12 December 2007

Does your message fit the environment?

I know I've been plugging Virtual Vantage Points a lot lately. It's only scratching the surface of its potential. The tool isn't limited to "lets see what the liberals are saying and put it next to what the conservatives are saying." VVP can also look at what the same people are saying in different venues and show how and why that makes a difference. Here's how.

Jeremiah Owyang mentioned yesterday some conversations have shifted to Twitter and away from blogs. I don't know him personally, but I know Jeremiah is a big name in social media - along with people like Robert Scoble, Jason Calacanis, Brian Solis, and Shel Israel. Virtual Vantage Points might look at those five as a community of leaders in social media and run their blogs through a cloud generator to see what cues they're giving the rest of the industry. It might look something like this:

better Blog blogger bloggers blogging blogs brand building Business Chris Communications communities community companies company connect control conversation conversations corporate Council customer customers different email engage Facebook fact friends future global Google great important industry information Jaiku learn LinkingBlogs Marc market marketing Media message network networks news online Part participate participation people person place point post Pownce press process public publicrelations question reach relations relationships release releases right SAP search Service Services share show social socialmedia story Technology tools traditional Twitter video web why work world


But what if VVP looked at their Twitter streams? Since conversations are moving there, shouldn't we be paying attention to that as well? Here's what you see:

Art ask bill blicio blog blue book breakfast bub bullshit California Check Coltrane com Community conference consider Dave davewiner Davis definitely dinner Doc email enterprise events Facebook famous far free friends fun getting great group Guitar heart hey Holiday Hotel hours jazz Joe leweb life LinkedIn long look love Lunch Marc mean Miles mkrigsman move Music musicians night note Orchant Paris Pass passed people personal philgomes phone play player playing post product ready right Seattle seems seesmic Shashib shells shopping Social speaker Steve susanreynolds table talk TechMeme thank Turre Twitter Wants week Winer wonderful WOW writing yeah year yes


I see a lot less work (though it's still here), and a lot more play. I see saucier language. I see who this group is talking to most at this moment. I see that this group is using Twitter for something distinctively different than say, Seth Godin, who uses Twitter almost exclusively to promote posts on his blog. Of course, this has something to do with the microblogging format, but you can convey a longer point by using more than one tweet.

So what does this mean? Maybe it means I'm more likely to engage Jeremiah Owyang in a discussion about Miles Davis than I am about Facebook. (And that's definitely fine with me.) Maybe it means if I want to engage him on something work related I can start the discussion on Twitter but then move the discussion elsewhere. Most of all, it appears that I'm gaining new insight into this group's priorities outside of the office, and I'm learning more about what's relevant to this crowd. And relevance is critical to building relationships.

And to think, I don't have anything to pitch these guys. What a shame. ;)

5 comments:

Brad Levinson said...

Hmm...which Twitter accounts did you run through the generator? I suspect that you'd find many different conversations from many different Twitter accounts.

But yes, I'd agree that Twitter is the "sandbox" where we all play. But the sandbox is where you get your ideas from, no?

Brian Solis said...

This is by far the most interesting perspective on the subject yet. The one thing that I tried to convey yesterday is that conversations are different across every social media channel...and that's why they're all important.

Shashi Bellamkonda said...

On a blog you are probably just "business". There was a question in the last Social Media Club meeting in DC whether personal details are relevant on Twitter. @newmediajim and @technosailor chipped in .The consensus was that people want to have a human touch to validate the "personal touch". I am excited that i can talk about things that interest me personally and on my job.

wazaroff said...

Such a great comparison, thanks.

David said...

Brad you're absolutely right. To answer your question I ran 5 twitter accounts through the generator - Owyang, Solis, Scoble, Calacanis, and Israel. I would no doubt find a different cloud with different people.

Brian - thanks for your comments. You're clearly right that the conversations vary according to the format, and the burden is on those who want to engage to respect the medium as well as the message.