Day: July 10, 2008

[Warning, grumpy old man post]

So I have been jumping in and out of Twitter, mostly lurking, the odd bit of participation.

My opinion of Twitter has changed since January.  I do see value in it.  Sometimes it’s interesting, sometimes it’s informative and sometimes it’s useful (often it’s not 🙂 ).

Sometimes Twitter will even facilitate an enjoyable exchange.

However, there’s always someone looking to ruin everyone else’s fun and I call them “Twitter Tourettes”.

What is this?

Well this is those individuals who have forgotten or lost their common sense filter on Twitter. 

Rather than send one or two “twits” on a particular thing or subject they send twenty streams of consciousness that have no value to anyone and just serve to make Twitter harder to follow.

Let me give you an example.

Let’s say I had just discovered Project Gutenberg, I might send a message like this:

I just discovered Project Gutenberg, it’s really cool.. http://tinyurl.com/nkse6

Tom Murphy 0s ago via twhirl

Fair enough you might say. In fact you might even say, hey I’ll check it out.

I’m happy, you’re happy, or you’ve ignored it.

But with Twitter Tourettes I’d then go..

There’s loads of books on this thing!

Tom Murphy 0s ago via twhirl

 

Hey they have the book Aaron’s Rod

Tom Murphy 0s ago via twhirl

 

and the book Aaron Trow

Tom Murphy 0s ago via twhirl

 

and the book Abandoned room

Tom Murphy 0s ago via twhirl

 

and the book Abbeychurch

Tom Murphy 0s ago via twhirl

Etc. Etc. I think you get my drift.

Enough already.

Sometimes ladies and gentlemen, less is more.

You can of course follow my well measured and insightful twits @tpemurphy

I can think of no greater insult (speaking personally) than being described as “middle of the road”. 

Anyone who knows me can probably can attest to the fact I’m a little excitable and certainly opinionated 🙂

But I am increasingly coming to the realisation that as time goes on, when we’re discussing online PR, I am middle of the road.

How have I come to this realisation?

Well I have come to recognise that change takes time, and in most cases change takes longer than we think or expect.

I don’t agree or support the view that traditional media is close to death, or that people are willing to spend 16 hours a day checking feeds, sites and blogs.

I do believe that we’re seeing an evolution. 

Things are changing, no question.  The online world is becoming more important every day and every single PR practitioner needs to understand and participate in this new world.

At the same time, while I think that in general the PR business is beginning to realise the change taking place and understand how it impacts our audiences and how we communicate and reach people, I am sometimes stunned by the perceptions and beliefs of some of my less-enlightened brethren.

I met with a student today as part of their her thesis on crisis communication. (I think they interview me as the control looney.)

Her research found that a sizeable proportion of PR people surveyed believed (and I’m paraphrasing here) that online wasn’t a priority at a time of crisis. She also found that many practitioners believed that the “poor writing” and “poor presentation” of web sites and blogs meant that many felt they were inappropriate outlets for their clients.

Oh my lord.

In Ireland, probably more than most countries, traditional media remains the most important outlet to reach the masses, but online is increasingly important.

The idea that online doesn’t matter, or because a blog hasn’t gone through a rigorous editorial procedure, that it’s not suitable or relevant – with no knowledge of its reach – is ludicrous.

So you see, I am middle of the road when it comes to online PR.

I have multiple blogs, dip my toe into Twitter, social networking etc., but I also recognise that the best form of communication is face-to-face, that the traditional media remains a vibrant and welcome part of our media landscape and that while changes are taking place, nothing is dying (bar the fax probably and look how long that’s taken).

Excuse me while I fetch my slippers, turn up the fire and work on my model railway.

Sigh.