Twitter Me Surprise! Where Are We?

I already have the grand opening of BrandVenture in Athens, Georgia nailed down… it’s going to be a called a “grand opening Tweats, meets and greets.”

And if all works out we can become friends.

In the last two weeks, I have become a Twitteraddict. I wake up now in the middle of the night and Twitter for an hour or two and then go back to sleep.

I see the world through fellow global eyes and track just how many folks that I follow and those that follow me cite the same trends in the making.

My community is also quickly becoming defined within the confines of Facebook.

Through it I have reconnected with friends, business associates and long lost relatives.

We Link, Comment, Share and Pass on.

But at age 50, I may be more of a mass follower than an early adopter!

It started about a week ago.

Some of my Twitter comrades had gotten hold of the numbers…the number of new Twitter sign-ons had remained the same for the past two months.

There have also been drops in both the sign-ons and time spent on both Facebook and MySpace.

I speculated in my Twitter postings that this could be the very beginning of the S-Curve and the initial drop between initial trend users and early adopter before the full growth cycle takes place in the marketplace overall.

However, my observations were certainly startled by the results of yesterday’s survey on CNN.com:

Question Posted by CNN: Are you tired of social networking?

Yes -- 75% 107,699 respondents
No -- 25% 36,429 respondents
Total Votes: 144128

That is as of 5:55pm on 6/10/09

A couple of my observations:

• Much of what is found on Twitter are links to other information, sources, facts, figures and options — people may be getting tired of the clicks and depth they have to go to then determine what the heck are the take-aways that their fellow Twitterite found of interest

• Whether it is Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or any of the other social media…the initiators and early adopter/addicts were all members of the Millennial Generation…a group of folks that are spending much of their time right now working, job hunting, house hunting and coupling. And while the web still dominates how they do what they do, they have time constraints that define priorities to “just do it” versus telling others that they are doing it!

• Overuse by the press and media outlets and their contest to see how many icons they can get posted next to their logos... The media have Twitter everywhere... It’s no longer trend-setting to use it...it’s where all the masses go now

• Limit to 140 words and lack of much ability to have true dialogue — most is very surface level

• Folks getting tired of the personal “here is what I am doing today or thinking right now” -- I see this same approach as much on Twitter as I do on Facebook

• The limitations of the friendship circle and getting tired of the “same old, same old” -- There was a guy on Twitter with a link to some new Twittertools that enable individuals to really evaluate whether a friend stays, moves to the back burner or goes!

• A desire to connect in person...have an actual hands on experience versus hands on the computer or iPhone keys

I have to agree that it is very possible we are witnessing a critical point in time.

As much as I Twitter and Facebook with friends, I wonder just how much I will do it once I am back full time in the job.

I sent an Email to a client last night about the CNN survey and she quickly responded back that we are at “an intersection of change” yet “the platform has opened up Pandora’s box” and we are being called upon to map out the next phase of change.

I agree.

Some folks think I am crazy when I talk about the books MegaTrends and Future Shock. Both books were first published more than 30 years ago.

High Tech and High Touch is the one trend that I highlight the most. The fact that they both exist in harmony with one another is not too unlike the balance trends cited in the 2008-09 Yankelovich Monitor.

It is my thought that the next stage on hand is finding a way in which relationships are developed within a combination of in-person and online.

It’s not too far off from Hillary Clinton’s book, “It Takes A Village To Raise A Child”…”It Takes A Village To Develop A Brand”…

I invite all to think about it. Send my your thoughts via this Blog or let’s Twitter and connect online.

While it is hard to predict that future, I know this… my client was right on target with her observations.

It’s not a beginning and not an end. It’s an intersection point of change and if we do not embrace it, we will be all left behind.

So crank up that engine, put those sunglasses on and Hey, Let’s Journey!