Friday, May 29, 2009

In response to Twitter Quitters - 40% leave after one month.

Why am I writing about Twitter? Because it is a powerful social networking tool that is fast becoming a social learning tool. The connotation of the word social is changing from one of "connect" to bring into its fold other meanings like collaborate, learn, share, give, participate, hear, be heard, ask, be answered...This is not a litany in praise of Twitter--it is in support of all social networking sites (SNS) that will help us to collaborate and build collective knowledge. The latter will be our saviour in this time of recession when corporate training budgets are at an all time low.

I think like all new applications/technology, Twitter will face its share of scepticism and rejection.

Refer to the article on Twitter Quitters.

One primary reason why people would quit in a month:

It takes about a couple of months to get the hang of how to “use” Twitter in a way that brings in returns–that is, makes one a part of a community of practice, helps to build a knowledge base, and connects one to like minded people. All of this takes about two months of diligently pursuing twitter. This learning curve often proves to be the hurdle and people who are not adventurous or naturally willing to explore are likely to quit before they have found the true usage.

Also, I feel Twitter falls into the slightly advanced category of social networking site–more complex than Facebook or MySpace. For non-believers in social learning/advantages of social networking and first time users of social networking, Twitter is probably not the place. One has to come to twitter willing to be a part of the huge collaborative learning space–prepared to give and receive.

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