Last Year # 12: To Tweet or Not to Tweet . . .

Clip art Twitter bird added to movie still of Laurence Olivier as u no who.

So my friend Stacey Donohue uses Twitter.  Yesterday she told me that she tweeted links to some recent postings.  That would explain why I had 70 hits rather than my usual two.  (Well, two is bragging.)

I've thought about Twitter.  Signed up twice.  But don't use it.  Why?

Well, first of all why should I?  Because it's enjoyed by people I like and admire (Stacey, Scott Simon,  the writers and performers at BBC 4's News Quiz)? Should I aspire to be like them?  Maybe.  But I'm not sure I have the same motivation. 

So, to better answer the question posed in the heading, I asked Google why people use Twitter.  I limited my search by typing "site:.edu" and avoided side column ads from Zappos (they keep tracking me around the googlesphere, asking me to finish my purchase).  According to Olivier Toubia, the Glaubinger Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, some people seem to have an "intrinsic motivation" to share themselves, while others are motivated by status-seeking.  Toubia also noted that most people on Twitter tend to follow news rather than do their own news making.  He says that Twitter is becoming a "broadcast source".  According to a paper written by Akshay Java, Tim Finin, Xiaodan Song, and Belle Tseng, people tweet to share and receive information, especially high value information from high value sources, such as business leaders or celebrities.  Tweeting is especially important as a way to get hot news quickly.

And of course, back on the dot com pages, tweeting is highly recommended for businesses, especially by people who make a living from introducing businesses to selling on social media.  (The so-called new Don Drapers.)

But not everyone tweets, though people in the media seem to believe the practice of micro-blogging is universal.  According to West Virginia University senior public relations major Brandi Underwood's teen panel, Facebook is uncool and Twitter is free of adult interference.  And lots of folks of my age and gender don't tweet.  According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, fewer than a fifth of women who use the internet use Twitter, although over 70% use Facebook (as I do).  

So now that I've done my research I feel more comfortable with owning my lack of hipness.  Which is great because the bottom line for me on tweeting at this particular stage of life is that it's JUST ONE MORE THING!

JUST ONE MORE THING somebody, somewhere wants me to do -- like buying a smart phone or a car with electronic windows.   And I don't want to do it.

But I can't stop you . . .