{"id":30716,"date":"2012-07-13T21:30:11","date_gmt":"2012-07-13T20:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=30716"},"modified":"2012-07-13T21:34:17","modified_gmt":"2012-07-13T20:34:17","slug":"with-practice-youll-get-better-with-twitter-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/with-practice-youll-get-better-with-twitter-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"With Practice, You\u2019ll Get Better With Twitter \u2026 Or Not"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n                                                                         google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\"><\/script><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">The following is by G. A . &#8220;Andy&#8221; Marken, President of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.markencom.com\/index.htm\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.markencom.com\/index.htm', 'Marken Communications']);\" ><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">Marken Communications<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\"> Inc. He has kindly given us permission to republish his thought-provoking article. As with everything that we publish at AlienBabelTech, the opinions expressed are solely those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and the <strong>opinions of the rest of the ABT staff.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\"><span style=\"color: #00ccff;\"> \u2013Mark Poppin,<\/span> <span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">ABT Senior Editor<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Believers<\/strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30717\" title=\"Untitled-1\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-13.jpg?resize=384%2C246\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-13.jpg?resize=384%2C246 384w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-13-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201c<\/em><em>Has anybody here read a real book about vampires, or are we just remembering what a movie said? I mean a real book.\u201d<\/em> <strong>\u2013 Jacob, <em>\u201cFrom Dusk Till Dawn,\u201d<\/em> Dimension Films (1996)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We admit that Twitter has done a lot of good in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>It has help topple tyrannical governments.<\/p>\n<p>It has made people painfully aware of natural disasters and brought aid to the people involved.<\/p>\n<p>Politicians have used it excessively to highlight their strengths and opponent weaknesses.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, we\u2019re pretty sure we have a Twitter account.<\/p>\n<p>Every so often, we get an email saying someone is even following us on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t quite agree with Seth when he looked over the place and said, <em>\u201cI could become a regular.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve heard about the folks, but never really met a Twit. That is what you call a Twitter \u201cexpert\u201d isn\u2019t it???<\/p>\n<p>Sorta\u2019 like vampires \u2026 read about \u2018em, saw \u2018em on TV and the big screen; but meet one in real life?<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Nope!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The difference is we really believe Twits exist because we constantly read how someone got in trouble with his\/her 140-character messages.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30718\" title=\"Untitled-2\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-21.jpg?resize=271%2C219\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Twitter Attack \u2013 <\/strong><em>We\u2019ve all read how someone put together 140 innocent characters that quickly came back to bite them. It\u2019s easy to send a short message\/ thought. It\u2019s even easier for Twitter followers and followers of followers to savagely attack. All of a sudden it isn\u2019t fun, small or innocent anymore.<\/em> <strong>Image \u2013 animalsw.com<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Most researchers have been looking closely at the microblogging service for more than five years, and their estimates on the number of users go up and down about as much as the stock market.<\/p>\n<p><strong>They\u2019re Out There<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>eMarketer adjusted their numbers for the U.S. last year (down from estimates a year earlier), saying that 16.4 million adults (9 percent of the Internet population) uses Twitter at least monthly.<\/p>\n<p>But because it\u2019s hard to dispute what will happen in the future, they said it will grow by 26 percent this year and will reach 11 percent of Internet users and 16.5 percent of the social network user population.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, next year about 28 million Americans will be tweeting next year.<\/p>\n<p>More than half of the Twitter users (53 percent) are women, and most of them are young.<\/p>\n<p>But as Frost warned, <em>\u201cAnything you got to say to them, say to me first.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Folks who disclosed their age (not sure why they wouldn\u2019t, they disclose everything else) 66 percent are under 25 and 15 percent are 25-29.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30719\" title=\"Untitled-3\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-31.jpg?resize=378%2C253\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-31.jpg?resize=378%2C253 378w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-31-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 378px) 100vw, 378px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Young Fast Lane \u2013 <\/strong><em>For the most part, the Twitter population is young and in a hurry. Teens, pre-teens dominate the site; but even then, the volume of posts and comments pale compared to the volume of people sitting on the sideline and watching.<\/em> <strong>Source \u2013 Synomos<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Most analysts have backed off their previous bullish projections, noting that although there has been a rush to sign up, a big percentage of the hundreds of millions of accounts are actually used by people who browse the tweets but don\u2019t actually use the service.<\/p>\n<p>Only about 1.1 percent of the users update their timeline more than 10 times a day.<\/p>\n<p>So about 75 percent of the Twitter activity comes from about five percent of the users.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30720\" title=\"Untitled-4\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-41.jpg?resize=469%2C465\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-41.jpg?resize=469%2C465 469w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-41-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-41-300x297.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Active Minority \u2013 <\/strong><em>Any self-respecting social media person has a Twitter account; but posting something even once daily, weekly, monthly is left to a small minority to put their ideas, their thoughts, their emotions out there for everyone else to see, read.<\/em> <strong>Source \u2013 Sysomos<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And what is all this bandwidth gobbling discussion?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30721\" title=\"Untitled-5\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-51.jpg?resize=403%2C193\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-51.jpg?resize=403%2C193 403w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-51-300x143.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Don\u2019t Wake Me \u2013 <\/strong><em>While Twitter officials and enthusiasts like to promote the fact that the microblogging service is a fast and effective way to get your information, your message to people who matter; people who have studied the stream of thought closely find most of the online discussion to be less than zero.<\/em> <strong>Source \u2013 Pear Analytics<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>According to a study by Pear Analytics, more than 40 percent was pointless babble \u2013 <em>\u201cjust had a great cup of coffee, just saw Justin Bieber, skipped work and saw a great movie, just shot past a cop and stuff you don\u2019t even want to know.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Shrinks understand Twitter\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why Jacob said, <em>\u201cI&#8217;m not going through a lapse; what I&#8217;ve experienced is closer to awakening.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>All about You<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The most popular topic you can think of is \u2026 yourself!<\/p>\n<p>According to neuroscientists at Harvard, about 40 percent of a person\u2019s \u2013 any person\u2019s \u2013 conversation is personal.<\/p>\n<p>As far as our conversations, we understand what Seth meant when he said, <em>\u201c<\/em><em>I&#8217;ve already had a wife.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Using brain imaging and behavioral analysis, they found that talking about yourself \u2013 Twitting \u2013 had the same response with your brain cells and synapses as food, money, sex.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30722\" title=\"Untitled-6\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-61.jpg?resize=429%2C289\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-61.jpg?resize=429%2C289 429w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-61-300x202.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Money, ***, Twitter \u2013 <\/strong><em>Psychologists have found that Twitter activity produces the same effects on the brain as money, food, ***. That\u2019s probably why Twitter isn\u2019t one of our favorites. A couple of those items are much higher on our personal list.<\/em> <strong>Images \u2013 Diana Tamir \u2013 PNAS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>James Pennebaker a psychologist at the University of Texas, said, <em>\u201cIt makes sense to me. Why else would you Tweet?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s always-on technology has made people forget if they\u2019re at the office or home and when they\u2019re in a public or private place\/discussion.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s probably why people talk real loud when they\u2019re on their phone right next to you talking trash.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter isn\u2019t much different. They think they\u2019re in a private discussion, but they\u2019re actually broadcasting.<\/p>\n<p>And hey, if it\u2019s good enough \u2013 and cheap enough &#8211; for your kids, it\u2019s good enough for your company and your products.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Company Push <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After all, right after telling folks how awesome you are; what\u2019s better than talking about your company, your product, your news?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30723\" title=\"Untitled-7\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-71.jpg?resize=486%2C127\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-71.jpg?resize=486%2C127 486w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-71-300x78.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Too Good <em>\u2013 <\/em><\/strong><em>It\u2019s little wonder that companies have embraced microblogging. It\u2019s a fast, easy, immediate means of getting your marketing messages out to \u201cthem.\u201d Of course, there\u2019s a difference between pitching and listening\/talking with people; but in the hands of customer service\/support personnel, Twitter can resolve customer issues quickly, before they become major problems and go viral.<\/em> <strong>Source \u2013 Burson-Marsteller<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In fact, in many organizations, Twitter is more popular than Facebook because of its immediacy for company news, customer service, promotions, recruitment.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of years ago at IDC\u2019s Directions conference, Danielle Levitas used Dell as an example of one of the firms that had fully embraced social media, noting that the company had racked up more than three million dollars in sales for used (returned, refurbished) hardware.<\/p>\n<p>True, we can see the use of Twitter as another business tool; especially in providing customer support, offering coupons, location-based promotions.<\/p>\n<p>For companies, microblogging can represent true permission-based marketing as long as marketing\/communications folks understand that Twitter can really be a two-way conversation. The Tweets have to be relevant, authentic, transparent.<\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah, you may not have noticed, but it\u2019s sorta\u2019 like talking to (not at people) so they have their Twitter voice as well.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s probably why so many firms are finding it invaluable for customer support.<\/p>\n<p>Solving an issue\/problem in public can produce invaluable word-of-mouth (WOM) promotion for the company.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, not listening, not responding or not assisting the customer also produces WOM no one likes to hear \u2026 especially your boss. That\u2019s probably why Twitter has been called one of the most dangerous social platforms that\u2019s been introduced.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Well Maybe<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s great for its immediacy but before you hit send, you have to ask yourself, <em>\u201cDo I want 20,000 strangers to read this?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a whole lot different than talking face-to-face or even on the phone where people can \u201cread\u201d your tone, inflection, body language. These things just aren\u2019t part of the 140-characters that flash across your screen.<\/p>\n<p>Just a little bit of the dark side and they can turn into monsters.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30724\" title=\"Untitled-8\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-8.jpg?resize=310%2C190\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-8.jpg?resize=310%2C190 310w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Untitled-8-300x183.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">As for vampires, we\u2019ll take Seth\u2019s word for it, <em>\u201c<\/em><em>And I don&#8217;t want to hear anything about \u2018I don&#8217;t believe in vampires\u2019 because *I* don&#8217;t believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes.\u201d<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p align=\"center\"># # #<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>by: G.A. &#8220;Andy&#8221; Marken<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong> President<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong> Marken Communications Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong> <a href=\"mailto:Andy@markencom.com\">Andy@markencom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><p>Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following is by G. A . &#8220;Andy&#8221; Marken, President of Marken Communications Inc. He has kindly given us permission to republish his thought-provoking article. As with everything that we publish at AlienBabelTech, the&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":396,"featured_media":30724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2533],"tags":[1690,3943,5349,1689],"class_list":["post-30716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abt-news","tag-micro-blogging","tag-social-media","tag-tweets","tag-twitter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}