Type
1 – Celebrity Tweeters
Celebrities use Twitter to promote
themselves, and every inane detail of their lives, which we only find remotely
interesting because, well, they are celebrities. People have always been very fascinated with celebrities,
and Twitter seems to provide the reading public the invitation they’ve always
wanted to sneak a peek into the world of the rich and famous, as described in
their own words, in as much detail as they can muster in 140 characters or
less. If you check the “following”
list on 99.9% of the world’s Twitter users, celebrities will make up the
majority of those being followed. Comedians
on Twitter make jokes. We like
that. Musicians promote their
albums. We only follow the
musicians we like anyway, so we like that too. Actors and actresses either promote their new movie or television
show if they are fortunate enough to have one, or if not, tell us about what
type of coffee they ordered this morning, or post a photo of their pet wearing
a hat. This provides a rare
“behind the scenes” glimpse into their real world, and we can’t get enough of
that. Athletes post photos of
their swollen ankles and surgery scars.
For some reason we even like that too. Very rarely is there anything posted of any major importance,
however it allows them to say they are in touch with their fans, and we as fans
eat that stuff up. It puts a human
face on people who have been elevated in the media to super-human status. Beside the fame and fortune, it turns
out they really are not all that different than we are. And we like that.
Type
2 – Corporate / Informational / Blog Tweeters
This group submits posts about what’s going
on in their specific lives, businesses, or specific areas of interest. They post informational items, opinionated
items, and a wide variety of items of a general nature. Some of them have a small niche
following, but the majority have one major insurmountable strike against them –
they aren’t famous, which means in the Twitter world, they just aren’t that interesting. People aren’t going to go out of their
way to read what they have to say.
If people really want to hear what they have to say, most times they can
read about it elsewhere, on different and more credible websites. This isn’t what Twitter is about. At last check my Twitter account for
this blog had a whopping 6 followers.
Sure it’s lame, but it’s true.
For many people my blog isn’t that interesting. I have a small group that like it and
check back every so often, and that’s good enough for me. I’m not upset by that, or offended in
any way, that’s just reality. They
don’t need Twitter to find my latest blog post, they just go directly to the
blog website. Type 2 tweeters at
best will only ever get a moderate following. We know that.
We accept that.
Type
3 – Everybody Else
Every single person who has a Twitter
account, and who doesn’t fall within the Type 1 or 2 groups above, is a Type 3
user. These are average everyday
people. They are the nameless and
faceless masses. The vast majority
of the millions and millions of Twitter users fall within Type 3, and they are
both insignificant and significant at the same time. Even though nobody knows who they are, without them, there
is no Twitter. They maybe have a
few actual friends that they follow, but for the most part they are the ones
that follow celebrities. Twitter has
been around long enough now that most people have come to the realization that
other Twitter users really aren’t interested in reading about their lives,
because, well, they aren’t famous.
Nobody cares that you read a good book, unless you’re famous, in which
case we all want to read the same book too. Ate at a good restaurant? Don’t care, unless you’re famous, in which case we all want
to go there too for the chance of seeing a celebrity there! The power of fame is amazing, as are
the lengths ordinary people will go to in order to feel closer to it. Nowadays for the average Type 3 user,
their Twitter time is spent sending messages to celebrities, asking for
retweets or begging for some form of acknowledgement. Somehow this is satisfying for them I guess. When it eventually happens, and they are
awarded their requested retweet, I can only assume it somehow makes them feel that
for that brief moment in time they are somehow part of the club. But then what? What does that mean? What’s the point of that?
I recently tried this out for myself, just
to see if I could get a better understanding of what the attraction is. So I tweeted a little blurb to a member
of my favourite band. To my
surprise, he actually tweeted me back, not only acknowledging me, but even
responding with a little statement of his own. I have to admit, it was kind of cool at first, and provided
a brief moment of excitement, but it’s not something I feel the need to
continue to do. It’s not as though
I now feel like we’re best friends or anything. I certainly appreciate his momentary effort to acknowledge
me, but I’m sure he’s already forgotten about the whole exchange, and that’s
okay. In the scheme of things, it
really isn’t a big deal, for him or for me. Life goes on as usual.
Celebrities who use Twitter knowingly chose
to open themselves up to cyber-stalking tweets from Type 3 users, so I don’t
feel sorry for them at all for having to deal with the constant barrage of
incoming messages. No harm done I
guess, to each their own. I
suppose in today’s world of reality television, this is what people find
entertaining. I still don’t get it
though, and can’t help but ask, is this really what Twitter was created for? Really?
I'm with you. Still struggling to learn how to use it most efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, now that I'm starting to use Twitter a little more, I'm beginning to see the benefits. Twitter's not so bad afterall :)
ReplyDelete