I have three Twitter programs on my iPhone and two on my computer. I send out twits or tweets an average of four times a day. I look at my Twitter friends and Twitter trends at least six times a day. I talk to people I know about Twitter. I teach people how to use Twitter. I explain Twitter to people who think it’s just to tell people what you are doing at the moment. I tell them it’s more than that. “Don’t do that,” I say. I use Twitter as a research tool. I use Twitter to help me get R&R’s work out to the masses. I have pitched using Twitter. And I also use Twitter to find new apps for my iPhone. And that’s a whole other story. I have nine pages of apps.
I don’t want to know how much time I spend on Twitter. It would probably worry me and my employers. When it comes to Twitter I used to be an early adopter. It got to the point where I was tiring people out with my Twitter talk. That is, of course, ancient history. Now I am no longer crazy and everyone is on Twitter. Estimates say that by 2010 there will be 18 million registered Twitter users. Twitter has become a household word. Even though many people join and don’t know how to use Twitter, they still know about Twitter.
We talk a lot at R&R about “a day in the life.” “A day,” represents where all the messages we are sending out hit regular people during their regular day. My day would look something like this. He wakes up. He sees someone talking about Twitter on a morning talk show. He grabs his phone and checks his email before leaving for work. He is sent an email newsletter talking about Twitter. He also checks his Twitter and a few select people he follows. He hears an ad or two on the radio on his way in. Right after the ad, the announcer says, “You can follow us on Twitter.” He sits at his computer and looks at YouTube hits for the LVCVA Brand Channel. Then he searches for Twitter chatter about those ads on the LVCVA Brand Channel. He might do impromptu research on the iPhone with Twitter in meetings ’cause it makes him look smart and deserving of his salary. He looks at Twitter if someone dies or there is a really good scandal. And then there are the times he looks at Twitter out of boredom. These aren’t many because he is happy and well-adjusted.
My day in the life is full of Twitter. Hence the article you are reading.
One of the reasons Twitter means so much to so many is its adaptability through simplicity. I use Twitter to show people stuff I like, stuff I find interesting, stuff I find shocking, and stuff I want others to like. It’s quick, easy and painless. It’s a mini blog to me. But not everyone uses it this way. Others use it to tell us what they had for breakfast.
You don’t have to embrace Twitter. It doesn’t care. It’s less judgmental and more anonymous than Facebook. If that is what you want it to be. It’s my personality, not a scrapbook of my life for others to ogle like Facebook. Although I will admit, I like to watch.
It’s real time and streaming just like life. You can watch what’s hot and watch those hot things cool down. From the protests in Iran to Jeff Goldblum’s untimely fake death, Twitter is there.
I also feel like Twitter is mine. I don’t feel like it belongs to anyone but me. I feel like it was made for my pleasure. Maybe it’s ego, but that’s how I feel.
Twitter is a living, breathing, masterbrain that I feel I can control to some degree. Is the collective thought and personality of millions worth a billion dollars? Is a household word worth a billion dollars? Is a way of life worth a billion dollars?
Right now the founder of Twitter says he isn’t worried about it making money. “Create something that you want to see in the world, not what some M.B.A. brandishing a business plan suggests,” he says.
He is more concerned with building even more value into Twitter. If he can do that, a billion is a steal.
