05 August 2010

Twitter not an election tool

Interesting article in today's Australian about how Australian politicians haven't used Twitter to great effect in the current election campaign.

Apt because (as my last blog stated) I haven't been doing much Twittering/Tweeting myself. Reason? I just don't have the time, nor the inclination - probably because I spend a great part of the day writing stuff. Today, I wrote 11 media releases. Tomorrow I'm analysing survey results on video gaming and health.

I'm just not sure who's actually listening on Twitter, apart from the people on your list. And that's doubtful. If you have 1000 people you follow (many overseas) I'm sure you're not going to wade through screens of Tweets to see what they've all been saying while you're asleep. No, you'll just read the most recent.

The politicians and their media managers know about Twitter. If it was thought to be a useful tool, they'd be using it, for sure. But like me, they realise that most people (at least in Australia) still get their daily diet of news from traditional sources - TV, radio and print.

New media "gurus" and social media "experts" can talk it up all they like. But Twitter's been around long enough now for it to be incorporated into media strategy.

@prlab (but not today)

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