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Blogs by Jerome Parisse
Twitter: the art of (non) conversation? 7/11/2010 3:25:42 PM
I read an interesting article about Twitter and some of its benefits in last weekend's Spectrum (Sydney Morning Herald). The article focussed on the creation of communities and the discussion on art forms Twitter engenders among theatre goers or musical comedy adepts. An increasing number of people tweet their friends during performances, to share with them their excitement or give them a review of the show they're seeing. And this is what production companies are increasingly taking into account, hoping to build a larger audience and spread the word. I can't help wonder if the "conversations" the article refers to are really conversations and not just one-directional comments. I may be old-fashioned, but for me a conversation is more than a simple exchange of a few written lines. How do you listen, respond and build a credible point of view when limited to 140 characters? True, the limit is only temporary, as shown by the Royal Shakespeare Company which performed a retelling of Romeo and Juliet over five weeks with 4000 tweets in April this year. Wow. I'm starting to take notice. And what about London's Royal Opera House which, last year, performed an opera with the libretto sourced from tweets received from the public? These uses of Twitter baffle me and fill me with hope. Initially, I was a little skeptical of Twitter and thought it was mainly another marketing tool. I still think it is, at least for many of us, and it would be silly to pretend otherwise. The Spectrum article wanted to make the point that Twitter was a conversation tool, and it cited the example of Company B at Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney: "The minutiae is often the most interesting stuff. It's a mistake to think of Twitter as a marketing tool. It has to be a conversation." The article continues by saying, "To that end, Company B at Belvoir Street Theatre makes a point to replying to everyone who asks a question on Twitter and it re-tweets any positive mention of its productions." If we're really talking about a conversation tool here and not just a marketing device, then why not re-tweets the not-so-positive mentions? Let's not fool ourselves. Twitter is, and will remain without doubt, a marketing tool. Luckily the creative minds have been at work and its uses are constantly expanding.
I use Twitter too, of course, and this article will be posted on Twitter, as with all my blogging. I find it a useful complement to other online communication tools, but for me it is only, for the moment at least, a complement. According to a 2009 poll, those aged 45-54 are 36% more likely to visit the Twitter site than the rest of the population. I can't help being surprised by this figure; not at all what I would have expected. I am definitely reviewing my initial judgement. And when I think back to the Royal Shakespeare Company and London's Royal Opera House examples mentioned above, I can't help feeling excited. I have decided to give Twitter more attention from now on.
