Twitter was my first social media love. We started our relationship in 2008. I worked as a television reporter. Some of my coworkers mocked our partnership. I still remember their snarky comments and cynical smiles. They misunderstood us. However, our relationship assisted me with stories and helped me communicate with viewers and public relations professionals. We also had fun.
Eventually, management and news media in general began to see the value in social media platforms such as Twitter. Twitter was no longer a joke. The news media flooded the platform like a gold rush. Twitter now was a requirement, another potential avenue to connect with viewers and thus solidify ratings. I don’t recall any of my middle managers congratulating me on foreseeing your value, Twitter. After all, that’s why they’re middle managers.
Twitter has changed since our affair began. To us, it appears it is less of an everyday communication vehicle for regular people. It is more of a digital megaphone for reporters, politicians and celebrities.
In addition, Twitter seemed to only care about me when I appeared on TV. After leaving TV to take part in our own business, it seems Twitter lost much of its interest in me. I wasn’t so clever or funny anymore. My followers continue to decline. I don’t even check for retweets or responses anymore.
Like so many other businesses out there, whether they wish to acknowledge it or not, we continued to hang out with Twitter just to cover our bases. I mean let’s be honest. Many businesses are not genuinely in love with social media. They simply feel obligated to it. And we can relate to that. But enough is enough. We will not be ignored.
As of this week, we are done posting on Twitter or scheduling any future content for that platform. It doesn’t work for us. In fact, it doesn’t work for many of our clients. We’re not dropping the digital hammer on all social media. However, one key understanding about social media is to pick the platforms that work for your particular target audiences. And a lot of companies simply don’t do that. They target all of them just in case. That’s not a real social media strategy.
Twitter, it’s been real. I like to think I was one of the first to truly appreciate your value and beauty. But you’ve changed. I’ve changed. We are wasting each other’s time. We won’t delete our Twitter accounts. We could still reach many reporters through you. However, we’re no longer proactively investing in this relationship. And as much as I hate to say it, we may spread the word with some of our clients. Time is money. And you haven’t shown us the money.
