Confessions of a Twitterholic3 comments

By John Gerzema
I’ve noticed my world keeps getting smaller.

I’ve found friends in Pakistan through Facebook, including Fariha at Ink. I’ve also discovered old high school classmates including a few that I wish hadn’t found me. Even my blogging has gotten smaller as I’m now micro-blogging via my new love, Twitter.

Twitter is the power of blogging brought to anyone in 140 characters or less. The San Francisco based start up recently raised an additional $ 35 million dollars in financing but has yet to make any money. But that misses the point entirely. For Twitter is life changing in the same way Google, Facebook and Apple have moved culture. Even if it hasn’t yet had the same impact on you, I believe it will shortly. The tweets are sounding off on the horizon.

Twitter’s coming out party here in New York happened during the ‘Miracle on The Hudson’ last month, when USAIR flight 1549 crash-landed and amazingly everyone survived. A Hudson ferry captain snapped a picture of the plane as he rushed to save passengers. His photo ricocheted around Twitterland a full ten minutes before any mention of the crash was available on Google or on other news sources.

Twitter is so fast, it isn’t just capturing news, it’s shaping it as well: On February 10^th, Virginia Democratic state senators learned that one their own was about to switch to the Republican party. Jeff Frederick sent out a tweet and suddenly all of his fellow Democrats were able to corner the renegade Senator and convince him not to defect.  In this instance, Twitter impacted public policy.

Others have learned the sharp edge of sending messages out into the ether. James Andrews, a public relations executive from Ketchum communications sent an insulting tweet about having to go to Memphis to present to his clients, the digital and worldwide communications group at Federal Express. Andrews tweeted ‘True confession, but I’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say “I would die if I had to live here!”  And guess what? Fed Ex executives, who were twitters themselves – and quite proud of their hometown, took offense and forced Andrews and his company into apologizing.

The point here is that Twitter for its advantages and disadvantages, is a weapon of mass communication. Twitter is yet again rearranging the Internet and in turn, our digital behaviors.

I have been twittering in support of my bestselling book The Brand Bubble

twitter: @johngerzema <http://www.twitter.com/johngerzema>  And I’ve learned a couple of interesting things about the experience firsthand. First, I don’t tweet to tell anyone that I’m going to lunch, or trying to decide which pair of socks to wear. I think that clutter combined with velocity is a big turn off. It’s being super-poked 60 times in one minute on Facebook. My hope is the content level rises so I can edit the cream from the spam.

And I don’t use twitter in any sort of ingenious ways, like this guy Ryan Rose, a hacker whose washing machine twitters him to let him know his clothes are clean. (Watch the video on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMXpKmRXvU&fmt=18)

My focus on twitter is simply to be in the know: I want to shared and get the latest, greatest communications and content. Guy Kawasaki does an excellent job of bringing my tweet peeps interesting links, ideas and articles. Steve Case, former Time Warner/AOL Chairman is in my twitter universe and usually has great perspectives on business and media. But perhaps my most interesting twitterer is David Gregory, host of NBC TV’s ‘Meet The Press’, a popular American political news program. Each Sunday David interviews world leaders, politicians and the like and asks them challenging questions. And each Saturday he sends out a tweet asking for questions, without guaranteeing they’ll be asked.

My point is, I’m essentially only one tweet away from potentially asking Barack Obama a question. Twitter is leveling the playing field in journalism, communications and of course branding. As we move forward, this new powerful form of instantaneous social media will only reshape brands in faster periods, forcing marketers to stop persuading, and start listening.

Markers will have to realize their brands begin with search and only stay relevant with social media. Soon, Twitter might own both ends of this equation. Does your company have a twitter strategy? I would suggest it better.

John Gerzema is best selling author of The Brand Bubble: The Looming Crisis in Brand Value and How To Avoid it. (thebrandbubble.com) John.gerzema@yr.com

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