Mornin!
Not sure if this is the right part of the forum to mention this on.
Has Softpress thought about getting a Twitter account? Working for a PR company myself, I find that it is an important PR tool when used correctly.
James
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I’m on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/idschray), but we really haven’t done anything with @softpress (which we have registered). I’m not sure what to put out from that account. 
I’d love to hear the input from others:
How do you feel about corporate Twitter accounts?
What do you expect to read there?
Do you follow them?
Why/Why not?
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On 27 Mar 2009, at 22:57, Ian Schray wrote:
Do you follow them?
No.
Why/Why not?
Can’t see the point. Sitting on the outside looking in, it really
seems like Twitter is “this week’s Big Thing”, but it’ll all be over
by Easter when it’s replaced by something even more banal.
Just my jaundiced and highly devalued two-pennyworth.
;o)
Heather
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on 28/03/2009 09:59, Heather Kavanagh at email@hidden wrote:
Why/Why not?
Can’t see the point. Sitting on the outside looking in, it really
seems like Twitter is “this week’s Big Thing”, but it’ll all be over
by Easter when it’s replaced by something even more banal.Just my jaundiced and highly devalued two-pennyworth.
I’d go a step further and plead not it would only lead to dilution of the
power of our “normal” lists which are currently pretty tight and don’t
contain “twittering noise”
Please don’t do it.
Best wishes Peter
–
Peter Tucker, Oxford UK email@hidden
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On 27 Mar 2009, at 22:57, Ian Schray wrote:
Do you follow them?
No
Why/Why not?
Don’t see the point of it.
Regards
Lee
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I tend to agree. But then, I sit among the truly ancient order of
boring old f**ts!
Then, again, what I see in FreewayTalk seems pretty social to me. As
well as providing really useful, pertinent information, I’ve picked up
on a few members overseas tours, seen their family snaps, discovered
their neighbourhoods, virtually patted their pets and know what drink
to buy them if ever we meet up. (Mine’s a well rounded Malt, by the
way - and I don’t mean Ovaltine)!
What more is there to twitter about?
Colin
On 28 Mar 2009, at 09:59, Heather Kavanagh wrote:
On 27 Mar 2009, at 22:57, Ian Schray wrote:
Do you follow them?
No.
Why/Why not?
Can’t see the point. Sitting on the outside looking in, it really
seems like Twitter is “this week’s Big Thing”, but it’ll all be over
by Easter when it’s replaced by something even more banal.
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Because life is already full and digital life is always treeing off into
even more things that I don’t need.
But if something really interesting came up on this thread I might choose to
look into what Twitter offers.
(This is why I don’t follow twits)
regards
Brian
Ian Schray said recently:
Why not?
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On 27 Mar 2009, 10:57 pm, Ian Schray wrote:
I’m on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/idschray), but we really haven’t done anything with @softpress (which we have registered). I’m not sure what to put out from that account.
I’d love to hear the input from others:
How do you feel about corporate Twitter accounts?
What do you expect to read there?
Do you follow them?
Why/Why not?
I think this depends on many things, one being your age group, another your background.
I grew up playing in a green belt with a river by the sea, we didn’t have computers and socialising meant going out and seeing, playing and talking with people. Things are a lot different now of course, very few kids know ‘or want to know’ what playing by a river or by the sea is and as far as socialising is concerned… most think that basically means jumping onto a computer, whereas my generation are different (at least the ones I know are), if we want to say * look at me * it is with a couple of friends and not 30 million other people. lol.
I personally think the young and upcoming generations nowadays have missed and are missing some of * the * most important things in life by being computer run generations. Don’t get me wrong, I understand how easy it is to get hooked as I only discovered them about 11 or so years ago), anyway…
I don’t use it or similar because if I want to talk or socialise with someone I prefer other methods. I think a phone and email are just fine for passing on information and then that way hopefully another few odd million others don’t know about it also, as is something like this mailing list which is subject dedicated, serves a constructive purpose and so it hopefully helps many of the people who read it.
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Ian knows I’m on Twitter. I do follow a few corporate accounts. I hate Comcast, but ComcastCares is great, and was even helpful with updates about service in Houston after Ike, and he’s in Philly or something.
Some corporate accounts are cool because they are useful for getting updates, like SweetwaterSound or amazon_mp3. One could argue that I’m sort of a corporate account because like some friends of mine, I use Twitter to promote my music when the time arises.
But one of the best stories is a local Houston coffee shop, @coffeegroundz.
His business is booming, and he’s considering expanding it 500 ft into the now vacant space next to his (ironically a former Comcast location). You can even be sitting on their patio and DM an order, and they’ll bring it out to you.
Softpress on Twitter would be a different thing. I’m not sure what they/you could do, but perhaps it’s as simple as being an involved member of the Twitter community and more than just self-promotion. There are many Mac users on Twitter, and Ian knows that many of the Mac press are there too, such as Jason Snell, John Gruber, Shawn King, Adam Engst, Ted Landau, and others. I’m sure their followers are mostly Mac users, and if you got those people to follow Softpress because you’re a helpful & participating member of the community, that would do a lot.
And if Twitter is just a passing fad? It’s not like this costs money. It’s only a matter of time and involvement. For some people it’s a bit odd, and I understand that. But there are a lot of people using it already and it seems to me the most likely reason it might shut down is because Twitter itself runs out of money, not because people stop using it. IMO.
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On 28 Mar 2009, 2:02 pm, Joe Muscara wrote:
But one of the best stories is a local Houston coffee shop, @coffeegroundz.
http://blog.mrtweet.net/twitter-to-go-how-one-local-coffee-shop-used-twitter-to-double-his-clientele
Are you suggesting we all meet up at the Softpress Offices to stand and tweet to each other? 
Maybe its an age thing, but I’m sure there are more younger Twitterers than older ones. Or maybe lots of younger “followers” of wiser older Twitterers.
For a company to Tweet, could they say enough to be interesting? Are they shamelessly following a trend because there PR company wants to earn an extra buck?
I’m not 100% convinced if Twitter is any good for companies.
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On 28 Mar 2009, at 14:52, WebWorker wrote:
I’m not 100% convinced if Twitter is any good for companies.
Despite my earlier jibe, I don’t discount the emotive and topical
strengths of Twitter. For corporate use, however, it’s marketing and
promotional power has to be assessed against its audience. Not just
it’s global profile, but in real life terms of reaching enough people
with the intent and money to buy. As an after sales aid, for updates
and the like relevance is perhaps better, but it is probably of most
use to small, close knit communities with a strongly bonding common
interest - and that, strangely enough, does sound very close to home!
First, however, you’ve got educate us older, play by the river and
read a good book guys to Twitter away - but, so far, this one isn’t
convinced.
Colin
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I don’t think Twitter is a “kid” thing. Most of the users I know on Twitter are roughly my age (35) or older. The youngsters are still into Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, none of which I much time for.
I think for companies there are a few uses for Twitter:
To monitor what people are saying about their product.
I did a search on Twitter for Softpress last night and saw a few mentions - one of which was a user at an Ian Schray demo. He tweeted during the demo. I’d imagine that during a MacWorld there would be many tweets about Softpress.
A few weeks ago I tweeted about an article in Shortlist magazine (a free weekly magazine given out on the Tube). I instantly got a reply from Shortlist magazine itself about it - they obviously monitor Twitter.
Last week I bumped into a PR event in Soho for Virgin. I tweeted about it and then got a response from Virgin’s PR company.
I was not expecting either of these responses the tweets were mostly humorous remarks aimed at my friends/colleagues.
I personally the best Twitter accounts are the corporate account with a touch of personality. For example, the BBC news twitter account is strictly news and really boring, but on the other hand the Channel 4 News twitter is quite amusing. This morning:
“Nothing seems to be happening yet. I’m off to revive the world economy by buying a bacon sandwich”
I think if Softpress were to use Twitter properly, it needs to be personal. Whether its Ian Schray or Richard Logon or one of the engineers, it needs to be personal.
It needs to say something every day or every few days.
It needs to say stuff like “Ian’s at the such-and-such user group tonight demoing Freeway - can someone in the area run over there and check he’s actually doing what he tells me he’s doing!?”…or maybe “Freeway 5.6.4 is out today -we’ve squashed the infamous master page bug, tell the world!”
The thing about Twitter also is that if you don’t want to use it, you’re not missing much. It’s not forced on you like an email can be. You choose to follow people.
The slightly strange thing about twitter is that you have to put a little bit of time into it before you “get it”. I’ve been on it for around 2 years but only in the last month have I actually used it. I just didn’t understand it, but as the number of people I followed grew, I found myself constantly checking it. I had “got it” without realising it.
Having a phone/blackberry/ipod that allows you to use it anywhere also helps. Queuing at the supermarket…“I think I’ll check my twitter”.
Anyway - I’ve typed far too much for my liking, I’m used to a 140 character limit
James
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James wrote:
I just didn’t understand it
Thanks for your thoughtful post. I tend to agree with some of the previous ones but could you summarize for a troglodite of a certain age the mechanics of Twitter? I’ve been reading a lot of references to it across the web- is it like a mini MySpace?
I know a lot of companies are using MySpace as are musicians, but the seeming artificiality of it (not to mention the adverts) turns me off.
Jim
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On 28 Mar 2009, 4:25 pm, James Davies wrote:
Having a phone/blackberry/ipod that allows you to use it anywhere also helps. Queuing at the supermarket…“I think I’ll check my twitter”.
Queuing at the supermarket…“I think I will say something to the person beside me”.
As I say I think it’s what interests each person, the social contact of talking to someone is 10 fold to that of reading/posting a twitter but that is me… I could say a lot more on this actually but think I had not.
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On 28 Mar 2009, at 16:25, James Davies wrote:
I don’t think Twitter is a “kid” thing. Most of the users I know on
Twitter are roughly my age (35) or older.
Anyone under 60 is a bit of a kid to me!
I agree, though, the most important element - like web sites - is the
content and I’m sure some users (do I call them Twitters or just
Twits?!) - ;-0) -will find it useful and give Twitter life for a long
time to come.
Colin
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I look at Twitter the same way I see text messages “BLOCKED”
Dave
On Mar 28, 2009, at 10:21 AM, Colin Alcock wrote:
On 28 Mar 2009, at 16:25, James Davies wrote:
I don’t think Twitter is a “kid” thing. Most of the users I know
on Twitter are roughly my age (35) or older.Anyone under 60 is a bit of a kid to me!
I agree, though, the most important element - like web sites - is
the content and I’m sure some users (do I call them Twitters or just
Twits?!) - ;-0) -will find it useful and give Twitter life for a
long time to come.Colin
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Sometime around 28/3/09 (at 13:11 -0400) Mike B said:
As I say I think it’s what interests each person, the social contact
of talking to someone is 10 fold to that of reading/posting a
twitter but that is me…
Actually, yes… that IS you. Which is absolutely fine!
We’re all free to use or not use any form of communication as we
wish. However…
Just like other new forms of communication, this new one does not
mean stopping any one of the others. If you don’t want to read
someone’s tweets don’t follow them. If you don’t want to do Twitter
at all, don’t.
I find that today’s teens are actually far more communicative than
older people realise. SMS, IM, Facebook and regular email have all
added to their social world, expanding it hugely. Often, those who
grew up without these new technologies find it hard to see this,
instead only noticing that “kids these days” are constantly looking
at screens. But the point to remember is that these are added
dimensions to their communications; they enhance their social
connectedness.
I remember people declaring the pointlessness of web sites, how
mobiles were only good for emergencies (so should be kept switched
off until needed!), how email was just a shallow simulation of
letter-writing, etc. Scepticism is healthy, but we also need to
remain open to change.
k
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On 29 Mar 2009, at 14:52, Keith Martin wrote:
Just like other new forms of communication, this new one does not
mean stopping any one of the others.
Agreed - and the two most important aspects of anything new are choice
and integration. So if you do choose to adopt new technologies you can
still hold on to the values of older ones that are not directly
replaced by something better. As Twitter matures it will, no doubt,
change both its profile and functionality in the same way as mobiles
have evolved from communication bricks to pocket media centres. It’s
core principal is a useful idea, but like any other ‘tool’ it’s
initial use (and results) can seem a bit scary in inexperienced hands.
Softpress, this Forum and Twitter could all live together quite
happily. It just needs someone to work on the technique of what’s best
where - which sounds like I’m starting to convince myself, even though
I was unimpressed at my first look at Twitter. Must take another look!
Colin
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On 29 Mar 2009, 12:53 pm, thatkeith wrote:
Sometime around 28/3/09 (at 13:11 -0400) Mike B said:
As I say I think it’s what interests each person, the social contact
of talking to someone is 10 fold to that of reading/posting a
twitter but that is me…Actually, yes… that IS you. Which is absolutely fine!
We’re all free to use or not use any form of communication as we
wish. However…Just like other new forms of communication, this new one does not
mean stopping any one of the others. If you don’t want to read
someone’s tweets don’t follow them. If you don’t want to do Twitter
at all, don’t.I find that today’s teens are actually far more communicative than
older people realise. SMS, IM, Facebook and regular email have all
added to their social world, expanding it hugely. Often, those who
grew up without these new technologies find it hard to see this,
instead only noticing that “kids these days” are constantly looking
at screens. But the point to remember is that these are added
dimensions to their communications; they enhance their social
connectedness.I remember people declaring the pointlessness of web sites, how
mobiles were only good for emergencies (so should be kept switched
off until needed!), how email was just a shallow simulation of
letter-writing, etc. Scepticism is healthy, but we also need to
remain open to change.k
I do agree, and don’t get me wrong… we do need to be open to change but I think we should maybe be ‘more’ aware of the consequences of that change than what we actually seem to be, especially the human contact side of that change.
I understand the benefit in the use of emails and other forms of ‘not so personal’ communication like Twitter… I don’t mean to preach here but it really does worry me the number of people that walk down the street texting or talking on their mobiles, the number of kids that used to be out on the streets and are now not because they are on AIM, facebook or whatever, turning to someone beside you somewhere to say something and get a ‘humm’ because they are busy typing on their phone! I think that there is an impersonal side to electronic communication or the unlimited access to it and that the social side of communication needs to have more humanity involved than the electronic side offers… as I say there is nothing wrong with it, I just think we need to be careful that it is used properly and in a healthy way… makes no difference to me as I probably won’t be here in 20 or so years but it would make me very sad to think that most of the personal side of human communication was all but lost.
Keith, I am not condemning anyone and their form of communication here, I am an open minded ‘if not with slightly old fashioned values’ person who is a bit worried as to what is happening to a lot of us and the society younger people will be growing up in, nor am I saying that younger generations are any less social.
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Coincidentally there was this article in the New York Times about Facebook’s phenomenal growth recently. It also touches on the compulsive use by some members and the Big Brother-like control which the company’s owners have over individual sites and users’ privacy.
It’s important to realize that the individual user releases his copyright to the company when he posts. This is also true of You Tube, I believe.
I’m not trying to pass judgement but on the other hand I hesitate to post my original work on these sites for that reason
Jim
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