I have noticed a trend. Twitter, which is most effective as a tool to engage with people, has become much more of a broadcast channel as the masses have discovered it. This will, I will go so fa
to predict, be its downfall if this continues. We need to get back to engaging on Twitter. Most of all, we need to get back to listening on Twitter. I heard this sentiment repeated several times at recent blog conferences.
The single best thing about Twitter is the interaction, the fact that it is a conversation (on crack).
When it has disintegrated to the point of being a stream of retweets and blog post links or, worse yet, secrets to getting more Twitter followers, it becomes useless.
It used to be, I could tweet and get replies. And even retweets sometimes. But now everyone, myself certainly included, is finding tweets that @ them, mention them or via Twitter search for terms. That means we are missing the conversation, and the conversation is falling apart without us.
It seems to bode very well for Facebook. I find that my tweets automatically pulled into Facebook tend to get far more feedback. If I were Twitter, I would be very concerned.
As a perfect example, I tweeted a question about the lack of engagement on Twitter. While I got a few responses, the more active conversation about conversation on Twitter happened on Facebook:
Kelby Carr Is anyone engaging on Twitter anymore? Seems like stream is so full of promotions lately. May need to unfollow some who only broadcast.
Mon at 11:56am via Twitter · · Like / Unlike
Crafty GAgal
I try to engage but seems it is rare that I see the old peeps I used to talk to.
Mon at 12:03pm · Delete
Kristie Sawicki
It has gotten a bit out of control.. Not nearly as much connection as when it first started out =(
Mon at 12:05pm · Delete
Claire Evans
I am rarely on Twitter because no one replies back to me and it is all advertisements.
Mon at 12:07pm · Delete
Deanna Adams Perrin
I try to engage, but it gets hard with so many people on there now. I find myself on Facebook more and more these days.
Mon at 12:11pm · Delete
Jennifer Fortwengler
That’s exactly why I stopped using twitter months ago.
Mon at 12:20pm · Delete
Christa M Miller
I unfollowed a bunch of broadcasters a few months ago, along with people who were not following me back. I like my stream a lot better now, though I do find it more difficult to scale than I’d like.
Mon at 12:24pm · Delete
Sarah Sabin Tudor
I use tweetdeck to sift out the ads and crap that clogs up the feed.
Mon at 12:41pm · Delete
Amy Lupold Bair
I’ve been trying to figure out how to use the new twitter lists to find everyone I used to tweet with, but having fun conversations with friends is still how I check in and connect a few times a day, recharge my batteries. I often just ditch my twitterstream, start conversations, then use only my replies button.
Mon at 1:55pm · Delete
Susan Carraretto
I admit I tend to like Facebook more and more these days for staying really connected. I need to remind myself to go use Twitter more as I tend to turn to facebook first.
Mon at 4:43pm · Delete
Zipporah Lubin-Sandler
I’m also facebooking more and tweeting less – a LOT less
Mon at 5:01pm · Delete
Colleen Padilla
yes I’ve been using FB more and more too.
Mon at 5:55pm · Delete
Tammy Hodson
Hey! We are still engaging! 
Mon at 8:32pm · Delete
Audrey Couto McClelland
Couldn’t agree more!
Mon at 9:08pm · Delete
Janice Croze
I am engaging – I hope! LOL Been sick with the flu this week so I have been off of everything though.
Mon at 9:12pm · Delete
Maria Bailey
I totally agree. Companies think that’s how you develop a relationship. Problem is they are using new media with old strategy.
Mon at 10:02pm · Delete
Mary Davis
Hi Kelby. Let me tell you about this new project I’m working on… 
Mon at 11:05pm · Delete
Toni Patton
I am one who just talks away LOL but I agree when tweets turn to just promotions of this or that and there is no real “content” even if just talking it’s maddening
Tue at 8:27am · Delete
Karla VanBibber Porter
I’ve noticed this… I try to engage but no one ever replies to me. It’s not just the companies who aren’t engaging.
Tue at 9:06am · Delete
Jenn Fowler
I talk to people! I think the big change was when they changed teh way the @’s work-I seem to have lost track of lots of folks since that happened.
Tue at 9:16am · Delete
Kelly Winkel Russell
I agree with Jenn. When they changed that, it seemed that my stream became nothing but promotions. Don’t know why or how. I am working on hard on cutting back those not following me.
Tue at 11:08am · Delete
Lucretia Madden Pruitt
I don’t have promotions… but yeah, considering filtering out some of the noise lately
Tue at 11:50am · Delete
So I am going to make a call to action. I love me some Twitter, and I want it to be as revolutionary as it once was.
Let’s all vow to spend at least a few minutes each day reading our stream. Just our stream. You decided to follow these people for a reason, right? And if you do that and (like me) discover some people are doing nothing but spewing out links to sell crap like secrets to Twitter followers, unfollow them. Reply to interesting tweets. Retweet great ones.
Listen to Twitter again!
Photo of ear, copyright Andrea Kratzenberg
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Kelby Carr
Kelby Carr is the founder and publisher of Type-A Parent. She also is the organizer of the Type-A Parent Conference. She is the author of the soon-to-be-published Pinterest For Dummies, Portable Edition. You can follow her on Twitter at @typeamom and circle her on Google+.
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19 Responses to Listening on Twitter
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I supposed I “broadcast” to a degree, Tw acct is for employer & expected to talk about our products…but also really try to engage & talk to people at the same time
Well don’t be mad that I retweeted your tweet about this blog post lol.
I am finding that I am stuck with people who seem to think that the whole goal of twitter is to post ads. Or links (which I am extremely guilty of!). I have tried communicating with others and then nothing is reciprocated. However, I have recently found some new people through a hashtag and we have been communicating quite a bit since then.
So yes, there are some of us whom are using it to actually network and not post ads and links. Just got to weed us out!
That is the main thing I love about tweetdeck – I can put all my fave conversationalist in one column so that i can find their tweets and talk with them. I miss the conversations too, but I think that if enough people who value those conversations keep that as a focus, this does not have to be the doom of Twitter. Twitter, for me, has always been about what I make it.
Great reminder. Honestly, I try to engage. Some days, however, I do see myself broadcasting. Blech! Thank you for this great article and reminder!
I have never courtesy followed. If I wasn’t interested in a follower’s tweet stream, I didn’t return the follow. Of course I respond to direct engagement, but I think this keeps the noisy broadcasters from completely filling my stream. This is in addition to using filters in Tweetdeck.
I hear you, loud and clear. It used to be that I would try to find new interesting people to follow, and see if I am missing some brilliant person I should be connected with. Nowadays I use the “unfollow” button several times a day, and just give boot for the advertisers. I feel that the good old twitter is still somewhere there, but you need to do some work trying to find it.
Oh, and by the way… I came here today via Facebook…. I feel that there is more engaging at Facebook, and spend much more time at FB than I used to.
I have seen this, too. I agree w/the comment about companies using new media w/old strategy. There are a few amazing examples of companies using it well, but so many more seem to be jumping on the bandwagon w/little thought to how. Not that I think I should write the rules, but the connections are what it’s about, imo. Need to clean up my stream, too. Personally, I respond more than I RT or post original links. I’ve always felt like that meant I didn’t “add value”, but oh well.
I try hard to listen to my stream but thank you for the reminder. I will try even harder.
I agree it’s all about listening!!!
I’ve been guilty of this myself recently. I find that alot of the time, I don’t get responses either. But I do try to randomly start conversations and I always reply to someone who has @’d me! but, I’m on FB more so now. I even liked this note when it came through. (I think).
I’ve also noticed that “engagement” is down over the past couple of months. Without the conversations, it’s just another broadcast medium *yawn*.
I use FB exclusively for my real friends and family (with a few exceptions for business connections that I feel — well, connected to), although I’m dabbling in a business page now.
I got here via Twitter, so I guess I’m one of the ones still trying to work it.
LOVE the comment re: new media/old strategy! I’m not a great reply-er. If something gets too involved for a quick RT or reply, I’ll sometimes go to DM but more often than not, I’ll let it drop because I’m a Twitter Snatcher. I only Tweet in short snatches of time and tend to miss conversations until they no longer seem timely.
Being fairly new to Twitter (about 5 months) even I’ve seen a big shift in what I’m seeing. I think Alli Worthington summed it up fairly well, for me at least, at a recent blog convention with her 9 to 1 ratio. Engage, make it personal 9 times and 1 promotion or info tweet. For me Twitter has been a great way to learn more about social media and the people using it. I’m really not that big on being “sold” to on twitter. FYI I hope Totaly_Toni NEVER stops talking!
I was referred to this post by Erica Mueller after she read my post on Social Media Marketing http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog/EntryId/435/Social-Media-Optimization-and-Marketing.aspx, which cover similar sentiments as mentioned in this post.
After reading this post, I couldn’t agree with you more. Too many are using Twitter as a free marketing broadcast medium, instead of what it was originally intended for. Twitter is about connecting to people, building communities, not so much about flogging your wares.
I don’t see how this can be limited. The only thing would be for real people like you and me to block an un-follow people who just advertise.
I was a late bloomer on twitter and only use it for sweeps and posts on my blog. I look for the same on twitter. It’s rare if ever that I engage with people. Twitter isn’t really a medium for “talking” to people because you can’t really type much and the whole format is for people with short attention spans ha ha. I much prefer FB or places where it’s not high speed
I created my Twitter account about 3 months ago and needless to say I use it more often than I had anticipated! I do find that a majority of people tweet things that are irrelevant to anything. I also like Facebook, but I think there are too many add-ons and applications which I would never use. I have realized that you can have thousands of followers on Twitter and only a handful of listeners. Listeners are much more important than the number of followers.
I don’t follow many people on twitter yet, and that is mostly because I like to check that I am interested in what they have to say before I follow them. And I have blocked more people from following me than I actually have followers, since if they seem to have no reason to follow me other than to get me to follow their marketing links, then I immediately block them.
I completely agree with you, but I also think that sites like TweetDeck add to the problem. If you pay attention only to your closest friends, you miss the opportunity to connect with new people. I’ve been spending a lot less time on Twitter because no one responds to anything. I doubt I’ve become that much less interesting over the past few months!
Twitter has won a small army of lifecasting converts, with its bite-sized notes and instant-gratification communication. Twitter is an opt-in idea: you decide whether or not to open an account and then who to follow or not and we are always in control.