Only connect

July 27th, 2009

Was the dictum of E.M. Forster – and this is something that technologies of cooperation enable us to do in powerful ways, that create in the process; deeper context and greater meaning in those rapid-fire communications.

Outside of the essays, long form books etc., human beings communicate by short messaging (no wonder sms is a universal truth) and therefore it is no wonder that Twitter is so successful. We are also living today in a participatory culture.

As I made this observation on one of the posts on Reboot Britain

That Twitter in some respects is representative of the Agora of Athens – an open public space where people are engaging with each other

The LA Fire Department uses Twitter, all employees of Zappo’s uses Twitter as they are recognised everyone and all as representatives of the company a human face to a faceless organisation and the CEO of Zappo has over 1 million followers

And lets not forget Jonathan Schwartz of Sun, saying that my 1000 bloggers at Sun have done more this company than a billion $ ad campaign could have ever done.

Steve Clayton wrote that Twitter was shrinking the emotional distance for businesses and their customers referencing the Twitter has released Twitter 101 a guide for businesses. But I would also add that it reduces the distance for context and meaning making.

Steve writes

That’s why people like BrawnGP are on Twitter. It helps decrease the degree of separation one notch further. It’s a smart move and therefore no surprise to hear Howard Schultz of Starbucks talk about their Twitter and Facebook presence during his remarks to investors at their Q3 earnings call. That just wouldn’t have happened a year ago – Twitter is becoming part of the fabric of doing business and while some may still scoff, you only have to look at the the recent report Charlene Li published with Wetpaint to see how seriously big brands are taking Twitter.

If you’re a business still thinking Twitter is nonsense and waste of your time, it may be worth reconsidering. Check out the additional resources from the Twitter guys

For me this is what Engagement Marketing and communications is all about building closer relationships with those that are important to you. In Communities Dominate Brands we argued that if the 20th Century was about Interruptive Communications, then the 21st Century would be about Engagement. So, Engage or Die.

Importantly, this technology is available to SME’s and they should be grasping this information and knowledge and deploying at low cost communication technologies that could greatly enhance their business, so get downloading

twitter101forbusiness

The rules of marketing are being rewritten, deconstructing the 60 second spot into valuable human relationships where transparency rules supreme. And also, not that it is mentioned, as far as I can see, Twitter is mobile enabled. This is also very important – because flows of information are only valuable – when they flow. Across time and space and platforms.

Here’s an interesting case in point