Has Twitter Become A Mass Medium?

One of the biggest complaints of mass media advertising is that it is interruptive. We sit watching our favorite show on TV and suddenly we are interrupted by a commercial break. For decades, we as a society put up with these interruptions because they paid for the shows we wanted to watch. Watch the commercials, and television is free.

Social media and the internet in general are supposed to put an end to that, placing me (the consumer) in control. No more interruptions. I choose the content I want to consume and ignore the rest. And best of all, its still free. LinkedIn still works this way, as does Facebook, as long as I am selective with who I follow and follow back.

When I first signed up for Twitter a year ago, it worked pretty much that way. I chose who to follow and everyone else could decide whether or not I was worthy of their attention. Very democratic, very social, and a very productive use of my time. No interruptions to speak of.

During those early months, I met a number of people who I would have otherwise not had the pleasure of knowing. Before I attended industry events, I tweeted with others who were going. When I arrived at the events, otherwise complete strangers would know me. I felt like part of the network. I even met a new business partner through Twitter. Those early days were great.

Twitter has changed.

The vast majority of tweets are not one to one communications, but shouts — dare I say interruptions? I have to read between the noise to look for the tweets I really care about. How did this happen?

Building a social network on Twitter takes a lot of work. I try to be selective. I follow the people and organizations I want to have a relationship with, hoping they will follow me back. I listen to their tweets, most of which are outbound pitches or overheard conversations that I’m not a part of. These are all interruptions, like commercials on TV — only there are a lot more of them.

To combat the interruptive nature of Twitter, I have been automating my tweets for the past few months. Less work and more time for listening for me, but more interruptions for others. Recently, I decided to try automating my network building. I’m able to add between 80 and 100 followers a day from a group I have identified and those who follow me, but the quality of the followers is poor compared to the early days and kind of like the wasted audience in a mass medium.

It’s a land grab and it seems like everyone is participating.

Guy Kawasaki, one of the top personalities on Twitter, offers these tips on building your network on Twitter. His strategy seems it will result in a large, superficial group of followers, not a small, meaningful group of like minded individuals.

IMHO, this land grab has turned Twitter into more of a mass medium than a social one. And now, it should be treated as such.