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Twitter is a Conversation Hub, But It’s Only One of Many

Jeremiah Owyang has concluded that some conversations are moving to Twitter.

He’s right.

According to Owyang (who’s a good friend, so it’s strange to refer to him in the AP format), has experienced 2,000 referrers from twitter to his blog in last 30 days. Obviously, it’s a very popular topic as his comments have skyrocketed to over 200 and it’s not slowing down.

Some conversations are also migrating to Facebook, Pownce, Jaiku, and across other social networks and micromedia communities. This movement represents a shift in where people congregate around the topics that are important to them and how they surround themselves with the people they feel are worthy of calling peers.

There’s no doubting its numbers though. For the right topic, Twitter is an incredible source of traffic.

The migration to shorter conversation bursts (140 characters or less on Twitter) is evolutionary and is also indicative of our insatiable appetite for both media snacking and also a sense of community. On any given day, I see more response in Twitter or Facebook than I do on PR 2.0 or bub.blicio.us. But that doesn’t mean that blogs are slowing down. It just represents that people share and discover things differently.

David Armano calls Twitter a conversation ecosystem. Indeed it is.

I call it a conversation.

And conversations are not unique to Twitter, it’s just one of the places where you can start and join discussions that matter to you. Conversation hubs are everywhere. That’s the entire foundation of Social Media. Twitter just happens to be the most popular microblogging network out there right now and it represents the first micromedia tool that will have mass appeal. But, depending on the market demographic and segment, those hubs are stationed across the Web.

I rely on Twitter to share content and listen to and participate in conversations that are distinct to its ecosystem. I also engage in other social networks and micromedia communities for the very same reasons. Each, in their own way, allow me to reach different groups of people and in turn, increase referrals.

Twitter is incredible tool for also listening. Outside of the inane updates, spam, or self promotion, which I choose to not follow, I learn about news, trends, important conversations, and new ideas. It’s fast, dynamic, and can be incredibly influential.

Bottom line is that Twitter is only growing in relevance regardless of whether you “get it” or not. And, it’s implications impact not just personal relationships, but also represent opportunities for businesses to engage.

Yes, not all conversations are worth your time, but then again, you don’t know until you watch and listen.

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

3 COMMENTS ON THIS POST To “Twitter is a Conversation Hub, But It’s Only One of Many”

  1. Aaron says:

    Booyah! Who’s your daddy? Top of the list there, thankyouverymuch. 🙂

  2. Arne says:

    Thanks Brian. I quoted in my post ‘Twitter for professional use’ on my blog – http://www.bembamedia.com. Cheers, Arne

  3. bberrymom says:

    You have to carefully monitor the way you structure these tools. For instance, Twitter can be overload-too many obscure references/conversations to follow. You have to make sure you set up the parameters for Twitter or any other social media tool in a way that is useful to you. Too much noise begats chaos. doncha think?

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