Why do we tweet?
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players.”
Shakespeare’s As You Like It
Social media has been with us for a little while now, but we have a strong sense that its use is growing rapidly. Over the last six months, the 35-54 year old user base of Facebook has grown by 276.4% and the over 55 year old user base has grown by 194.3% (statistics from iStrategyLabs here) Use of twitter has risen as well. Interestingly, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 10% of online 35-44 year olds use twitter.
Even the venerable news source, National Public Radio, has been exploring the issue of why we tweet. Entertainingly, and interactively, on February 28 they asked the question “Why do we tweet?” They got plenty of replies, which you can see online here.
For some droll commentators, social media, especially twitter, is an exercise is social charlatanism; a pretext to social engagement when in fact it merely cloaks the lack of a real and substantive existence. This point is hilariously made in this Twouble with Twitters video. We, too, made the point in this BrandFlakes blog entry, Social Media: An Invitation to Banality, that a large amount of social media content is quotidian and mundane. Undeniably, however, there is a large and growing participative community.
As marketers, we are developing strategies for ourselves and for our clients to ensure that we are an authentic part of the conversation. To be a part of the dialogue, we need to consider why we or our clients should use social media. The answers to why we tweet or, indeed, use any social media are to a large degree personal, numerous and subjective. My opinion was prompted by a lecture given in Omaha by Sir Ken Robinson. He recounted how a friend defined the answer to the question, “What is the essence of theater?” The answer was arrived at by stripping away the elements of theater that could be removed without seemingly destroying “theater.” Theater’s irreducible minimum turns out simply to be a performer and a spectator.
As Shakespeare’s protagonists in As You Like It observe, we are all performers in our own lives desiring a reactive audience, or are spectators to other actors’ performances. That is why we tweet.
PS – If you want to: Join us in the Twitterverse here and be a dd|a Facebook fan here.
Written by Stuart
David Day | Associates
About the Author: Stuart is constantly curious and believes conversation matters, for business, people and community. Feel free to join in...