Social Media Strategy - JenniferVanGrove.com

I had a heated discussion with a fellow Twitter user, @mattsurfs, who believes that the folks behind Twitter are missing an important opportunity with their service. His main point is that Twitter is difficult to grasp if you’re a newbie and not connected to any of us social media gurus, and that there’s room for improvement. He argued that everyone outside of our web/tech bubble couldn’t possibly accidentally discover the usefulness of Twitter by using the website alone. He even admitted to me that he likes being on the elite side of the very real segregation happening between those who get it and those who don’t.

I know that he probably has some pretty great ideas that would improve the user experience on the website, but I was too busy arguing that the explosive growth and adoption of Twitter practically proves that something so minimal, so lightweight, doesn’t necessarily need to hand-hold it’s users through the initial learning curve process. It could be argued that the simplicity of Twitter’s prompt, “What are you doing?” has allowed it to become a platform for which anyone can devise any reason to use it. Those early adopters who have found the relevancy of the 140 character format have also been able to demonstrate the unlimited potential use cases for the service. Had Twitter decided to more formally educate its members, or force us down a clear path, would we be living in the same Twitterverse today?

There is, inarguably, a learning-curve for maximizing the value per tweet, per @ (reply), and per DM (direct message). The value is directly proportional to your understanding of the basic Twitter commands, the clients, the applications, and your connection to the savvy Tweeters. For someone like myself, a complete mastery of Twitter is completely out of reach because new applications are built everyday and new use cases emerge as I test the waters of my own mini Twitter community.

My initial “ah ha” moment, though, came after about two weeks of really using the service. I signed up in May 2007 and did absolutely nothing with it. In late September/early October of 2007 I started exploring again, this time I learned through doing. I tweeted, I followed, I searched, and I finally figured out that texting to Twitter wasn’t really the point. The point was to create a community between those you follow and those that follow you. Twitter became relevant to me when I stopped texting to Twitter (and the public world) that I was eating Nachos at 2am, and I started discovering new Twitter resources, watching interesting conversations unfold, replying to intriguing threads, and participating in experimental usages of Twitter. I’d like to think of myself as an advance Twitter user who gleaned, through one month of tweeting, the skill set necessary to form a solid enough foundation to start evangelizing and strategizing around the Twitter service. I’ll write a separate post about all the tools and the tricks that I love, the Twitter Fan Wiki is a great place to start, but for now I think I’ve segued into my next idea and circled around back to the main point.

Twitter and Google are surprisingly similar; both sites are uncomplicated and your activity on the page is limited to a text box that allows the input and submission of text. Google’s search landing page is so minimal it’s almost laughable. Type in the box what you want to find and hit enter, you’re done. Twitter’s approach is just as basic. Type, in 140 characters or less, what you’re doing and hit enter, you’re done. The similarity on this level is astounding. These interfaces take so little internet prowess, that even the most basic of internet users can accomplish the task asked of them. Type. Hit Enter. The comparison doesn’t stop there, though, because as most of us web-savvy types know, Google search is incredibly powerful and there are a myriad of different ways to manipulate the search results you get to return something of real value. Twitter is exactly the same; the real value is achieved through knowing the not-so-obvious techniques for using the service. Currently, the simplicity of Twitter is misunderstood in much the same way as the simplicity of Google search is taken for granted. The tips and tricks are what make the difference.

My ultimate argument hinges around the idea that Twitter doesn’t have to change a thing and it will continue to grow exponentially and reach all types of people, especially when you have people like myself who walk around making it relevant to real people everyday. I do evangelize for Twitter and I know hundreds of others who do the same. I really don’t see the phenomena starting and stopping with the early adopter crowd. Consider this for a moment. I recently organized a San Diego Tweetup to bring together fellow Diegans on Twitter in one place at the same time. The event was incredible, but the coolest moment of the evening had to be watching @msdigital (Linda), someone who I directly influenced to join Twitter, clearly describe the Twitter phenomena to someone who had never heard of it before. Within just a few minutes, Linda was walking this Twitter newbie through the sign-up and following/friending process. How cool is that?

Check out this geek prenuer post for more discussion on the mainstream adoption and usage of Twitter.