Social Media: Twitter Road Trip Interview

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 06 May 2009 07:56:39 +0000

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I had the great fortune of sitting down with the guy from Twitter Road Trip recently. We had a great time, as you’ll see in the video, and covered many interesting topics. Even Wicket and Pixie got into things with us!

We discussed the live stream, and how everything came about. I kind of stumbled into that, just like I’ve always done with everything in my life online. We also talked about my Gnomedex conference, which has been around for nine years now. That’s longer than many people have been online – and longer than the term “social networking” has been around!

We then started talking about CNN. They approached me about doing something with them last year, after seeing the live stream. I do a three minute technology review each Thursday evening, and am now the Tech Consultant for them, as well!

You know we had to discuss Twitter, and the whole Ashton Kutcher trying to get to one million. He didn’t send as much flow as I thought he would have with as many followers as he has. Ashton linked to a video of mine, and I was shocked to find out that I didn’t get much flowback from that. I see people who have a large amount of followers, but have no flow like that. They don’t get clicks, or re-tweets. But with our community, they’re just crazy about sending things out, clicking on links I share, and re-tweeting things they find impressive or interesting.

This goes to show that it’s not about the number of followers you have. It has to do with your gravitational pull, so to speak. It has to do with how much weight you pull. I work very hard to make sure that what I say has relevance (for the most part), and that I post something that is valid and interesting that will add value to my Twitter stream… and to my follower’s streams, as well.

Twitter has opened up a whole new world of communication and social media. Yes, it’s true that many people use it simply to say silly things like “I just ate a grilled cheese!”. But there are literally thousands of people out there who are posting interesting, thought-provoking content. Make sure you aren’t missing out. Be aware of who is on Twitter, and what they’re posting. Subscribe to people who may be interesting to you. It’s all about how you are interacting.

Personally, I think that the number of followers and following should be removed. Privately, it would be interesting to have those stats. But I think the public elimination of it needs to happen. It’s a bad metric. Twitter isn’t about how many people are following you. It encourages marketers and spammers, for one thing. And for another… losing those stats in a public way would put more value on the actual content, instead of the numbers themselves.

Towards the end, we left conversation about Twitter behind, and circled back to talking about me. Oh the joys! He asked what I like doing when I’m off-camera, and the answer is hard to put into words. My interests change and involve constantly. It keeps life interesting! I’m a boring guy, really. I was never into a bar scene, nor into sports or concerts. I live online! I don’t need much to keep myself happy and entertained.

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Social Media: Twitter Road Trip Interview

Chris Pirillo » twitter-road-trip

Social Media: Twitter Road Trip Interview