Twitter and real life
Back in 2007, when Evan Williams (the brilliant and no bullshit founder of Twitter, Odeo, Blogger) took the stage at Leweb3, the host asked those with a Twitter account to raise their hand. Around 90% of the audience did, giving the impression that the whole planet was being twitterized despite recent reports that the service has only 1 million users.
This latest “demonstration” left me with a bitter sensation. I was getting increasingly worried by the growing distance between the web 2.0 community’s perception of the world and the reality I see on the “field”. Twitter is used by the community of influencers (who gather around this service because it allows them to update the world about their oh-so-important whereabouts) and they, as we all do, succumb to the temptation to generalize and say “if me and all my friends use it, everybody uses - or will use - it”.
Problem is that Twitter is really not making it to the masses (as the one million users proves) and anybody doing a quick and informal survey will find. Kara Swisher from All things D tried:
I conducted a little experiment among more than 100 folks […] all of whom were quite intelligent, armed with all kinds of the latest devices (many, many people had iPhones, for example) and not sluggish about technology. […] And so I asked a large group of people–about 30–and here is the grand total who knew what Twitter was: 0
FriendFeed: 0
Widget: 1 (but she thought it was one of the units used in a business class study).
Facebook: Everyone I asked knew about it and about half had an account, although different people used it differently.
In other words, confirming for me what I wrote last week about the intense obsession with the hottest new services like Twitter and FriendFeed, in the echo chamber of Silicon Valley, and how no one else cares yet.
Early adopters come across two kinds of products: those that are not yet known, have a universal twist, and will make it big. Then there are the products who will remain confidential because they address the needs of a community that functions differently from the masses, a community that communicates more, that is looking for more social feedback (how many followers do I have?), that has different priorities than the day to day internet user.
I feel like Twitter is an early adopters tool more than a mass tool. Time might prove me wrong, but after using it for a few months - forced by the frequent posting on blogs and remarks of friends - I still have a hard time finding a point of being on the receiving end of an unfiltered brain-dump.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I tend to agree - that’s what I was trying to say here: http://tinyurl.com/4mng78
April 29th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Maybe use of Twitter or Facebook-Status will increase, as soon as more people have internet access on their mobile phones.
I see the use of status-messages in keeping in touch with friends. Read more at my blog:
http://newsofthefuture.net/index.php?/archives/17-Pownce-mobile-communication-of-the-future.html
April 30th, 2008 at 2:34 am
damn, I should follow your twitts more carefully Laurent. I just noticed you were in Lausanne this afternoon, we could have had a drink in the real life :)
April 30th, 2008 at 2:42 am
Email is hard enough to keep up with and it’s asynchronous . Paying attention to a real time updated list of messages requires synchronization with my mind and I can only do that with one thing at a time. Normally it’s work or love related.
April 30th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
hmm… Laurent I think that you make some valid points about twitter in this post. My approach is to use it in a very casual to bordering on rude manner, but then I also would not put myself in with the early adopters crowd. I like Mark Wubben’s expression of it being a “Forgetful Interface” as that is how I use it depending on mood and whim. Right now it is a hodgepodge of some interesting and some very trivial info being broadcast by people whom I happen to know within a context that is web 2.0-centric. The rest of the world around me could not give a damn about twitter and if I would start talking about it… they would consider it evidence for me having lost my marbles.
It has however already happened that it was the only way to reach somebody whom I was trying to reach as I did not have his mobile number. However the whole of twitter as I use it, is at best unreliable as I myself do not receive twitts on my mobile as I find that too disruptive. I do not read every single twitt from my followers… but sometimes I look in to see what the rest of the world is doing. That said, I do not even read the local newspaper, and right now am waiting for something smart to deal with RSS feeds.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
[…] has received so much press and start-up hype because it’s largely used by a community of influencers, which is fueling its growth. According to top tech bloggers, media […]
April 30th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
At least talking about Twitter is a sure way to get comments and reactions, it’s still a question generating tons of passion in our community. Twitter is the Apple of web apps?
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I am not sure why this matters at all, so some people use it others do not all we care about is if our customers use it or not:
http://commetrics.com/?p=4
For us it is a great tool indeed and no we do not navel gaze around Silicon Valley but the Swiss mountains instead ;-)
May 7th, 2008 at 10:22 am
You say that “I still have a hard time finding a point of being on the receiving end of an unfiltered brain-dump.” Perhaps you need to select who you follow more carefully?
May 7th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Probably true.
I closed my account yesterday anyway