Wednesday, January 7, 2009

How Many People Actually Use Twitter?

Eric Berlin poses a good question here. The makers of this video make it pretty apparent that, while twitter has grown “exponentially” according to Darren Rowse, this random sample society still doesn’t tweet and they’re letting you know that.



What can you do about it?
The most successful social networking platforms come by hands-on learning. You can talk about it to a person until you’re blue in the face, but the first step to conversion is embracing (take in with the mind) the technology; second step, spend hours of time navigating the device. I’ve been reading Twitter conversion articles lately and the writers themselves say they had to give Twitter a second look after an earlier in the year sign-up kept them from exploring Twitter any further.

I believe Twitter will have a tipping point eventually… much like Facebook. If you were to replace “Facebook” with “Twitter” in this street questionnaire, I guarantee you that everyone would know Facebook because it’s a global phenomenon that has stuck. I’m forever enslaved.

Contest Time
If you’re one of those people enslaved by Twitter, you are eligible to participate in this contest. Count how many people in this video don’t know what Twitter is, report it back to @axiompr and Axiom will send your favorite candy to you. Please tweet “XX from Brazil don’t know Twitter.” Remember, you have to be the first person to do it!

Thanks to the makers of this video and Wii for giving vibrancy to gaming.

Baby Step with Bill Murray

Please do not come into work after a long holiday break and talk about how many days left until the next break. Please do not count the number of hours until the weekend.

I believe we should all be doing something we love, something we can be passionate about. There are a lot of people who should not keep the jobs they have. I understand that we all have bills to pay and duties to not act irresponsibly, but if you don't like your job or where you are at (and are not moving towards any personal goals), there is something wrong. Take action.

Please watch this clip from Bill Murray's What About Bob?


Here are 3 Baby Steps you can take:

1. Don't let false excuses imprison you. I do not buy into many of the excuses that I often hear - the economy is bad, its too hard, I don't have time to look for something else. Poor excuses. And many of them are only in your head. There are many benefits to starting a business during a down time and some of the best businesses were started during recessions. Don't go into a recession yourself.

2. "Set small, reasonable goals, one day at a time." Rome was not built in a day. Spend 1 hour a day after your normal work day to get things done. Reconnect with one old friend/colleague/family member each week and let them know what you are up to (maybe they have some ideas or job leads). Have one meaningful conversation a week on Twitter that builds a strategic relationship. Comment on one new blog. Set up a structured way to learn a new skill that could be added to your resume. Each day holds the opportunity for you to make a small baby step in the right direction.

3. "Don't think about what you have to do to get out of the building, think about what you have to do to get out of the office." I get overwhelmed sometimes when I try to make everything happen at once. I start playing the "what if" game and overwhelming myself with every task all at once. Instead of focusing on each step, I wonder how things will get completed and give up before it even starts. There is no way to predict where our future will take us. All we can do is take the baby steps towards what we think it may be. As we move along, our next step should become apparent when we need to take it.

Please do not do nothing. Baby steps towards the future.