Twitter Explodes (in a good way)! Congress writes about stuff.
After the launch of Google Buzz and your personal information’s unexpected debut into high society, you may be tempted to conclude that February has not been the best of months for social media. But rest assured, Google is Google and with enough consumer ire the kinks will be worked out and your focus will eventually shift back to where it should be, on Google Logos.
In the meantime, there has been some good news for Twitter. The best being, of course, that the Dalai Lama now has a Twitter account. So with the Vatican, the Dalai Lama (and as of February 22, Lil’ Wayne) all official members, the implications of this exponential growth become clearer. According to the Neilson Company’s recent report, social media use has grown 82% in the last year alone. Twitter boasts 50 million messages a day, up from 5,000 in 2007. Someone is obviously paying attention.
It seems that the Baby Boomers and Generation Xers of all sorts are realizing what later generations have had ingrained into their cortices since childhood—that the internet is the most efficient tool for doing almost anything, especially marketing to the masses. Take a look at these numbers: In 2009, a study by the Society for New Communications Research and Financial Insite found that 22% of Fortune 500 companies have a corporate blog, 86% of which link directly to a Twitter account, representing a 300% increase since 2008. Furthermore, 35% of Fortune 500 companies have active Twitter accounts, as do 50% of the Top 100.
This knowledge has (unsurprisingly) spread as far as the U.S. Congress, where more than 200 members have Twitter accounts. Some use it to update the public on their latest opinions/ congressional debate, others… other things (“I’m pulling for Broken Arrow’s own Danny Cahill on Biggest Loser. I know he can win it!! If you aren’t watching, tune in now!” Rep. John Sullivan, OK). But partisan debate and reality TV aside, Congress and corporate America is learning the most important lesson: people are online, and they don’t want to look at text on your website. When a debate is raging, or a promotional deal beginning, people want to know in real time. They want to read what you have to say, share it, and respond. And complain. Because without complaining, some things might never be changed for the better (Google).
I found the video I posted on buzz aggregated here http://buzzeater.net/video-gallery. Is my buzz stream public? Isn’t this against privacy?
my grandfather is also a baby boomer and he is also a war veteran**.
my grandfather is a baby boomer and i am quite proud of his longevity all these years:~”