Last night's dinner conversation centred around 'the point' of Twitter. It's an interesting and often posed question that for me, has more to do about your exposure to micro-blogging technology, than what generation you belong to.
Nielsen Wire have recently asked the same question and provided metrics, by positioning Twitter amongst other social media sites with micro-blogging capability.
While I do not necessarily agree with the blanket 'Twitter as a product of Generation Next's narcissism' I acknowledge microblogging is not for everyone.
I tend to think this is a logical conversation extending from the fact not everyone has used or is using Twitter. Seeing the only way to understand technology is to use it and see where it is nice and how and when it is not so cooperative - this is hardly surprising.
Personally, I find it incredibly difficult to ignore a technology which has the capability to nullify even the best laid search engine and brand marketing plans.
As a marketer, understanding trending is crucial so as part of a broader social media as strategic communications study, I've been researching the practice behaviours around Twitter in order to understand the impact on long term SEM. Not surprisingly, I Googled myself and it was obvious just how effectively the Googlebot - also known as the Google spider - ranks Twitter conversations.
As my research is an evolving beast, for the moment at least, let's just say 'the point' of Twitter really depends on if, how, when and why you use it... we'll get to the impact on brand later.
