Comments on: The Problem with Twitter

By: The Problem with Twitter | Library Stuff

The Problem with Twitter | Library Stuff — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:23:22 +0000

[...] Steve Matthews – “I understand that blogs are hard work, and that twitter is easier. So what? If you’re going to put hours into this, the last thing you want to do is take the easy way out. As the TechCrunch post says, blogging delivers those memorable pieces that you (and others!) will refer to for years to come.” Posted in Uncategorized | | Top Of Page [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:31:03 +0000

Way to put it all in perspective. I concur.

@danharris

By: Kirsten Grant

Kirsten Grant — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:31:12 +0000

Love your post! I had a Twitter account first and a blog second. Then I thought – WAIT I have it all wrong! I should blog first, then Twitter second. But I must admit, it is much easier to Tweet, than it is to come up with a great blog article. :)

Great post!!!
Twitter Name – Kgrantcareers

By: Kevin OKeefe

Kevin OKeefe — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:50:44 +0000

There’s ups and downs to everything Steve. Twitter has some, but I’d rather go without my cell phone than Twitter. I am finding it’s the single best way for me to develop a brand for my company.

It would be nice to pass link value with a tweet, but just imagine the shit we’d see in spam on twitter then.

Plus I am rather liking catching what bubbles up on Twitter. People will find things on search and via social media – what their friends say to follow. Who’s to say the latter is not the preferred way to find things?

I’d agree twittering to build a brand without a blog would be tough. Need a home base as well as a place to say more than 140 words covers.

By: Dube

Dube — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:25:50 +0000

What a great post! It’s so true that Twitter is more “icing on the cake” and shouldn’t be used as a replacement for a personal blog to tie everything together. Great lesson to keep in mind!

By: Vikram Rajan

Vikram Rajan — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:30:11 +0000

Exactly. As we celebrate another bLAWg 100, it’s great to see more attorneys join us in the Web 2.0 world… however, twittering (or facebooking, or linkedin-ing – which sounds as bad as it is boring) is just a means to an end.

In fact, as professionals put up blogs to promote their expertise – they wonder how to drive traffic to what amounts to another form of attorney advertising. This is when the “cart” of social networks follows the “horse” of a web-blog. Obviously, it shouldn’t be the other way around.

However, to see it from the opposite degree — most professionals, including attorneys, get introduced to what will become their “on-line presence” by an invitation to one of these networks. So we can’t blame their starting point… we need to help them to put the cart in its rightful place. Great post.

~ Vikram Rajan

By: Blaise Alleyne

Blaise Alleyne — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:09:56 +0000

Great post, totally agree. Reminds me of a recent Chris Brogan post: Of Streams and Stopping Points. Same reason that musicians are encouraged to have their own websites, not only a presence on MySpace.

By: Max Kalehoff

Max Kalehoff — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:05:58 +0000

You make some great points, especially the no follow. On that topic, there’s a huge black hole which must be dealt with: that of comments. In my experience, the comments are worth as much if not more than the root of any discussion thread. However, comments are still in a chaotic, stealth state — many with no follow as well as no elegant way to share or interact. (Companies like Disqus and Intense Debate are addressing this.) Chances are, I’ll leave a comment here and anything subsequent builds on this thread will go forever unnoticed by me, others who may comment here, as well as search engines. I think the core of the issue is about portable profiles that work across all platforms or networks. Open standards to enable basic interoperability are probably part of the solution.

On the issue of content ownership, I think that a growing savvy Internet-using population will demand that individual content creators are the owners. Platforms and services will be expected to honor this fundamental principle, and to ignore it will become competitive disadvantage on an open Web.

Me? I’m a believer in the Web workhorse we call blog. It’s so simple and elegant and is so synchronous with our culture’s declining attention span. We like streams of content, and we like to discover, via search engines. I’m also a believer in email. Why does every single social network default to email? Because email is the ultimate social network.

By: Rahaf

Rahaf — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:02:58 +0000

Great article it. Reminds me of the facebook account cancellation policies where people got locked out and couldn’t do anything about it. We are a generation of content producers and we are only beginning to understand the legal implications of putting those ideas in places we don’t own. I like the point of producing content that balances the distribution channels.

Happy holidays!

Rahaf
@rahafharfoush

By: Charisse

Charisse — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:57:13 +0000

I just joined Twitter about a month ago. I am still not sure if there is any benefit. It is easy enough to add something (as you say much easier than a blog). I have it linked to my blog which is an interior design and home related blog. I am an interior designer and I started the blog to give insight into my passion and interest in interior design and obviously for interior design business. Please be so kind as to look at me on Twitter and then go to my blog and see if there is the link that you are talking about. Twitter http://twitter.com/cmcdesignstudio Blog http://ontheporch.typepad.com/my_weblog/ Thanks!

By: Neuromarketing

Neuromarketing — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:50:10 +0000

I agree that the concept of “stop blogging, start Twittering” is bogus. If one really has something to say, ephemeral 140 character posts aren’t a good medium. And while a big Twitter following has value, so does a permanent, well-linked piece of Web real estate like a branded blog.

Twitter is fun and can create business value, but it’s certainly not the ultimate mechanism for that purpose.

Roger

By: Gerard Mclean

Gerard Mclean — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:46:43 +0000

@Connie Ditto. No blog, no follow.

A Twitter tweets allows you to put a headline out there and a blog post allows you to flesh out an idea. Without a blog post, you are playing a big game of “gossip” where your second tweet to clarify your first tweet and your third tweet to clarify your second quickly gets out of hand. Having a blog allows you to engage in a conversation rather than a “shouting match in a crowded bar.”

Mixing metaphors above, but if you want to get a complete picture of me before responding to this comment or any tweet you may run across from me, visit my blog first. Your retort will appear much more informed and you will appear smarter :-) @gerardmclean

By: B.L Ochman

B.L Ochman — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:38:48 +0000

you are so right about not being able to develop a brand on twitter. same as you can’t develop a brand only with a blog. it needs to be a matter of value. and you need to be where the conversation is happening. that means participating not only on twitter, facebook, etc, but also doing what i’m doing now – commenting on blog posts, getting involved in conversations that last more than 140 characters.

ok, now i gotta go twitter about this post :>)

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:37:15 +0000

Very well argued Steve . Had not thought about this much but I agree with connie’s comment

By: Connie Crosby

Connie Crosby — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:20:18 +0000

Great argument, Steve. To prove your point I find that, when someone new follows me on Twitter, I immediately look for a blog link in the profile and look to read that blog for some insight into what that person is all about. Surprisingly, the majority do have blogs, or at least personal or business sites that they link back to. I look for a blog or other website that tells me something about who they are, what they do, and why I would want to connect to them.

Nobody really develops “thought leadership” in Twitter, but it certainly can be accomplished with a blog.