Comments on: Twitter: insight, engagement, affinity and stepping outside the echo chamber

By: Wildfire Strategic Marketing | (3i) » Can we stop being so defensive about the tools we use?

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:15:47 +0000

[...] Of course that isn’t the *only* thing happening on Twitter, and not the reason I use it (I’ve explained before here and in an interview on CityNews recently why I use Twitter), but it takes a lot of time and [...]

By: Carrie Oliver

Carrie Oliver — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:03:59 +0000

Great post, Tamera. I can attest to the power of Twitter as it led me to you and SusCamp! To reinforce your point and those of Amitra and others above about Twitter not being an effective broadcast media, to wit, I would not have learned directly from Twitter about the camp as I was not yet in your network. An Ottawa based Twitterer left a comment on a Tampa area food blog post about my company. I tracked his comment back to his blog and sent him an email. We then spoke by phone. I asked if he knew any Toronto area Twitterers involved in food and sustainability. He tweeted and one of the responses sent me to you and SusCamp. The post about my company came about through a similar labyrinth of non-linear connections, including that old fashioned activity: face-to-face meetings. Which BTW is one reason your SusCamp was a success ;-)

By: Douglas Walker

Douglas Walker — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:44:42 +0000

Agreed on Twitter not being a broadcast medium despite how several so-called A-listers use it.

I look at twitter as a bank account, you can make deposits or withdrawls.

Deposit = Solid link, witty comment, insightful quip, etc.

Withdrawl = Read my blog, grand-standing, what I am having for lunch, etc.

Twitterati should ask ourselves periodically if our twitter accounts are in surplus or racing the DOW down the toilet.

By: Kyra Aylsworth

Kyra Aylsworth — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:01:15 +0000

So many things to remind me that I missed SusCamp! I’m really happy to hear that it was a success and that through Twitter you managed to attract people outside of the proverbial echo-chamber. Enlightening discovery.

And Amrita – I love your Twitter cocktail party metaphor!

By: Liz Strauss

Liz Strauss — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:09:00 +0000

It’s really sad that folks mistake Twitter in that broadcast way. They’d never walk into your house or a restaurant and throw around a bunch of brochures and walk out …

The opportunities to connect and learn are getting totally overlooked.

The beauty of the collaborative nature of social media is that we all get to learn. I’ve ended up asking questions that never would have occurred to me and meeting people in cicles I never would have crossed. Thanks for making me stop to enjoy the memories.

By: Parker

Parker — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:28:32 +0000

You make me feel like an asshole because I completely forgot about Suscamp.

Still – a great, honest post about twitter. And you didn’t even resort to the cliches of twitter posts.

Good stuff, Tamera. Keep it up.

By: tamera

tamera — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:29:13 +0000

Thanks Amrita! It was great meeting you @ SusCamp :)

I agree – it is akin to arriving at a cocktail party and mingling and meeting new people vs. standing with your “clique”. Good to keep in mind!

By: Amrita Chandra

Amrita Chandra — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:00:22 +0000

Because I live in both the arts and marketing/IT worlds, I have both types of communities on Twitter and so it doesn’t surprise to me hear about your response to SusCamp (which was great, BTW!)

Think of Twitter as a cocktail party at a minimum – if all you do is talk about yourself and how great you are, sure you may engage someone for 5 minutes but they will likely throw away your business card & avoid you at future events. (Unless you are an “A-lister” in which case people seem to have patience to put up with just about anything!) :)

Instead if you take turns listening & speaking and strike up conversations with those outside your clique, you will be surprised at the value you will get from the Twitter community.

By: tamera

tamera — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:20:41 +0000

Thanks Mack – I honestly can’t preach it enough – do not treat Twitter as a banner ad or a TV spot. No matter how brilliant you are, how connected, whatever, if all you do on Twitter is push out your product/ message/ brand you are abusing the community!

By: mack collier

mack collier — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:50:34 +0000

“The one thing that remains constant throughout it all is that Twitter is not a broadcast channel.”

I so <3 you for that, Tamera! And I think you are right, Twitter is a great way to go outside your comfort zone and expose yourself to new people with new interests. And it’s a much lower commitment than reading their blogs, just try out their tweets and see what you think!

It’s nice to get outside the fishbowl/echo chamber, and Twitter lets you quickly and easily do that, thanks for the reminder!