? You did read each bit bottom to top this time, right?
So, of course the point of all of this is that the value of this kind of conversation is negative, as far as I’m concerned. It isn’t findable, it isn’t shareable, and if you’re not following a Twitter stream all day, it isn’t coherent. It frustrates the heck out of me that I can’t easily capture cool stuff that people say in Twitter and share it with others. There’s a lot of value in Twitter, but as things stand today, its value isn’t as a publishing platform.
I know Robert’s point is about using Twitter as a public alternative to email, but even so, I don’t see how it’s a useful alternative if people need to keep asking the same questions over and over because there’s no way for them to find where it is you answered the question the first time.
I like Twitter. A lot. But it’s a walled garden. It is not a substitute for an open conversation. And it concerns me that smart people and leaders in the blogosphere are increasingly turning to Facebook and Twitter and other closed communication silos in order to express themselves.
[quote comment=”1426”][quote comment=”1414”] For example, I found your blog when searching for a conversation on twitter.[/quote]
So, see? Twitter’s not totally useless.
What are you using to search Twitters?[/quote]
I am using google.
[quote comment=”1414”] For example, I found your blog when searching for a conversation on twitter.[/quote]
So, see? Twitter’s not totally useless.
What are you using to search Twitters?
I agree that twitter’s difficult to follow at times, especially when the same questions are asked over and over again. I like twitter because it is easy to find conversations that have been started on twitter, even if they have moved to another social network. For example, I found your blog when searching for a conversation on twitter.
I think that the true walled-garden is Mahalo because it only displays results Jason Calacanis wants you to see.