A dummies guide to understanding Tweet utility

Of course with all the hype/ marketing / spam and invariable boorish behaviour that will become part of the micro blogging scene, there is still great value and practicality in using Twitter.

No matter what crafted ‘simple’ media skits, like Letterman, or Rove (boring Aussie TV) say, there is a purpose and point to using Twitter, socially, commercially – heck whatever takes your fancy. I am not going to discuss use / etiquette etc here, as there is a plethora of resources about that, and my opinions on those matters are mine. Get your own!

So mathematically speaking (yes I have a calculator) here are a few thoughts on being social, and staying in contact with people.

Let’s say you are having a real conversation over coffee for an hour. By real, I mean sitting face to face and both people have an equal share in the conversation – that is – it isn’t your mother talking at you!

1 hr / 2 people = 30 minutes talk time.

The average Tweet (yes we have conducted a global study of 3 Tweeps) takes approx 15 secs to process.

Thus per minute you can (without trying to fake the stats) create 4 Tweets of value. Which means an ordinary face to face conversation has a Tweetutility (patent pending – we would have used Tweetvalue but some other bugger already has it) of 120.

Now not all conversations have the same value, but for the sake of understanding, we are assuming all conversations are one and the same.

Let’s think about the value of this then. Casual observation of Twitter interactions (where there is at least 1 Tweet and 1 directed reply) shows that many Tweeps would share between 4-6 Tweets each in a short directed conversation about any given topic.

Thus in the equivalent real time talk time you could in theory have (using 4 as the value because I am lazy) 30 meaningful (albeit short) interactions for the same amount of time. Given the veteran Tweeters ability to create intelligence with brevity you could still have 10 great mini conversations.

More importantly for the same amount of time you have actually maintained a presence in your community, and spoken with more people in less time than can often be done in the physical realm.

Why is this important?

For me it isn’t really, I can easily see the benefits in finding ways to meet and engage with new people, and stay more in touch and probably get a little closer to people I already know. However your boss or partner might wonder why you should engage online. Why participate?

Well as @wifey1point0 (my partner) commented to me recently… (and no she is not actively involved in any social media)…. you are able to do more now sitting home at night than you used to going off to breakfasts or evening meetings.

That’s it. While I love meeting people face to face and going to events. I also love my family and getting some sit down time. So being able to keep up with people in the comfort of my home and have real conversations with my wife and kids and still interact with others without always having to travel and be away from home is invaluable.

See it is all about simple maths. 140 characters really does add up. Tweetutility is high if you use it right.

Well that’s what ireckon anyway

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