I'm worried about Twitter. Worried because it's going mainstream. The celebs have arrived and with them the media in their droves. You can't turn on the TV or radio or read a newspaper without some presenter or journalist talking or writing about it. And that can only mean one thing...
It's no longer cool.
The big problem is that it's now just another channel for "audience interaction", just like the telephones, texting and blogging before it. A way to "connect" with the ordinary man and woman on the street. Only that's exactly what these Twitter-loving celebs are not doing.
Take a look at The Times' list of the top 50 most popular Twitter celebrities. Popularity! Is the biggest number really best?
I don't think so. In fact, there are only 15 of that 50 who are following more than 10% of the number of people following them. The first, Eli Manning, is unbelievably following more people than are following him. Now that's humility. I'm calling this the Twitter Reciprocity Index. I think it's a fair measure of the two-way nature of member interaction. 10% seems like a reasonable average for the normal person. Interesting to see politicians in this list - maybe they can teach the slebs a lesson or two about engaging with the audience. Their rank in The Times' list is at the end.
- Eli Manning (@elimanning) - 43rd
- Paulo Coelho (@paulocoelho) - 24th
- Karl Rove (@KarlRove) - 23rd
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (@schwarzenegger) - 18th
- MC Hammer (@MCHammer) - 9th
- Yoko Ono (@yokoono) - 42nd
- Rick Sanchez (@ricksanchezcnn) - 4th
- Will Carling (@willcarling) - 34th
- Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) - 1st
- Regina Spektor (@reginaspektor) - 44th
- Toby Young (@toadmeister) - 50th
- Roots Manuva (@rootsmanuva) - 49th
- Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) - 38th
- Xzibit (@mrxtothaz) - 47th
- Jimmy Carr (@jimmycarr) - 19th
The booby prize goes to Alan Carr (@AlanCarr) and London Mayor Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon) who, despite all their followers (13,552 and 2,796 respectively), haven't yet lowered themselves enough to follow anyone.
What do you think - does the presence of celebrity and the media furore make you like Twitter more or less?
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