Twitter. Yes, it's a form of social media. Yes, CNN and Ashton Kutcher had a race to see who could get to 1,000,000 followers first. Yes, Charlie Sheen set a record for the most "follows" in a 24 hour period. (I'm not one of them) Twitter is a great way to follow sports teams, breaking news stories, celebrities, make new friends, market products, and sometimes just sit back and read. It has its own language and nuances, but once you get the hang of it, it's great fun.
But, Twitter is also a powerful tool. There are three recent stories I am going to share about this. The first one was the Japan earthquake. Twitter blew up with firsthand pictures and videos from people who were actually there as it happened. Libya and Egypt's protests were the same way. People with cell phones and laptops were able to images and stories out long before any of the big news organizations could get there.
The second is a personal one. We went to dinner at a Pei Wei the other night and had totally crappy service. The manager on duty really didn't do anything to make it right. So, when we stopped at Target, I told all about the experience and "tagged" Pei Wei's corporate Twitter account so they'd see it. However, all of my followers saw it as well. That's close to 300 people. And imagine if any of them had "Re-Tweeted" it? Then all of their followers would have seen it, and so on, and so on, and... well, it would have been like that old shampoo commercial.
Now, Pei Wei responded quickly and they made it right and are sending me gift cards. You know the old days of telling the manager or whoever face to face that "I'm going to tell all my friends about this!" and it never worked? Well, just threaten that you're going to put it on Twitter for the world to see. I'll bet in this day and age that will get a better response.
Okay, the third one is a little tougher. First off, I am a registered Independent voter. You can look that up. What this story is about was a website that writes "opinion pieces" called Wonkette.com. On April 18, they wrote a particularly nasty one recently about the Palin family. Not about Sarah, no. Rather, this story blasted Trig, her son with Down's Syndrome. I'm not going to go into all the gory details, and the website has since pulled the article with a half-assed apology. What's really impressive was the speed with which this story blew up on the "Twitterverse."
Politicians are used to being made fun of. To make fun of an innocent Special Needs child takes an asshole, regardless of who their parents are. Now, someone on Twitter read that story, and noticed a Papa John's ad on it. They promptly sent Papa John's a Tweet about it. Papa John's promptly read the Tweet and the article and pulled their advertising on the site. I noticed a Phoenix Children's Hospital ad on it and told them, and they too are looking into it. The Twitterverse rallied around Trig, from people on BOTH sides of the political spectrum.
Twitter is a great fun way to interact with people both famous and not. And, it's also a great tool. Use it wisely, Twitterverse.
No comments:
Post a Comment