As the founder of the 140 Characters Conference program, Jeff Pulver (pictured), will tell you that Twitter exemplifies the power and impact of the real-time web. (Jeff will be one of our featured guests at the Jacobs Media Summit, in partnership with Arbitron’s Client Conference on December 6-8).
Over the past couple of years, millions of people have learned about breaking news stories and major events through Twitter as opposed to the TV networks, the Associated Press, the New York Times, and radio. For me, it was when Michael Jackson died. For many of you, maybe it was another story or event that signaled your connection to Twitter.
So with all of this incredible power to create impact and currency, why do so many Twitter users miss the mark?
Twitter is a continuing source of news, trivia, personal reactions, and other noise. Its “always on” teletype nature often makes it difficult to keep up. That’s why so many seasoned Twitter users use tools like TweetDeck, HootSuite, or Timely to automate messages. In this way, if I’m attending The Radio Show, for example, and I want to use Twitter to spread the word about my session throughout the day, I can use one of these sources to send out timed tweets at key times. This preprogrammed feature is appealing to programmers from all backgrounds, because we love to control our content.
But there’s a downside to these systems because sometimes being truly timely gets compromised by the rampant use of automated sources like Timely. That’s especially the case when unplanned realities intrude.
Here’s one of those Twitter-gone-bad stories. Our company was involved in a situation earlier in the year where the time for a convention session we were presenting was incorrectly listed on the hotel message screens, on the website, and on the organization’s Twitter feed. In fact, wrong-time tweets were being sent out at regular intervals.
We contacted the conference managers, and while it was easy to change the hotel signage, the person in charge of Twitter had set up timed tweets that were prescheduled to run throughout the evening. In order to stop these tweets, they had to find the guy who set them up (which wasn’t easy). For a time, we felt a bit like Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Tweets are great, but not when you can’t stop incorrect or inappropriate ones.
It’s reminiscent of the downside of voice-tracking, isn’t it? Most of the time, it works pretty seamlessly and recorded breaks can sound live if the jock is good and preps his or her show. But if something goes awry – a weather event, a big news story, or some other technical snafu – those automated breaks become programming nightmares.
It’s the same with Twitter. Some of you may have noticed this on 9/11. Radio, for the most part, did a wonderful job reflecting the vibe of the nation and local communities throughout the weekend. In many ways, this was local radio at its best.
But if you were hanging out on Twitter, it wasn’t always the same story. Our Lori Lewis caught a number of tweets – right in the middle of the 9/11 ceremony – like this one that was sent out (probably using an automated source) from a major market radio station:
I’ve seen this same thing when a big story breaks and yet the Twitter “gurus” are still firing off irrelevant and off-key tweets that were probably scheduled hours ago.
Those of us who use Twitter often rely on tools like Timely and TweetDeck to ensure our messaging is going out throughout the day, but as Lori Lewis reminds us, we need to be very mindful about the world around us. It only takes an errant, inappropriate, or mistimed tweet or two to damage reputations. These scheduling programs are great, but only if we properly use them.
That’s what being truly timely is all about.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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What good is the delivery mechanism if the contents are untrustworthy, not useful or, in the case of the 9/11 messages toxic to the brand health? Call it right brain/ left brain, keeping the cart in the proper sequence with the horse or whatever… it’s just code if we aren’t being mindful of the usefulness of the content in the end users’ life, right?
Your comparison to voicetracking is a great one. The day Michael Jackson died, I’d already VTd my late afternoon/ early evening show and the minute I got home (30 min. drive from the station), I saw the news. Got right back in the car and drove in to re-do about half my show. Can’t imagine how out-of-it I’d have sounded had I not been paying attention that evening.
Thanks, JJ. Radio has already had its share of “BVMs” – bad voicetracking moments. There will be more as big events occur at night, on weekends, and at other “inconvenient” times for radio. Hopefully as an industry, we will will realize the value of live and local radio. Thanks for contributing.