K Street Cafe

[...] Original post by K Street Cafe [...]

[...] K Street Cafe placed an interesting blog post on Is Twitter a Strategy? Like, Come On!Here’s a brief overviewThere is a great discussion going on about whether Twitter is a strategy, or not, on the Progress Exchange Listserv. It was launched by Jon Pincus’s blog post on Tales from the Net and rejoined by Colin Delany on ePolitics. Jon’s post Colin’s response to Jon Here is my response: At the risk of being inflammatory (no offense meant Jon)… come on folks… aren’t we past the days when we refer to a tool (or a communication channel) as a strategy? The internet is not a strategy. A blog is n [...]

You may want to see this post of March 23 entitled “‘New Media’ Gurus Are Creating A Third Basic Flaw In The Communications Business” http://tinyurl.com/cfets4 —

I’m sorry but this industry has an AWFUL record for understanding business models. First, the entire industry is based on time — who cares about time? It’s value that’s important. Billing, measuring success, valuing people, etc etc all on the basis of time is just plain stupid.

Secondly, the business is organized based on distribution channel (advertising, PR, event, digital — think about it, the business is siloed based on distribution channel). Who cares what distribution channel is used? The goal is to communicate. To achieve goals. But the industry is based on artificial silos. Stupid.

And now the industry is being distracted by the latest fad — new tools. The industry shouldn’t be worried about anything other than the following: we want to achieve these specific goals … to do that we need to get well researched and crafted messages to well identified targets in a way that compels their attention enough times and effectively enough so that they do what we hope they will do. THEN, you pick whatever (any and all) distribution channel that will do that.

If people just kept focused on goals and rejected the BS of a flawed and drastically outdated business model, things would make a lot more sense. And the answer to questions like this would be obvious — in fact, the questions like this wouldn’t even be asked.

This very discussion about whether Twitter is a strategy or a tool is evidence that we are not talking about Twitter in a silo. This discussion is occurring simultaneously on the progressive exchange listserv and forum, Twitter, this blog, ePolitics.com, talesfromthe.net, and mostlikely in several coffee shops by now.

In fact, everytime I post on this topic to Twitter, it also updates my Facebook status, exposing it to at least another 1300 people.

In all cases, the comments are referring to each other, across channels, as well as within channels.

Thus, Twitter is a channel among channels, and the strategy is about linking communities together on different platforms into a larger meta-conversation.

That is neither siloed, nor stupid. And since those doing this cross connecting are in this industry, clearly the industry is not as distracted as you suggest.

I agree the question was not the best one to ask, but Jon Pincus’s posing of the question, and his follow-up comments at http://www.talesfromthe.net/jon/?p=561&cpage=1#comment-13800 clearly show this is not a misguided conversation, but rather instructive and provocative.

We all have our eyes of the prize and see Twitter as another arrow in our communications strategy quiver.

I agree—strategy is one of the most frequently misused words in the English language, or at least it seems that way. Even if Twitter is the only tool you’re using, it’s still a tool.

Co0nsider this analogy. When the power drill was invented it changed cabinetry forever. It changed all carpentry as well. It was used in many applications, probably way more than the original inventgors ever envisioned — did they think sandpaper could be applied to the end of it and it would also be used to revolutionize sanding? Fanatastic! Revolutionary! Indeed. No question.

But cabinetmakers did not get the power drill and say, well what can I do with this? Well, maybe they did say that, when it was new and they first got their hands on it. But when they realized the power drill was JUST what is was (a wonderful tool) their question went back to: I need to make a new cabinet, and the power drill sure does make it easier, maybe even makes it possible when it would have been impossible before. But the core question of the quality carpenter is about building the cabinet, which is his goal. Likewise, when it comes to communications, the question, in my mind, is not how do I use Twitter or anything else — the question is: how do I communicate a well-crafted message effectively and efficiently to my targets? At that point, the question may also become how do I use Twitter in that mix, or even by itself to accomplish what I want — but that is still a tactical (not strategic) question — at least “tactical” and “strategic” the way I define those words.

By the way, I did not call the discussion about Twitter stupid, I called it a distraction from other core issues. I DID call basing the business on time and silos defined by distribution channels stupid — but they were stupid before Twitter was a dream.

Finally, I think a disvcussion about whether Twitter is a tool or a strategy IS a distraction when the entire communications infrastructure is going through a major revolution, including at least thye partial dismantling of the Fourth Estate. I think that is a lot more important discussion than Twitter: is it a tool or a strategy? I’v e written tons about this (and a bunch else) at my blog http://www.deathoftime.com — you may hate the comments I made there even more than those I have made here — but the thinking is consistent.

The discussion continues here: http://www.epolitics.com/2009/04/03/strategy-or-tool-on-the-metaphysics-of-twitter/#comment-606636

and here: http://www.talesfromthe.net/jon/?p=561

in the comment sections.

Twitter isn’t a strategy, but it’s more than a tool. Let’s say it’s also a metaphor. Or a pointer to history (for example, 17th Century coffee shops).
The interesting thing for me is that it’s both at the same time – using these tools re-opens our imagination to stuff we’d forgotten.
More at ‘The social web is a Re-imagination Machine’ http://www.internetartizans.co.uk/social_web_is_a_re-imagination_machine

I like the 17th century coffee shop analogy. It is very apt. Both Twitter and the coffee shops were gathering places for people to talk about life and politics in a casual, personable setting. In this respect, Twitter is a venue or a forum… a place where conversation happens.

But is that more than a tool? Perhaps it is a collection of tools… where the coffee shop was a collection of tables and chairs where folks could sit and talk and coffee machines to make the caffeinated beverage that made folks talk so much, and so animatedly.

Twitter, perhaps, is a simpler set of tools than a coffee shop, though the emergence of hashtags and @replies as conversation organizing tools may be the equivalent of tables, chairs, and caffeine.

So, is a venue/forum more than tool? Perhaps. Is it a strategy? Still, I think the answer is, “No.”

Twitter is clearly a strategy, it has it’s own “unique” followers. It is a tool because it provides “function.” Together, it’s part of a process to achieve “goals.” To the people who are not trying to capitalize on Twitter and just rant and rave … It’s just cool.

Again… strategy is a process to achieve a goal. Twitter is a tool and a channel/venue/forum. How you use it is tactics, why you use and to what end is strategy. In and of itself, Twitter is not a strategy.

The Twitter Strategy:

1) Twitter.
2) …
3) Profit!

[...] Delaney, Strategy or Tool, On the Metaphysics of Twitter Alan Rosenblatt, Is Twitter a Strategy? Like, Come On Ivan Boothe, The Fire and the Food: Why There’s No Such Thing As A Twitter Revolution Lina [...]

I just love twitter.because it make me up to date on news and other things.Twitter and emails are different things.Thanks for blogging.

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