You’re taking part in the “What Would Mark Twain Tweet” event on Sept. 15 at the Mark Twain House. That begs the question. Do you think Mark Twain would tweet?
Good question. Hard to say. He was the most prolific commentator of the oddities and curiosities of American life. My guess is that he would poke fun at Twitter but use it all the same.
Mark Twain was a huge proponent of modern technology. He had one of the first phones in Hartford and lost a lot of his fortune on the moveable typesetter. What modern social networking technology do you think Twain would embrace today?
I think he would be fascinated by any social media format that encouraged thought and conversation, particularly if it involved those of interesting background to debate. Blogging would have been a favorite story telling venue that could invite commentary and allow Twain to test his ideas out. However, because he quite literally based his characters on people from his real life, he hopefully would use these tools to connect himself to those people and become close, in person.
OK, enough looking back at Mark Twain, let’s talk about Harriett Beecher Stowe. But seriously, what do you think of companies now offering services that can buy Facebook friends for you? It’s not so much for personal use but for commercial use. Is this a sign of the Apocalypse?
Ahhh, yes this is inevitable. Once FB becomes corrupt, the masses will move on. I try to instill in everyone I talk to that these social media platforms are ours to ruin. So behave well, and as soon as you hear about a scheme to get you lots of connections, run away as fast as you can. That isn’t the point. The point is making real connections, or those that matter to you personally or professionally and are mutual connections. Quid pro quo.
You have set up CT Tweet Crawl and Tweet-ups as part of your work at Fathom. Has Twitter seen its 15 minutes of fame? Will it be an enduring social networking tool?
Who knows? It may die off next year or morph into something else. The tool itself is irrelevant. What’s happening on the platform is phenomenal. Connections are being made, information is researched and shared, businesses are reaching new audiences and a lot people are having fun doing it. CT TweetCrawl is an extension of all of that activity, while bringing it to life in all corners of the state.
Why has social networking become so hot as a commerce tool? Look at most people’s e-mail signatures and there seems to be links to at least four social networking sites. Do people spend too much time networking and not working?
People are hungry for peer-to-peer connections that bring more meaning to their life. And this goes for companies too. People are jaded from “the powers that be” because, from big corporations to government, we have lost trust. We are regaining it by turning to each other as resources, which is a return to old values. Companies would be wise to not view social networking as a waste of time, and use it, learn from it and figure out how to incorporate it into their organization. In these times when the old blueprint of ad impressions, TV demographics and clearcut ROI (return on investment) from marketing is gone, the media and corporations would be wise to embrace these new environments and help us make them into something incredible.
Do you sense any backlash coming against social networking? Will people ever get tired of it and resort to actually calling old friends? Will we ever turn back?
It’s all conversation. The more you connect with people online it does seem odd to pick up the phone but the need for connecting in real time – through voice or in person – will never go away. The tools to make that happen will improve, but technology can never replace human contact.
