Clapp Matthew Clapp

Attention Deficit Tweet Disorder (ADTD)

17-Nov-2010

Tags: Enterprise Collaboration & Social Software, Marketplace at Large, Facebook, Twitter

What does it mean to follow 5,000+ people on Twitter? There is no way you can possibly read that much and still have a day job. What does it mean to have 500+ colleagues on LinkedIn and 1000+ friends on Facebook.

It all seems like an incredible exercise in narcissism. One of the greatest joys on Twitter is when someone re-tweets you. It’s exciting because you’ve learned that someone is actually reading what you’re writing. Without statistics, other than re-tweets there is really no way to know if you’re just talking to yourself.

Facebook’s announcement that it will be rolling out a new email system may turn out to redefine the concept of email for the next generation. We all love quotes, soundbites, and people that get to the point. Facebook is good for that, Twitter, phenomenal.

But, what is lost is depth, personality, and worse, knowledge. After I’ve read through my RSS feeds, Twitter, Facebook, and other must-reads, I haven’t really learned much. Most are just desperately trying to have their voices heard in a jungle of marketing messages, most of which border on pure junk.

According to Alexa.com, Twitter is the 10th most popular web site in the world for people between the ages of 25-44. What are they reading? If the top 100 Twitter users (as measured by followers) are any indication: to follow celebrities. Which means in the Twitter world Lady Gaga (#1 with 7.1 million followers) and Britney Spears (#2) are more influential than Barack Obama (#5) and Bill Gates (#97). Other than Twitter, the only business listed in the top 100 is Zappos. If you haven’t seen it, check out Raffi Krikorian’s presentation called Twitter by the Numbers. Did you know that Twitter churns through 8 TB of data every day while the New York Stock Exchange requires only 1 TB. It’s truly astonishing.

This blog post will be Tweeted but according to Malcolm Gladwell the revolution will not be. It can’t be because this trend is unsustainable. Where can you possibly go from here? Two or three word tweets where the only thing people can really say is “Look at Me”. My background is in psychology and for better or worse I still see people and technology through that lens. Until someone can show me that social media has led to anything other than extreme distraction, reduced productivity, and celebrity worship, I’m going to wait next to Malcolm for the real revolution.

P.S. Please re-tweet me.

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