Twitter Experiment #1: My “Twittercation”

Twitter is exciting. It’s trendy. It’s unique. But is it useful? Or, is it just another Internet time drain? That depends solely on how you use it. Twitter is about the here and how. It’s a snapshot of one’s immediate present. On Twitter, you’re only as relevant as your last Tweet.

I joined Twitter in October last year and immediately I didn’t intuitively understand what I was supposed to do. I kept asking the question, “Who cares?”

Then, in January, when a US Airways plane crash landed in the Hudson River, Twitter suddenly became both relevant and a lot more ubiquitous. Almost as suddenly as the plane made an emergency landing in the river, a snapshot of that frightening incident was sent around the globe via Twitter. It was almost an hour after the impact before the “traditional” news media was able to capture the amazing scene on film. The plane crash and Twitter made the news that day. It was time to take notice and see what I was missing.

I revisited my life without Twitter. But, the question still nagged: How do I make Twitter relevant for me? As I tell my DePaul students repeatedly: experimentation is the key to understanding Web 2.0.

So last week, my kids were off school and we decided to take a last minute family vacation to Florida. Road trip. 21 hours one way from Chicago to Clearwater Beach, FL. Using my Facebook status, I asked people to follow our vacation via Twitter. I called it a “Twittercation.” (The term has been used to suggest taking a break from Twitter and blogging in general, but I was hoping to coin a new definition).

I was giddy with excitement and posted updates every few hours as we set off. As each new “follower” joined the journey, I felt compelled to keep my Twittercation tweets coming. I gained 15 new followers. I installed Twitterberry on my Crackberry. I even used Twitter to get help along the way on how to load photos using Twitpics. Each response – or re-tweet (RT) – I received made me feel connected; like my journey was relevant. I was connected and connecting.

Eventually, we arrived at our destination and for me it was as though the “event” I had created was over. I no longer wanted to tweet my status. I was tired. I wanted to relax and stay away from technology. Ironically, I wanted a Twittercation.

What I learned about Twitter:

1. You need a camera phone. My camera is broken. My event would have been so much more interesting with photos (although I did load one of a sunset in Indianapolis, more on that in # 3). Twitpics is a great application and I just saw a Tweet from Michael Kantrow that Tweetdeck now includes 12 seconds of video recording. The opportunity to capture and share a moment is relevant and cool. I saw amazing road signs with outrageous messages juxtaposed to one another. We went snorkeling with Manatee in the Crystal River. Or kayaking in the bay in search of dolphins. These moments in time would have made great Tweets, but sadly, I could not capture them.
   
   
2. Facts are useful. Progress is boring. As I was being followed, I was also a follower. I have noticed after a week of active Twittering that some folks share useful information. Like this one from Philip Greenfield who was attending the GSMA Mobile Congress in Barcelona, “Josh Silverman. 350 K new users on Skype every day. 8% of all international minutes are on Skype.” Useful information that makes me want to learn more about the Skype growth figures. On the other hand, I don’t care that someone just pulled into the parking lot at Tesco or just went through security at the airport. I am not convinced this is the appropriate medium for communicating with your partner about the progress of your day. That’s what IM and email and phone calls are for.
   
   
3. Tags work. As I mentioned, I uploaded a photo when we passed through Indianapolis. I tagged that photo “Indianapolis” and I got a response to my Tweet from brainiac@hughru “Eat, sleep, breath, walk, talk INDY at CircleCity.org. Sign-up for a free account and start sharing with and about Indy!” Clever application for promoting a business. Marketers can make these applications relevant.
   
   
4. Tweets vs Status. Personally, I prefer to keep my Facebook status separate from the Tweets. For me, a Tweet best captures a single thought, experience or moment in time. It’s more immediate. It’s connective, but boasts a sharper, more factual response to the question “What are you doing?” A Status reflects what “is” about you and more often than not, it is emotionally descriptive and personally connective.
   
   
5. Twitter is a mobile application. This is the most exciting part. Twitter is made for mobile and where it is the most interesting. Mobile is where the big opportunity lies in the future for web 2.0. Facebook, and most other social networking sites, are significantly stronger when viewed on a browser, not a mobile device. That’s ok, as there is room for both.

There is plenty more to explore. I encourage you to conduct your own experiments with Twitter, Skype, FriendFeed, well, the list just keeps going and growing. Bottom line, experimentation is the key to understanding web 2.0.

Explore posts in the same categories: Conversation Economy and Web 2.0

Tags: Blackberry, DePaul, Experimenting with Technology, Facebook, FriendFeed, Hugh Allspaugh, IM, Indianapolis, Josh Silverman, Michael Kantrow, mobile, Mobile Device, Philip Greenfield, Skype, Tweet, Tweetdeck, Twitpics, Twitter, Twitter-cation, Twitterberry, Twittercation, US Airways Plane Crash Hudson River, Web 2.0

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