Whenever I talk about Twitter in my college classes, I thank them for favoriting my tweets, but that I prefer retweets so that my thoughts will circulate beyond my circle. I lecture them on the value of building a network that way and increasing their social capital.
And, as usual, rather than lecturing them I should have been listening to them. I might have heard a canary in a coal mine.
Here’s what I’m thinking about today:
Last week, Twitter announced that its number of users wasn’t growing, and the prospects for growth aren’t there right now.
Hold that thought.
A few weeks ago, I tweeted to six students I know who are registered for one of my fall classes, and I asked for suggestions on first-day snacks (shut up with your judging). All six “favorited” the tweet, but not one of them answered the question.
I asked one, Jordan Jackson, why she didn’t answer, she said something to the effect of, “Our generation isn’t using social media for conversation that much. We post photos and information about ourselves, but Instagram has taught us to like things rather than talk about them.”
Is social media — or, at least, Twitter specifically — becoming a place to broadcast, but not to interact? That, to me, is a new insight. (I am, after all, the guy who told Bill Mitchell at Poynter six years ago that the social web “is a cocktail party filled with interesting people. You can move from group to group, engaging on different topics, listening quietly when you want to, talking at others.”)
I’m well aware there are different reasons to favorite something on Twitter. The most predominant one is to let the tweeter know that you enjoyed the tweet. In this case, though, I addressed a specific question to specific people. All they had to do was tweet back: “Chocolate chip cookies!”
So, in individual emails, I asked them why they didn’t answer.
One said it was intimidating. Another said she feels “pressure to only tweet/respond if I have something clever to say or a clever way to say something.” And she didn’t feel like saying “chocolate chip cookies” was tweet-worthy.
One agreed with the first student: “I think social media, especially with a site such as Facebook or Instagram, is now a place for people to say ‘This is what I’m up to. Look how cool my life is and how cool I am.’ Twitter, however, is substantially different than other social media in my opinion. I use Twitter not to keep up with other people but to read funny tweets, watch funny videos and entertain myself. There’s a lot of pressure to tweet things that are witty and clever because the standard is set higher to favorite something on Twitter than it is to like a picture on Facebook or Instagram.”
Has the standard to engage with others risen too high?
Or maybe it’s about the brand. Drew Goins told me: “The past couple days on my Timehop have shown me 5-year-old posts from my Facebook Wall that are super conversational — extended exchanges comprising multiple posts on one another’s Walls. I’d never think to do that now. The main function of social media accounts has in the intervening years shifted from one of interpersonal exchange to personal branding, I think.”
While writing about the social media habits of teenagers, danah boyd might suggest to an astute reader that as more adults and prospective employers have joined the conversation, millennials are moving elsewhere.
To some extent, conversations have moved to YikYak (anonymous) and Snapchat (private). My unscientific observation is that many college age students don’t use Facebook or Twitter or Instagram for much more that occasional status updates.
I don’t know if any of that is right. Maybe it’s simply me. But I’m intrigued by the idea that the actual interaction is moving away from Twitter. No, not with millions of people, but with many millennials, which is an influential group.
And if Twitter isn’t going to be the place, what is? Or rather, what will be?
Updated with a few comments from…Twitter:
Dylan Howlett: Bigger takeaway for me: Millennials might be the “connected generation, but they’re not the “quick-response” generation.
April Bethea: I do wonder sometimes how much media’s use of social has changed how people use social platforms, for better or worse.
Marnie Davey: my 12yo & her friends all use Instagram for everything, incl messages – it seems to be all about the #bae :P
Michael Lananna: I think Twitter is still conversational in some circles, but it mostly feels like a vehicle for link-dumping a brand-building.
Chris Coletta: On Twitter specifically, it’s not an age thing. It’s a “power users vs. normals” thing.
Mindy McAdams: A thought: What if millennials aren’t having conversations? Maybe sound-bite culture has come to that.
Chad Arndt: Insightful. And yes I’ve cracked under the pressure to be witty.
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Great topic, John. Twitter has been overwhelmed by mass media, those who use it to broadcast because it has a broadcast feel. It is not conducive to conversation, because, unless it’s a private message (and who needs Twitter to do that?), why tweet to everyone a response that’s intended only for one.
I would love to participate in Twitter discussions, for example, about certain live TV shows, but it’s moronic to expose that to everybody else. Dancing With The Stars and The Bachelor are great examples. Why would I want to expose that I watch those shows to my influential followers? It’s not just the embarrassment; it’s more the annoyance.
And young people bolted Facebook the moment their parents showed up. It isn’t really all that hard to understand, LOL.
My 17yo’s online conversations with her friends are almost exclusively via phone texting — both 1-on-1 and group. (For example, she and friends formed a texting group last year to discuss their AP U.S. History course and related current events. The course is over; the group lives on.) I asked her what the attractions were. No ads, no trolls, and no parents, basically.
Twitter used to be a place to converse and I was active within certain groups of friends who replied. Then my feed got so huge (and fast) that keeping up was out of the question. So I made groups. But Twitter is a “right now” thing and I’m usually working during the day so even keeping Twitter open in my fourth (yes, am geek) monitor – well, I was focused on the other three and rarely saw tweets flowing by. So I added sounds for my “favs” and that drove me nuts (see, “I’m usually working”) and then I just closed it. I go to Twitter when I need something – either the answer to a geek question, a specific contract/job need for a specialist, or if I get an email that tells me someone sent me a message. So really, I’m not using Twitter. It’s almost an annoyance. I can’t speak for young ‘uns (one of my kids actively tweets but not to me, that’s not our electronic medium that’ll get a fast answer from either of us), but how the heck can anyone these days keep up with all the social media?
I keep FB closed most of the day (it’ll suck me in) so I guess I don’t care if I’m first on any social platform. Instagram is where I see my granddaughter’s pictures, FB is where I find out if my friends are OK and how their dogs are, I just learned how Periscope works, Twitter can drive me crazy because there’s no conversation but it’s useful for specifics (not trends), and there are probably 5 other social apps I have on my phone but turned most notifications off. I know my place in the vintage spectrum and I do use email primarily with phone texts a close second (but not for business).
So to really (and finally) address your point, I don’t think most folks use social media for a *lot* more than status updates. And to get likes. And for some reason, prayers. And more to share good reads (elsewhere). At TEDxGreensboro, we’re finding more people are watching and listening to the speakers than they are social-media’ing the live event in real time (except for Susan Ladd who mastered the art of doing both but I can’t without some light and my reading glasses). Go figure what that means.
This is 100% true. Social media, for the deliverer, is a place of showing off, speaking to the masses, and updating. From the recipients perspective, there is browsing, discovering, envying, and copying.
There is little to no conversation aside from favorites, retweets, likes, and emojis.
The part where you talk about time hop really jumped out at me, as I am starting to notice the strange and personal conversations I used to have via Facebook comments.
Definitely sharing this piece. Thanks for writing.
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