Divide and Twitter

In trying to look at how the Twitter phenomenon might translate to business applications, I do think that there is a place for it in informing or tapping the collective wisdom of a team/group of employees. I see it as potentially replacing the ‘all staff’ emails of “there are bagels in the break room” or “Jim is having car trouble and will be late today.” Or, more to the point my example for this post: replacing the email I sent to two employees asking if they remembered where the quote “about the 14 year old and her cat” came from. These emails clutter the inbox but are more efficient than separately IM’ing each member of the team—Twitter logically fits between the two of these.

The one comment I’ve read that really intrigued me was on Brian Alvey's blog. A commenter by the name of Andy Beard posted simply: “Well, maybe the global quality of blog posts will go up because Twitter will take over that part of intercommunication.”

Will Twitter replace blogging for the cadre of MySpace/LiveJournal entries that led an assistant professor of interactive communications to describe in a Washington Post piece as “the average blogger is a 14-year-old-girl, blogging about her cat”?

A personal blog is essentially an online diary, and from my (faint) recollection as a former teenage girl, I can tell you precious few maintain a diary with any discipline or regularity. My guess is that a lot of personal blogs have been abandoned already or will be shortly. Life gets in the way. Twitter might make more sense than blogging for some individuals, as it still provides the connection and sense of community people crave without the long-term maintenance and writing commitment of a blog.

Steve Rubel’s recent post about some readers and bloggers abandoning blogs in favor of Twitter feeds is what compelled me to take a closer look at Twitter. I hope it doesn’t replace blogging for some of my favorite bloggers, as I believe their insights—more than 160 characters worth—hold real value and provide weight and credibility to the blogosphere.

If Twitter becomes the communication device of choice for those who don’t really have the time or interest to maintain a blog, leaving those who do have that discipline, everyone is well-served: the overall quality of blog posts improves, and there’s still a format for the self-expression quality that is sometimes derided.