I’ve never been a big fan of that phrase, because in nearly every case where it is used the pluses outweigh the minuses. But often success means growth, growth means popularity, and popularity means uqibquity; and that something special isn’t so special when everyone is doing it.
This rant is about Twitter. I don’t talk much about Social Media stuff here unless there is a lesson to be gleaned outside the bleeding edge. For those of you who don’t know about Twitter, it is a microblogging service that is becoming increasingly popular for its ease of use, its ability to work on multiple platforms, and its flexibility. You create an account, and you can choose whose updates to follow. You can track their updates on the web, in a special program, through instant messenger, or as a text message. You can send direct messages that will reach your “friends” in whichever manner is convenient for them at that particular moment.
I like Twitter for a number of reasons. I track some pretty smart people, and it’s useful for hearing what they’re talking about. I can ask questions of my “hive-mind”, and usually get a number of insightful answers within moments. I track PR and marketing professionals, web developers, Red Cross friends, and Birmingham area locals. I monitor the timeline for keywords, and have found instances of real people reporting “breaking news” on Twitter, long before the cable news networks ever acknowledge a thing. I’ve been a big fan of the service, and have used it to connect with many neat and interesting people (some of whom are going out of their way to help a friendly stranger in his job search!) I also helped develop strategies the American Red Cross will soon employ, using Twitter to connect with evacuees during the next big event.
The Alltop Effect
Apparently, I’ve done so well connecting with others, I made a list. Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop site has a list of Top Twitterers, and I made it somehow. It’s not based on volume or popularity — someone just liked my content there to include me among the sixty or so names in the aggregator. I am truly honored.
Since being on the Alltop Twitter list, I have been getting anywhere from 6-12 new followers every day. These are people who haven’t engaged with me anywhere else, and they didn’t find me by following conversations I’ve had with others. These are relatively new users, who have just signed up and apparently start by adding everyone from the Alltop list. I make it a habit of checking the profiles and websites of those who follow me just to get a sense of who they are and what they’re about.
In the last week or two, the “new follows” have taken a decidedly darker turn.
I’m getting Twitter Spam from people who are creating profiles just for the attention. They have nothing to say (and in more than a few cases haven’t posted a single update.) They know that the moment they “follow” me, I’ll get a notification email and at the very least will check them out. But hey, I’m still somewhat conscientious about this. There are many Twitter users who are either so desperate to be followed that they automatically follow back, or they have rigged their account to automatically follow back.
A Changing Dynamic
Twitter changes with you over time. The more you use it, the more value you find in different strategies for using it. As your Twitterverse gets larger, some of those strategies and techniques don’t scale, and you have to use the tool in different ways. This is nothing new to the PR and Marketing types with whom I regularly correspond. They’ve been seeking clever ways to use Twitter within their campaigns. Jason Falls did a great job with his work for the Robby Gordon team. Dell Computers has several customer–service people on Twitter who find complaints and address them before the hapless (and soon-to-be-happy) customer knows what hit him. These successes are dependent upon understanding the culture of Twitter and of the many many ecosystems within it.
I firmly believe these successes are fueling the TwitterSpam artists. They know the culture is trusting, and they know they can follow 3,000 people and get 700 to follow back. They know they can pump out links and advertisements – and to be honest, I’m even getting concerned about the safety of some of the sites they have in their profiles. There are documented cases of websites that launch malicious code through your browser. I’m thinking twice about even checking the sites listed on Twitter profiles, because the Culture of Trust is too big a target for hackers, and the cost is zero.
Some of the diehard Twitter purists have been advocating an attitude of “you-follow-me-I-follow-you.” They like to see users whose follow/followed ratio approaches 1. Others have made the argument that you should follow as many people as you can, and expand your universe to as many opinions as possible. I think that’s just outright silly, and it doesn’t scale for me. I still want to be able to see what people I am truly connected with are doing, and I can’t with so much noise in my follow-stream.
Bittertweet Lessons
This article isn’t about Twitter, though. It’s about how success has a dark side. Twitter doesn’t have a business model and as far as I know isn’t actively courting a buyer. What it does have is enough of a dedicated user base and a powerful platform that spammers can’t ignore it. It’s like making enough money that you can finally afford your first brand new car — one so nice you now have to get an alarm for it.
I don’t just blame Twitter, nor the people who are seeking to game the system. I’m partly to blame. I invested enough time and attention on those in the community that my name made a list. I should expect to be targeted – and that’s the price that goes along with all that good. All the people I have met and connected with, and all of the wonderful ways we’ll end up helping each other down the road. (Rob, Mack, Jason, CK, Daniel, Shannon, Shashi, Mike, Connie, and the many many others who I’ve had the privilege to speak with.) SxDS wouldn’t be anything without Twitter.
Now, while trying to figure out how to wrap up this article, the following e-mail arrived:
Hi, Ike Pigott.
googlecashreviews (googlecashrevie) is now following your updates on Twitter.
Check out googlecashreviews’s profile here:
http://twitter.com/googlecashrevieYou may follow googlecashreviews as well by clicking on the “follow” button.
Life generates irony far more twisted than the brain of a fiction writer.
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, Twitter, Spam, microblogging, social media[/tags]
