Twitter is a Social Network

We are the atoms within it. All living things exchange meaningful signals. They engage in conversations expressed in languages of form and color, chemicals, behavior, and sound rather that words and sentences.

We do like that form of a constant stream because it so mirrors life. In some ways, even though it is digital and searchable, it is also forgiving - our short bursts do have an expiration after all.

By paring down our own interactions at micro levels to a mere 140 characters, it is easier to think of and see us as social atoms, a term physicist Mark Buchanan uses to wrap around the understanding of human behavior and the social world. I wonder what he would make of the massive ongoing conversation that is Twitter.

Twitter encourages and engages certain features of our nature that are essential to our social lives. It also helps visualize social patterns and regularities, which humans are very good at picking up. This is important to those who are looking to Twitter for marketing purposes. These features are:

• the adaptive - we take a step based upon a rule, an idea, or a belief and then adjust based upon the outcome. Our behavior is governed more by trial and error than by deduction. We recognize patterns, make predictions, and then adapt. Our decisions are typically made on the fly. Don't you find yourself saying to others who have not tried Twitter that the only way to "get it" is to be participating? That is true for other forms of social networking, but it is especially true of micro interactions.
  

• the imitating - we are not isolated nomads, but, rather, individuals who regularly seek information from others, especially in circumstances of insecurity, ambiguity or danger. There are plenty of those circumstances around today.

That is also why we gravitate towards digital water holes like Twitter. "Social cascades" often result because of this propensity -- behavior becomes more attractive the more people do it. This can go to good ends, think about the Frozen Pea Fund and how enjoyable that made Fridays with all those creative avatars to signal our support.

• the cooperative - human beings are naturally not purely self-interested but, rather, "strong reciprocators." Think also back to the teachings of psychologist Robert Cialdini. We are capable of genuine kindness to those beyond family and friends and we also display righteous indignation toward free riders and those who violate the canons of justice.

According to Buchanan and the authors from whom he draws, these features of our nature emerged not through individual competition within groups--such competition favors selfish traits--but via competition between different (cultural) groups. Dare I say tribes? I smile as I think back to the color teams last holiday season.

People cannot be understood in isolation, and then summed together. Social reality emerges inherently from the collective patterns born of their interactions. Twitter is a map of several social networks that intersect and overlap long enough to give us a glimpse of threads appearing in other quasi conversations.

Yes, there is a danger to be misunderstood with such brevity. A meme can really gain momentum with the ease of a wild fire when imitating is engaged. It can be downright fascinating to see our adaptive nature at work. The most amazing conversations happen when we are cooperative and supportive of one another - for fun and for real.

Twitter is not for everyone. It may work for you some of the time. I find it superficial and arbitrary, and downright noisy at times. Then again, this can be said for just about any medium, and many physical situations - bazaars, airports, train stations, events. It's in the moments when it works, when it engages those certain features of nature, that it expresses the social of the network, that it connects the people and the ideas.

Has your participation on Twitter changed over time? Why did you join? What makes you stick with it?

[PN 35-07 atoms. Hydrogen breakthrough could open the road to carbon-free cars. Credit: EPSRC]

Comments

[Michelle / chelpixie]

I'm looking forward to seeing if Mark responds.

My participation on Twitter in the beginning was very....social. Now it's still social but I focus on helping people and getting to know them, it has much more purpose than just saying hi or tweeting random things.

I also thought you'd like reading John Bordeaux. http://drfuzzy.wordpress.com/

[jon burg]

It's a water cooler. Many people are there talking, gaining perspective, learning about what's cool and exciting, discovery new worlds through our peers.

Others among us feel more comfortable working in the office and socializing outside of the office. Those of us ready to join or even listen to a conversation are welcome.

Those of us who only want to be heard, but do not care to join the conversation, will be ignored.

Those of us who mirror each other will remain mirrors, generating interest so long as we don't seek provocative or interesting perspective.

But anyone with a voice, with a passion, with a true sense of normality and social conduct, is welcome to join and will be successful. It's all a question of success metrics. And I'm not sure what the success metric for Twitter is... or that an objective metric truly exists.

[Tim Hayden / @GamePlanHayden]

I see it as the water cooler, the bus stop and the airline seat-talk ("so, what do you do for a living?") of yesterday. For the moment, Twitter is the growing fountain of dialogue that allows us to do all of the above:

- see old friends at random and/or with consistency for a quick chat
- meet new folks who are going in all different directions and not afraid to tell you all about why and where
- a 2-3 hour exchange that is noncommittal but may very well open a whole new opportunity

Sure, I already have the chap sitting next to me that won't shut up...but for everyone of him that follows me, I am able to grab the nearest seat next to whomever I want to engage.

[Richard]

I have been a member for over a year now and my usage of twitter has exploded in the last month, thanks to Gary Vaynerchuk.

I keep coming back because every single person I'm following always have something interesting to say.

It's amazing what people come out with in that 140 characters, it does sharpen your mind to get to the point.

[AV Flox]

Excellent post. Love the reference to Buchanan. First time on the blog (via @DerekTut) and I'm here to stay.

My participation on Twitter vacillates between being a catch-basin for my daily doings and thoughts and a giant dinner party conversation. I joined because I'll try anything twice--once for the sake of it and once again to savor it.

I am sticking with it because, hi, my name is Anastasia and I'm a Twitterholic.

Someone once told me my nuclear follow-cost indicated I needed a Twittervention. I said OK, so long as I could live-tweet the ordeal. Failwhale?

Uh huh.

[NWGuy aka @NWGuy]

Valeria,

As always a very thoughtful post. It doesn't surprise me that Twitter is too noisy, and abbreviated for you since you put so much into each daily blog post. The time of an in-depth post and Twitter activity would absorb your entire day.

That said, don't tweets at times remind you of everyone talking over each other at a large family reunion or a conference floor? It provides a unique forum to swap between conversations seamlessly; of course that too could drive some people crazy.

For business the value has been positive but tangential to this point. It has lead me to some great articles/insights and is starting to broaden my network. However, a few recent requests have fallen flat so I may have to broaden some more.

Usage has ranged from casual to current events to business, and yes several mini-tribes are apparent. The one item I have to be cautious of is the time sink; between twitter and reading it can take too much of my day. But what a way to go :)

Thanks again.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Michelle - I'm with you on providing value to others on Twitter - helping make connections, share links. There is also the purely social component that is fun every do often. Thank you for pointing out John's blog.

@Jon - a detailed analysis! I think it's very much dependent on what we seek to accomplish at a moment in time. If I'm at an event and want to meet other people who are there, that is one use. Or I might introduce two people who are at a conference I could not attend to each other. The tool allows me visibility into knowing they are there and the ability to talk with them remotely - and publicly (others may be there and join in).

@Tim - you cracked me up with the image of the guy sitting next to you... I once flew to Europe with a pilot sitting next to me. He did not shut up one second during the entire trip!

@Richard - Gary is a good example of being yourself and has passion to share, that's for sure. I do wonder if using only Twitter would impoverish conversation. Short messages are fine, but we don't think and live in taglines.

@AV - you definitely have a personality and voice coming through your writing. I seem to understand you really like Twitter. it can get addictive - it's the feedback, even the silent seeing ourselves in the stream, that makes it so.

@Bruce - thank you for your kind words. I do spend quite some time on crafting posts because I believe in providing value to the community of busy and smart professionals like you who choose to be online, read and participate. I do not open Twitter until I am done writing my posts, or else I'd never get to them.

[Maria Reyes-McDavis]

This is such an insightful and well written post. Really great stuff to think about :-)

Maria Reyes-McDavis

[Adam Needles]

Hi, Valeria. I like this post very much. It's a very intuitive way to think about Twitter and social networks in general.

I'm intrigued by the similarities between atomic theory, node theory (in consumer behavior) and neural networks. Social networks very much mirror all of these three.

It reminds us that in nature there are multiple levels of 'connectedness' and networks that influence our lives and actions. As marketers we must understand this if we are going to be effective.

[Jeff]

It's interesting to see how one's own interactions change over time when using Twitter, Plurk and other social media. Connections are important; I've noticed that, after an initial flurry of social experimentation (friend gathering), I tend to settle on a small # of close friends that stays relatively constant. These are people I seek out every day, for multiple reasons.

I like Plurk becasue it's easier to follow conversations and threads. I still use Twitter but more for posts that I don't need to follow as closely.