I love Twitter. It’s my favorite social network. I started using it in 2008 when I went to SXSW Music. I immediately saw its value for covering live events. That fall, I used it extensively during the Phillies’ postseason campaign. Twitter is a great platform for your passions. Except when it isn’t.
Somewhere along the way, Twitter changed. My friend Mark captured one key difference in his tweet below.
For all the talk about being authentic and engaging on social, you’ll often find that the most followed accounts are nothing more than linkbots with a human face. It’s a head-scratcher. At a time when people complain of information overload, hundreds of thousands of people will follow accounts that recycle memes and other online flotsam.
If that doesn’t depress you, A Tale of Two Twitter Personas will. MG Siegler writes:
For me, given my background and line of work, that’s obviously technology. But I too have other interests — shocking, I know. Film is definitely one. Beer is definitely another. And sports is way up there. Yes, some people in the tech industry are as obsessed with sports as anyone else in the world. Blasphemy!
What does personal branding mean when the most popular social media accounts lack personality?