[Connie Reece Exemplifies Twitterville's Humanity. Photo by Chris Hoet.]
[This is the 3rd of what will be four parts to my TOC for Twitterville, a book about why business should use social media in the current tough times. Thanks for the feedback and new leads for the book so far. I have been getting hit with a fire hose so far, so I apologize if I have been slow getting back to you. I am starting to talk to people in the order I plan to write about them, so if you send me some info that I plan to use in Chapter 10, it may be several weeks before I get back to you. This morning I finished up the introduction. Later today. I'll dig in to Chapter 1. Right now, I'd love some stories about how Twitter was used at SXSW 07. But meanwhile the feedback and suggestions in these first few days have been terrific. Keep them coming in and please be patient with me. Above all, I want your feedback. Please help me to make Twitterville a better book.]
8. Getting political in Twitterville
Politicians are no strangers to social media. presidential candidates--or at least their professional support teams--have been using interactive media for at least the last two US presidential elections. But it has mostly been one-directional stuff. They used YouTube or blogs to get message out and contributions in. The thought of actually engaging constituents in conversations or asking supporters to get out in their communities or get other voters to the poll never occurred to the politicos--not until the election of 2008.
Voter questions got answered by Obama's people in Twitterville. More than that, Twitterville missives urged supporters to show up at events, knock on neighbors doors, advised them how to answer tough questions, maintained an ongoing, round-the-clock conversation that shared information as well as enthusiasm and support. In the end, Obama's Twitter account [twitter.com/barackobama] was followed by an astounding 136,277 voters.
Candidates used other social media platforms in this election. Untold millions were raised on Facebook. Citizens generated great video on YouTube. Politicos got their candidates onto the Internet for the same reason they used to get them to attend the funerals of famous people--because that's where the voters were.
But what happened on Twitter, was different. It was more interactive than anything that ever preceded it. It reinforces a key point of this book that people can behave in Twitterville more like they do in real life. Twitter allowed political teams to join the conversation that mattered to their candidates. The book argues that American politics--and perhaps Democratic politics everywhere will never be the same. Keeping in mind that youth drives social media adoption. The habits they are forming now will remain with them through their lives. Each year, more and more voters can be reached through social media. More important they can talk back through social media. Would Obama have won the presidency without Twitter? Probably. But the next election may be closer. And more of the voter who will decide the outcome will be having their conversations on Twitter. Smart candidates will ignore Twitterville in future elections at their own peril.
Twitter also broke ground in conducting a joint effort with CurrentTV, co-founded by former presidential candidate Al Gore. The two pioneering companies created a joint effort called Hack the Debate [http://current.com/topics/88834922/hack_the_debate/new/0.htm], which allowed people viewing the Obama-McCain debates to post comments on the TV screen. The event generated mixed reviews, but showed some interesting possibilities for future political forums. Yet another Twitter experiment was called Election08 [http://election.twitter.com], an ongoing experiment that generated 10s of thousands of citizen comments. In fact, the site was so popular that, it has continued to run with considerable popularity even though the election it was started for has completed. Posters seem to be discussing a wide variety of political issues with great passion.
This chapter will also look at the new power Twitterville is giving to bottom up, or grassroots politics, where a growing number of causes have set up accounts to raise money and change thinking.
It will look at Europe In addition, the office of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown maintains a Twitter account [http://twitter.com/DowningStreet] with over 6500, occasional hostile followers. More recently, he has been joined in Twitterville by opposition party leader David Cameron [twitter.com/davidcameron].
The Governor of Utah [twitter.com/Utahgov] maintains a Twitter account as does his CTO David Fletcher [http://twitter.com/dfletcher] who has agreed to talk with me.
This chapter will explore worldwide use of politicians and government and the repercussions of their becoming more accessible to voters online. Among those I have found so far is Maxime Verhagen [twitter.com/MaximeVerhagen], a Dutch Minister.
9. Twitterville Humanity
At the core of what makes Twitterville unique ans special is it's humanity. This chapter will explore some of Twitterville's most human experiences and will make clear to business readers that the smartest way join Twitter is as a human, not a brand. It will emphasize that the best way to achieve influence is through acts of generosity to the community.
The chapter will center on Susan Reynolds [twitter.com/susanreynolds] who has a dangerously invasive form of breast cancer. Shortly after coming home from a biopsy and feeling considerable pain, she discovered her only relief was to place a bag of frozen peas over her incision.
This experience, coupled with an immediate and widespread groundswell of Twitterville support inspired her to start “Boobs on Ice”[susanreynolds.blogs.com/boobsonice] a blog about her experience. She posted a photo of herself there and on Twitter, with a bag of frozen peas tastefully tucked over her cleavage at her blouse top.
The peas became a symbol for Reynolds’ struggle. Dozens, then hundreds, and eventually thousands of Tweeters began to observe “Frozen Pea Friday” by altering their photos or avatars to contain peas each Friday. Creative volunteers assisted others to create pea-avatars.
It progressed. Connie Reece [twitter.com/conniereece], a highly regarded Twitterville firebrand, launched the Frozen Pea Fund [frozenpeafund.com]. Reece asked asked people to donate $5 each Friday to a special account she opened at the American Cancer Society. Why $5? That’s the average price for two bags of frozen peas. To date, the Frozen Pea Fund has raised tens of thousands of dollars and has branched out to support other cancer victims and blood drives.
This story is perhaps the best known of numerous community support efforts. Why should business care? Goodwill in downtimes goes further and is remembered longer than during times of affluence. If a major corporate representative had joined the Susan Reynolds conversation, for example, and offered matching funds for pea donations, the costs would have been quite low. But the generosity would have been long remembered. The press coverage that followed the Reynolds incident would have covered the company.
This chapter will discuss Twitter as a new venue for micro donations that can cost little and gain significant visibility in a community that has proved to serve as a word of mouth engine.
I will actively seek out other stories of humanity and generosity that are unique to Twitterville. I am particularly interested in finding cases where businesses, through Twitter have shown generosity and humanity.
10. Twitterville Overseas
I have not really begun researching this chapter which will explore Twitter activities in non-English speaking countries. I am particularly interested in activities in China and Japan where I am told Twitter is currently enjoying rapid growth.
11. Buying Homes & Finding Jobs on Twitter
In fall 2008, the first home was sold on Twitter. It was in Berlin, NH, a pastoral community of under 10,000 where more than 200 houses have gathered cobwebs on the market for more than 60 days, 80 of them foreclosures. By any measure, this is a cold housing market. This house, sold in less than two weeks after the tweet was posted had been on the market without a nibble for over six months. In Australia a young Sydney college graduate found an affordable apartment he likes. There seems to be an emerging flea market for used clothing, iPhones, babysitting services emerging on Twitter. Most recently a new site called TwitPay [twitter.com/twitpay] was launched enabling cash transactions of up to $50 to take place in Twitterville, bringing the place a significant step closer to being a true marketplace. TwitPay's founder-CEO has agreed to talk with me for the book.
Should eBay and Craig’s list shudder in trepidation of new competition? Not yet. Buyers and sellers have begun to find each other and this is a trend that can only be expected to continue. It is a free way to find customers and free is a very promising price point in down economic times.
