Just because a person thinks people SHOULD care, it doesn’t mean they will. So, I think the challenge becomes getting people to care to read on in 140 characters or less.

Tell them you’re going to do it, do it and tell them you did it. That is the mantra of many marketing people and as a former radio programmer I know only too well how to “sell the next 15 minutes”.

Radio audience measurement is almost as archaic as the slide rule so constant reminders of what and who you are listening to gives stations the chance that someone with a ratings’ ballot will actually remember what they’re listening to and write it down then send it in – yes, via regular mail. Don’t get me started!

With Twitter, the long tail resides in your overall stream. I may not see every tweet from you, but I have trusted you over the long term to react when I am “listening” on your channel. That is context.

http://www.dogwalkblog.com/you-are-not-lost-you-are-here-and-you-know-where-here-is-right.html

As much as we may be communicating in 140 characters, what we communicate (and how) resembles casual conversation. Much of what we say in the offline world is the equivalent of tweets. But when something has some significance for us we usually start looking for some depth – the postcard expanded upon, maybe in a letter form.

I guess my point is that I don’t believe in the either/or world. Tweets are one of many ways we communicate. And I don’t know that 140 characters are all that revolutionary. Their impact, and how the ways we communicate evolve, remains to be seen. As they relate to marketing and PR, surely no one has ever had expectations of depth there?

Tip of the hat for plugging Rocket Robin Hood. So Old-School :-)

You can’t. And you shouldn’t.

You can do four things in Twitter.
1) Reference
2) Assert
3) Question
4) Entertain

That’s about it. You can’t debunk, analyze, synthesize, or solve anything. Those involve more complex structures and discipline which is at loggerheads with the Soundbite Culture.

Sadly, it’s what we need more of, and we’re rapidly losing the institutions that performed those functions without knowing for sure what will emerge to replace them.

It’s amazing how hard it is becoming for me to get into the state that occurs with deep reading – the headspace that comes from digesting long magazine articles or books. For many, it is here that substantial portions of true learning occur. The 140 character world is a threat to this very precious space and we must actively fight to preserve it.

So re the 140 characters killing other media I think (and really hope) you are wrong. Smart people will always need and yearn for more so there will be a marketplace for more.

It allows for a custom / personalized view of the world based on who you follow and list.

No two people interested in the same subject are likely to draw the same content.

It allows you to explore new ideas sooner — originators can “test” or “float” ideas in 140 characters rather then write a long white paper which they may never get around to doing.

Its a different way of absorbing info — you can absorb multiple perspectives on the same subject quickly and choose your own focus and segways!

You can become part of a community interested in the same issues outside your regular network which opens up new ideas and possibilities.

May favor ADHD, conceptual, right brained thinkers…or not…

May forever kill our ability to write in proper sentences and paragraphs…

In the world of media it might work

In the real world – of processes, relationships, manufacture, horticulture and government context is all

otherwise you end up in a world full of stylised turds

like the world we’re living in now

so for tweets I guess it’s headline – idea – link

It’s very easy to say and comprehend something that is already known in 140 characters. A statement that fits an accepted world view requires little explanation and can therefore be outlined in a few words. In order to have any chance of being persuasive, a statement that is different, or introduces new ideas that aren’t soley re-inforceing the already known needs significantly more than a sound bite.

However, it is to be hoped that there are people out there with things to say that will explode the traditional modes of communication: this is essentially how literary forms and genres have evolved. Someone runs into something that requires a new “shape” to contain the thought, or to carry it through. (On this point, I can recommend excellent Modernist works, like say, T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” that dramatizes fragmented and alienated self in society by putting the literary canon through the blender and rearranging the pieces.)

I personally believe that this will always be the case, but I’m not sure what forms this (these) new expression(s) will take.

(It’s interesting that this semester, my Honours Seminar is about that space between so-called “high brow culture” and “mass media culture”. Which is why I get to read a bunch of novels not usually on the syllabus.)

In the case of Twitter, I think that one way in which people are using the media is as something of a digital “place marker.” The best use of a Twitter feed, in my opinion, is as a nexus or portal outwards towards the content. For many things, 140 characters is fine but I think that people still crave the fully-detailed story. Maybe they’re just more selective about which ones they’ll settle down to read.