I tweet, therefore I am

Thinking about jumping onto this bandwagon. But where will it all end?

So might read my inaugural ‘tweet’ – by definition: an answer to the question ‘what are you doing?’ in 140 characters or fewer – on the micro-blogging site Twitter. And bandwagon begets bandwagon: those not tweeting are bleating about tweeting. The public is being divided into for and against camps; and perhaps the real question posed is: is there anything left now that is considered not appropriate to write about?

Twitter has seen some incredible successes in its young life. It is a popular medium for celebrities, who get to by-pass the media and connect directly with their fans. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign succeeded in large part because he embraced such types of social media. He updated subscribers via the site, keeping them up-to-date on his public appearances and decisions. No doubt this was key in working himself and his message into the nation’s psyche, while reinforcing his image as a modern man of the people.

The potential of Twitter from a marketing point of view is evidently enormous. And so it is working its way into schools and university curriculums. A recent book, by money-making strategist Joel Comm, teaches the ways of Twitter Power – How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. Supporters predict a day when users will be able to search ‘the consciousness of the planet’ in real-time.

With a mere 140 characters to work with, Twitterers have no choice but to be succinct; and we Emphasisers are all in favour of keeping it short and simple.   What’s missing is content control. Granted, escape from Big Brother (in all its forms) is generally welcome. And of course people have the right to express themselves creatively. But we’re considering writing instructions for this exciting new toy.

The Daily Mail is using the service to send out nuggets of news to those for whom newspapers are just too darn heavy.

The BBC experimented with including Twitter updates in its coverage of the Mumbai terror attacks back in November 2008, in an apparent desire to be first with the news. This rather clumsy attempt to cover a fast-moving story with equally fast-moving technology caused a considerable backlash on their website, amid accusations of inaccuracy and lazy journalism.

Sky news rather glibly (and arguably massively inappropriately) sent tweets out from the courtroom where Joseph Fritzl stood trial for his horrendous crimes against his own daughter.

Of course, skill in writing has little or nothing to do with Twitter, barring perhaps the occasional impressive haiku. What does is the attitude that whether you’ve just survived a plane crash (see the Guardian’s article) or you’ve just sat down with a cup of Bovril, the immediate prevailing thought is to publish oneself.

Faced with this unrelenting, unverified barrage of thought bubbles, will we all have to become active editors of our own (and everyone else’s) lives? Or will we just be tweeting while Rome burns?

The definitive guide to transforming the writing of individuals and teams

GET YOUR FREE PDF COPY NOW

Author: Catie Holdridge

---

Catie joined Emphasis with an English literature and creative writing degree and a keen interest in what makes language work. Having researched, written, commissioned and edited dozens of articles for the Emphasis blog, she now knows more about the intricacies of effective professional writing than she ever thought possible.

She produced and co-wrote our online training programme, The Complete Business Writer, and these days oversees all the Emphasis marketing efforts. And she keeps office repartee at a suitably literary level.