There's so much talk about platforms - Facebook-this, Twitter-that, more specific but no better than loose conversations about blogging or podcasts. I overheard someone say "It's OK, there's a slide on Twitter in the client deck", which stopped me in my tracks. These tools are not the kinds of things that make sense when being described; who in their right mind would want to tolerate 140-character updates among a sea of people you barely knew? It in no way describes the vibrancy of using Twitter, nor the opportunities inherent in it.Your friend and mine Tim Beveridge has a great saying: in order to understand change, you have to be part of it (it probably isn't his saying, but I'm not sure where he got it from, so it's his now).
The point is the best way to explain Twitter to somebody is to take 30 seconds to sign them up, another two minutes to follow some people they might be interested in, and then sit back and let them have at it. On the (often false) assumption you have a strategic reason for using Twitter, if your client doesn't already use it then paying it lip service is not going to get you anywhere. Only by engaging do people actually understand, or as I just commented over at AVC, being heard is not enough, you must also be understood.
Starting a strategy conversation by talking about a platform is a recipe for disaster. It is like deciding what kind of house you are going to be build based whatever hammer you have handy. It needs to begin with intent. Every. Single. Time.
For those who've just joined us here by way of Digital Strangelove, thanks so much for stopping by. We're going to keep talking about intent for a bit, at least until the rest of the world starts to understand the power of it.
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Image courtesy of onkel_wart, with thanks to compfight.
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ReplyDelete[...] I feel the earth move under my feet (davidgillespie.wordpress.com) [...]
ReplyDeleteDigital Strangelove is one of the best summations of the new paradigm I've read. I have shared it , tweeted it and bookmarked it. Thank you and thanks to Fred Wilson for finding and sharing it. Another very smart individual. I look forward to your future musings.
ReplyDeleteHeather, thanks so much, so glad you not only found something of value in it but thought others might too. By my own admission we still have a long way to go in this space, but I'm excited to be a part of the conversation about where we're heading now.
ReplyDeleteEcho > Heather's thoughts! :)
ReplyDeleteYou need think about it. Despite the emails, the overwhelming evidence showing global warming is happening hasn't changed.
ReplyDelete"The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus . . . that tells us the Earth is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity," Jane Lubchenco, who heads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told a House committee. She said that the e-mails don't cover data from NOAA and NASA, whose independent climate records show dramatic warming.