Comments on: Why Corporate Twitter “Conversations” Are Lies

By: joshaidan

joshaidan — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 02:31:51 +0000

Tod, what do you think if a customer actually provides you assistance through their Twitter? For example, whenever I have a question or concern with @westjet, they always answer my question or take care of my concern. Some examples are, I could not find their mobile check in page, so I asked them where it was on twitter and they DM me with the URL. In another instance I had a question about bereavement faires, and someone DM me offering me to email me the info, or call me on the phone to explain it. And in a third instance, I asked them if I were to put my Twitter name on my luggage, would they be able to send me a tweet when they found my luggage? The person replied to me and said they could arrange to have my luggage lost so that I could find out.

Are those examples of conversations?

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:05:39 +0000

Once again proving that it's not the channel but what you do with it that counts.

By: Greg Scott

Greg Scott — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:01:32 +0000

Why Corporate Twitter “Conversations” Are Lies – Okay, folks, it’s time to interject a little honesty into th… http://ow.ly/16KA9W

By: Alyssa Wise

Alyssa Wise — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:52:36 +0000

A voice of sanity by @todmaffin about what social media is and is not doing for us: http://tiny.cc/o85Xo . See my comment at the end!

By: Alyssa Wise

Alyssa Wise — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:44:04 +0000

A voice of sanity by @todmaffin about what social media is and is not doing for us: http://tiny.cc/o85Xo. See my comment at the end!

By: ROBERT JONES

ROBERT JONES — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:51:43 +0000

RT @colmanjones: Why Corporate Twitter “Conversations” Are Lies http://tinyurl.com/yz299uu

By: Alyssa Wise

Alyssa Wise — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:40:13 +0000

I'm in total agreement - you aren't really engaging with customers (or clients, or friends, or anyone else) unless you are (a) talking about substantive matters and (b) really listening to what they have to say.

Twitter isn't really designed for sustained conversations, but you see the same problems in many other technologies. In online learning contexts we've found that people are not naturally good at responding meaningfully to what others have to say in most technological environments.

Is the structure of social media tools pushing us to broadcast and receive information without engaging in deeper dialogue? I'll be interested to see /if people respond to this comment...

By: Colman Jones

Colman Jones — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:29:36 +0000

Why Corporate Twitter “Conversations” Are Lies http://tinyurl.com/yz299uu

By: Jan Dobson

Jan Dobson — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:44:46 +0000

It's better than not acknowledging someone..but not much. RT @MichaelCalienes Why Corp. Twitter “Conversations” Are Lies http://ow.ly/1fERA

By: Michael Calienes

Michael Calienes — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:36:28 +0000

Why Corporate Twitter “Conversations” Are Lies http://ow.ly/1fERA

By: dbarefoot

dbarefoot — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:13:27 +0000

Customer: Hello. Do you have these pants in chartreuse?
Clerk: Why, yes. Also, cyan and cranberry.
Customer: Thanks.

Is that a conversation, a dialogue or neither? It seems like it's more a question of semantics than anything. Using Twitter as a customer support channel in this way isn't going to solve all of a company's customer service issues, but it can't hurt. The interactions may not be substantive 'conversations' on Twitter, but how many Twitter-borne interactions are substantive? And why do they have to be substantive to count?

I generally agree on the generic '@replies'. Those aren't particularly valuable or interesting.