Comments on: Is Twitter Really as Conversational as We Think It Is?

By: aulia_m

aulia_m — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:55:01 +0000

Whether Twitter is conversational or it's not It all depends on the circle of people you're in. In my stream, conversations happen almost every time and at times it's almost like a chat room. Other times, when this chatty group is not so active, it can be a stream of unidirectional information.

As you said, your research is unscientific and it is based solely on your circle. I follow close to 600 people and I can tell you conversation is alive.

By: aulia_m

aulia_m — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:55:01 +0000

As you said, your research is unscientific and it is based solely on your circle. I follow close to 600 people and I can tell you conversation is alive.

By: Danny Brown

Danny Brown — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:24:01 +0000

What's All My Children?

By: Scott Hepburn

Scott Hepburn — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:18:27 +0000

Okay, you get a pass. But if I find out your uncle is actually your father
and that you have a twin brother you never knew about, we're gonna have
trouble.

By: Matthew Chamberlin

Matthew Chamberlin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:42:37 +0000

Well, true confession: my mother was on AMC all through the 80s. She played Pat Baxter, mother of Angie of “Jessie and Angie” fame. There! I've said it!

By: Scott Hepburn

Scott Hepburn — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:32:23 +0000

I'm gonna pretend you didn't just demonstrate your encyclopedic knowledge
of “All My
Children”…

Original Message:
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By: Matthew Chamberlin

Matthew Chamberlin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:25:12 +0000

I agree with your unscientific survey. What gets me about Twitter, which was on particularly egregious display during SxSW, is how it gets used as a giant IM tool. Largely, though, it seems like your stats bear out what I see on Twitter. I really don't see too many “Oh, man, what an awesome sandwich I just ate” tweets. But I do question it's conversational value, mostly because Twitter lacks context and is virtually impossible to follow. If only it were like “All My Children” which you could stop watching for 20 years and jump back in and see Erica Kane and Adam Chandler right back at it again.

By: DrewGneiser

DrewGneiser — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:18:04 +0000

I work with two Twitter accounts. On our company's account (@axiompr) during the day, when I take a quick scan of the stream, it does seem to me that most of the Tweets begin with @. If that is how we would measure conversation on Twitter, then it would seem like things are pretty back and forth. On my personal account, I am following less people, and it seems like there are fewer @ tweets in the stream. What do these things show? Maybe that I am not following the right people on my personal account. Or maybe that conversations might spark on Twitter, but continue on a blog or a DM. I believe that Twitter is conversational, but in my opinion, its what you make of it. Many just broadcast themselves and make no real effort to converse, but that does not diminish the people who are actually using it to connect.