Is Twitter Over Hyped Right Now?
Posted 05-15-2009 at 12:27 PM by Jeremy
It seems like lately all you hear about is Twitter. I am going to go against the popular vote here and say that I think Twitter is far overhyped right now. While I do think micro-blogging is cool and different, I think Twitters growth is being completely driven by marketers and promoters, all with agendas and self interests.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a Twitter page myself, and like everyone else I post links to my radio show, and other promotional items. Aside from that however, would anyone really care if I posted that I just went through the drive-thru at Mcdonalds and tried their new Mocha? probably not. I mean seriously, do 30,000 people really care what Shoemoney is reading today?
The problem I see with Twitter is that you have millions of people “tweeting” based on their own self interests. Wow, you may have 2000 followers, who cares? How many people “following” your tweets genuinely give a shit about what you are posting? If you built your twitter account and gained thousands of unknown followers from marketing, I have news for you. All your followers are other marketers that never read your tweets and probably have no idea who you are.
I do think Twitter is great for celebrities, news outlets, or companies that genuinely want to use the service to get their message out to the masses. For the random individual however, I think it is rubbish compared to Facebook.
With Facebook, you have an actual social network, and not just a page to post multiple boring status updates that no one reads or cares about. Don’t get me wrong, I see why all the hype is here, and I see why marketers are jumping on the bandwagon. The buzz is there, and it makes sense right now for internet marketers to embrace something with so much press. What I don’t understand however is; who are the people that actually want to read and follow hundreds of others tweeters.
Can anyone reading this tell me that you really want to follow hundreds of people and know what they are doing all day long.
As an internet marketer looking at all my fellow internet marketers tweeting, I can only compare it to a watered down version of an MLM. Everyone is out there promoting how great twitter is to everyone else and getting new people signed up, yet very few internet marketers including Twitter itself is actually making money with the platform.
I predict in the next few years Twitter will be cannibalized by marketers the same way Myspace was back in the day. Someone tell me who are all these people are that actually want to read all these millions of tweets being made each day.
So I end this post with this question:
Is Twitter over-hyped right now?
Don’t get me wrong, I have a Twitter page myself, and like everyone else I post links to my radio show, and other promotional items. Aside from that however, would anyone really care if I posted that I just went through the drive-thru at Mcdonalds and tried their new Mocha? probably not. I mean seriously, do 30,000 people really care what Shoemoney is reading today?
The problem I see with Twitter is that you have millions of people “tweeting” based on their own self interests. Wow, you may have 2000 followers, who cares? How many people “following” your tweets genuinely give a shit about what you are posting? If you built your twitter account and gained thousands of unknown followers from marketing, I have news for you. All your followers are other marketers that never read your tweets and probably have no idea who you are.
I do think Twitter is great for celebrities, news outlets, or companies that genuinely want to use the service to get their message out to the masses. For the random individual however, I think it is rubbish compared to Facebook.
With Facebook, you have an actual social network, and not just a page to post multiple boring status updates that no one reads or cares about. Don’t get me wrong, I see why all the hype is here, and I see why marketers are jumping on the bandwagon. The buzz is there, and it makes sense right now for internet marketers to embrace something with so much press. What I don’t understand however is; who are the people that actually want to read and follow hundreds of others tweeters.
Can anyone reading this tell me that you really want to follow hundreds of people and know what they are doing all day long.
As an internet marketer looking at all my fellow internet marketers tweeting, I can only compare it to a watered down version of an MLM. Everyone is out there promoting how great twitter is to everyone else and getting new people signed up, yet very few internet marketers including Twitter itself is actually making money with the platform.
I predict in the next few years Twitter will be cannibalized by marketers the same way Myspace was back in the day. Someone tell me who are all these people are that actually want to read all these millions of tweets being made each day.
So I end this post with this question:
Is Twitter over-hyped right now?
Total Comments 21
Comments
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Yes...I think. The problem is that you hear it everywhere so you are almost obligated to use it.
I think it is good at giving customers and members updates about your sites and products, but there are other ways of doing this though (facebook, newsletters, rss feeds, feedburner, etc).
I guess it comes down to who uses what service the most.
Amazingly, people seem to care what you are doing at each moment of the day.....who cares if you ask me.Posted 05-15-2009 at 01:31 PM by Tom
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I wouldn't say it is over-hyped. It is a great service/product for the everyday Joe who wants to have a "blog" on the Internet.
However, as Jeremy pointed out, I think it is misused by the majority of marketers out there. They are not engaging followers and creating a "social network". Most are simply tweeting for their own benefit.
Show me you care about my views, relation, and relevance to your product and I will pledge my allegiance to your tweets.Posted 05-15-2009 at 03:43 PM by TonygPAS 
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I think its over-hyped and will turn into a spam fest soon. All the "celebrities" simply have their accounts to push what they are working on at the moment or their own products.
I think its kind of like another myspace and since Myspace is now almost runover with spam I think its popularity has declined. I prefer facebook as I think its a much nicer product and offers the same features + more that you can find on twitter and is set up in a way to last through the long run of spam.
I think twitter will run a good course, but it will only last until something better comes along, or people get bored of it from being spammed to death.Posted 05-15-2009 at 05:49 PM by Graham
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Its the new big thing for low-end spammers. But if you watch ESPN or some big tv channels, you hear them plug their twitter page at the end of every segment it seems, so like it or not i think twitter is just gonna get bigger.Posted 05-15-2009 at 06:01 PM by PTC
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I think you guys are actually using it wrong to begin with. It's more than a 'blog' Heck I don't think of it as a blog or a mini blog at all.
U first need a program like tweetdeck. That turns twitter into more of a mega Instant Messaging service.
Then from there, I personally, tend to look for two groups of people. The people that would be interested in what I'm talking about, and the people who have something I could learn from.
So I searched twitter users one day to learn about PR, Marketing..
I searched for Portland where I live.. I search for events that I want info about.. I follow Tiffany Michelle, and PokerNews.com, and Beanie!
Also UB, and MjM, and a ton of super smart people
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It's easily a time waster. It's a great tool for traffic, it's a great way to connect with new people, and it's absolutely hands down for immediate information.
Facebook is great btw, with the games and the posting, and everything it's also great for.. In fact, there are tools that get your facebook and your twitter syncingPosted 05-15-2009 at 06:09 PM by LadyHoldem
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Insta-Unfollow zee spammersOriginally Posted by Graham I think its over-hyped and will turn into a spam fest soon. All the "celebrities" simply have their accounts to push what they are working on at the moment or their own products.
I think its kind of like another myspace and since Myspace is now almost runover with spam I think its popularity has declined. I prefer facebook as I think its a much nicer product and offers the same features + more that you can find on twitter and is set up in a way to last through the long run of spam.
I think twitter will run a good course, but it will only last until something better comes along, or people get bored of it from being spammed to death.Posted 05-15-2009 at 06:09 PM by LadyHoldem
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You guys (thankfully) are forgetting that it is also a search engine, and posted links are being crawled and indexed by search.twitter.com
It's an infant, but the movement towards "real time search results" caught Googles eye for a reason!Posted 05-15-2009 at 09:47 PM by MJ
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I definetely think people are going way overboard with Twitter, when all it is...is a glorified status update that you can already do with Facebook.
Just like I don't care for people throwing snowballs at me, or hearing that someone just ate a juicy chicken for dinner as their status update on Facebook, likewise I could give two craps about Tweets.
Just more low-value member interactions that don't really build long-term relationships or valuable content. Blargh.
Posted 05-15-2009 at 10:48 PM by PokerNations
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Oh thank god, I thought I was the only one who thought this. I just don't see it lasting too much longer as it is. It has already been over-run from what I can tell, every news channel, show, celebrities, etc are talking about "tweets".
Are there some good points? I'm sure there is, but there are too many spammers, marketers, etc looking to exploit it. I thankfully can say I have never used twitter and never will!Posted 05-16-2009 at 01:35 AM by Ridge
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I dont use Twitter myself because I find it kinda of a pain really. I wouldnt call it a mini blog either because most of whats out there is one liners. I agree with most people on here that its a glorified status update.
I dont really care much for the new facebook either which is why I rarely log into it. Yeah its neat to chat with people you wouldnt normally chat with, but like PN said I dont care what you ate for dinner, what your doing at 7pm or and their attempt at combining the twitter hype into facebook so whatever.
We do have a twitter account
but I dont think we've used it yet.
I don't know, for us as affiliates in gaming I just dont see the point of it really unless, like the other social bookmark sites, you actually use it for it's intended purpose. I doubt many are in any marketing niche. I also doubt anyone cares what new promotion is happening at Pokerstars.
Now maybe a site like Pokernews, CardBluff and Pokerlistings could make it happen easily because, and not to discredit anyone, but they have first hand genuine information which makes a world a difference.
As far as everything else, meh I dont think it really matters in this industry anyway.
Than again I dont use it but I have yet to find a real sound reason why I should either. I am a Stumble fan
Posted 05-16-2009 at 08:09 AM by Kaus
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Yes, I always thought twitter was a mess. It's worse than reading a high schooler's text messages. The hype is very much artificial.Posted 05-17-2009 at 04:18 PM by wjb316
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I think poker affiliates are terrible at using Twitter and I'm almost certain most people don't know how to use it. I myself don't know how to use it best yet either but I do understand some concepts.
If you do a bit more research you can get a better understanding of how it can be used. It is not all about "hey i just went and took a piss."
Like Cathy said there are ways you can gather the info you need to use it better. I find it helpful that I can have a group of the best marketers in the world and see what articles they are recommending. Yes they might have a personal interest in it but they are helpful. A lot are to say their blog has been updated so if their title is something you are interested in than you can take a look.
There are many resources availavle to learn more but dismissing it as spam and marketing fluff is ignorant IMO if you haven't done your research first.
I do agree on some accounts that things can get out of hand. But at the end of the day it is up to you to choose who you want to follow and how you want to utilise it.
On a side note; on A Current Affair over here a couple of weeks ago they said Twitter was dying in the arse. Not sure how factual that is.Posted 05-17-2009 at 11:48 PM by Hazo
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I've never been to twitter but from the concept I already hate it, lol. I block people on facebook who "update" their status more than once a day, just annoying!Posted 05-18-2009 at 05:04 AM by Roger
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Here are a few tools if anyone is interested 10 Essential Twitter Tools for Business | Business PunditPosted 05-18-2009 at 05:04 AM by Hazo
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Interesting comments for sure. I'll probably just stick with facebook for now, except the days of our radio shows, I'll still spam out the link on Twitter. LOLPosted 05-18-2009 at 09:39 AM by Jeremy
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Roger, that is half the fun of facebook. I enjoy reading some of the absolutely retarded stuff my friends post in their status box on facebook. I would never cut myself off from that entertainment.
As for twitter, it's fun to get on an network. I just don't know if it's ready to be a money maker, unless you had twitter.com/(Something Popular) and you made all kinds of updates about the topic and slipped in aff links via tiny url (cough)Posted 05-18-2009 at 11:40 AM by JohnH
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Talking of spam I'm getting shit loads on FB. There are 6 billion ppl creating online gambling groups and inviting me to some random shit in Kazakhstan. Piss off with it already.
Most of the ppl that add me are friends with everyone here so they fool me so they can begin to spam. Arse holes. /rant.Posted 05-18-2009 at 01:46 PM by Hazo
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The cool thing about twitter is that you can choose whether or not to follow someone, it's a one way deal. If a spammer follows you, you dont have to follow back. If someone spams just unfollow them.Posted 05-18-2009 at 11:48 PM by JohnH
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Alright let's get real people!
First off, I do want to know what you ate for super because I'm out of ideas when it comes to meals.
I do want to know what movie you went to see and if you liked it, because it may influence my decision to go see it.
I do want to know what you think about religion so I can judge you.
I do want to know the difference between you and a mallard with a cold.
I think I made my point.
Oh yeah.Posted 05-19-2009 at 10:37 AM by MPC
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I don't like twitter. I think it is way overhyped and is something of a combination between a blog and a status update. To me it's just gay.
With that being said, it has mass appeal to not as savy web users. Of course we all think it is kind of gay, but we are webmasters with websites. The masses like it because it is heavily advertised and simple to use. Ignore it if you hate money and hate things that can get a message to the masses, and can be viewed by lots of people.Posted 05-20-2009 at 06:01 AM by Prenut
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