I've noticed a recent trend. That the Facebook generation is raiding Twitter to see what it's all about. It's a strange experience as Twitter was first populated by technologists, media industry professionals and the digerati. If you were a serious blogger, you were on Twitter. And if you were Generation Y, it was Facebook.
About three years ago Facebook opened its doors to non-students, and soon you saw the digerati push it to its limits. People like Scoble adding tens of thousands of friends. Hugh MacLeod was covered in the press as the UK's biggest Facebooker. But these old geeks were so *not* Facebook that, to many, it seemed like grandad had crashed the party.
Now it's the other way round. Twitter is all of a sudden receiving a tremendous amount of mainstream media coverage and so Generation Y are checking it out. Celebs are now more famous than the digerati. Who'd have thought Twitter would mimic life! So people that follow celebs... Including Young People!! And Normal People!!... Are flooding Twitter.
I'm getting new "followers" on a daily basis who I can't imagine would want to read anything I write. They're young, write in tx spk, and follow Russell Brand and Chris Moyles, not Steve Rubel or David Brain.
I wrote to one seemingly Generation Y-er the other day to try to find out how they're using Twitter:
"Hi. Serious question!! How did you find me on Twitter? I don't know why people keep adding me!! Cheers. Drew"
She replied:
"duno am new to this jat add any1 a c :-)"
Well there you go!
Wow, interesting how it's unfolding. I wonder if that trend such as the: "add any1 a c :-)" will fade or they may lose interest eventually? This trend although growing exponentially, will be interesting to track and understand. Thanks, Drew!
Posted by: Grace Boyle | February 11, 2009 at 06:57 PM