@Oprah Already Bored With Twitter? So What?

Those Who Really Use the Microblogging Service Will Stick With It

Posted by Craig Daitch on 04.29.09 @ 12:24 PM

I just read a relatively entertaining piece on Oprah's abandonment of Twitter. Apparently it's been four days since @Oprah sent her last tweet -- in this case, asking Hugh Jackman if he wanted to catch dinner.

The post goes on to explain that she's sent 20 tweets in 11 days, with almost half from her April 17 dalliance with Ashton Kutcher and Twitter CEO Evan Williams.

So is the sky falling? Is the mainstream fascination with Twitter officially over?

No way. In fact, most certainly not! Those who use Twitter, and I mean really use it based on the fundamentals of the service, won't be so quick to abandon it.

Craig Daitch also writes the blog Thought Industry.

The sad truth is that celebrity tweets are the antithesis of what Twitter's members, pre-Oprah, built the service's foundation on: responsive, relevant messages among parties with similar interests. Twitter beckons you to be part of the conversation, which is the crux of social media. Sure there is a novelty in consuming messages from high-profile members of Twitter, but it's the call and response of the service that makes it more than a novelty. Speaking to yourself isn't nearly as fun as speaking to others, right?

And that's the argument I'm sticking to. The minutia of Twitter conversation may sound like a credible rebuttal, but I'm not buying it. It has little to do with minutia and everything to do with engagement. The reason why Oprah lost on Twitter is because of her lack of commitment to engage her community.

Without getting too theoretical, look at Moore's Law and its application to social media. Brett Borders had an interesting thought on the subject:

"The more deeply you get involved in the social web ... the faster the volume of personal messages, signals, interactions and relationships -- which demand your attention and response -- seems to multiply ..."

So in Oprah's world, it's no surprise she walked away. How can she possibly manage 700,000 followers and give them the personalization they deserve?

Oprah has made a living using mass communication as a platform, but her ability to leverage mass communication has never required her to personalize it. She could give away a G6, sell subscriptions to her magazine and bring huge A-Listers to her show every day -- but being asked to participate in conversation is much different than being asked to spark conversation.

2 Comments

  By GuiasLocal | Longwood, FL April 29, 2009 02:45:28 pm:

Guias Local has something to say of Twitter and Oprah. To start does Oprah really have time to Twitter?. She has many companies, dogs,a show to run, Gail, Stedman. Also Oprah is not a techie. She probably, does not know how to work a computer. What Oprah does is give her stamp on products or have big celebrities like Tom cruise jump on her couch. Twitter is an awesome innovation. We here at Guias Local love Twitter and are very grateful for its remarkable influence on social search and our consumer interaction. If you are not Oprah and are a new business or just want to interact with the online universe, try Twitter. If you want to know about shoes, shirts, love tips, recipes, books. Then watch Oprah.

Twitter.com/GuiasLocal

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  By shreyasghuge | Ames, IA April 30, 2009 10:59:48 pm:

Nielsen findings suggest that majority leave Twitter just after a month. Most others are not too careful about who they follow after linking the "Follow". On an average Twitter users are following 200+ Tweets, a crowd of Tweets, typically impossible to keep a track of.

Having said that.. the almost loss of market share by MySpace after the sell-out proves that extra commercialization of social media does not go too well with the audience. The reason behind this mostly is the fact that it holds strength among people ((who bring the "social" in social media)) because it gives them the perception of control.

Maybe cynical, but the over-trust that corporates are throwing in the arena of social media is a deterring proposition, which does not spell a long term establishment for their brand.

Wondering how long this hype of social media will last, with no solid grounded foundation that was enjoyed by the conventional media.

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