Is Guy Kawasaki Ruining Twitter?

by Jack Humphrey on Mar 31

Guy Kawasaki is one of the big wigs on Twitter.  At least as far as having a lot of followers.  He uses Twitter, as far as I’ve noticed, to promote news and blogs listed in Alltop, his RSS gallery of feeds on all kinds of topics from all kinds of sources.

I’ve never minded his Tweeting incessantly about every conceivable topic.  I know it is on autopilot.  And I’ve noticed he’s totally phoning it in with no personal interaction with his followers that I’ve seen.

Again, I’ve never really felt “spammed” or mistreated by Kawasaki as a follower.  But I take a different approach to Twitter than most people.  I don’t care if I “miss something” because I just use Twitter as part of my daily online stream of consciousness.

I see what I see, when I’m checking in.  I Tweet when I Tweet.  I don’t stress about all the Tweets that have gone by since I last checked in.  This, apparently, freaks a lot of Type A people out.  I think they are stressing over nothing.  A lot happens on the web when they’re not looking and always has.  No one stresses about that.

Anyway, I see the points made by Andrew Goodman in a recent post after seeing Kawasaki speak at SES New York last week.  I dig where he’s coming from.  But I also feel that there’s no way any one person can bring down something like Twitter.

There are spammers and people with different points of view on how to use all kinds of different services 2.0.  Everyone has an opinion and preferred method of using sites like Twitter.  But none of that takes away from the coolness and usefulness of the service.

One of the things that saves Twitter is…

One need only unfollow someone they dislike, and immediately, for that person, Twitter is clean and without distraction again.  People can create their own Twitter experience 100% of the time by managing who they follow.  Everyone has full control of their Twitter experience unless they relinquish that control to automation.  Then, if you’re miserable, it’s your fault!

So I am not sold on the whole idea of Twitter being ruined by anyone or anything.  Or that it has a shelf life based upon the actions of some users unless we all start doing what Kawasaki does and just phone it in.  That would create the “digital trailer park” Goodman warns of, and would certainly lead to the demise of Twitter.

What do you think?

Do you see signs of Twitter declining because of spammers or “broadcasters?”  (People who simply send tweets and never interact with their followers?)

Tagged as: andrew goodman, guy kawasaki, ruining twitter, twitter

  • http://djdoubledown.blogspot.com Doubledown Tandino

    i think web 2.0 on the outside is a sharing social community…. and on the inside is a bunch of egocentric individuals with the assumptions that his or her finds on the internet is detrimental.

    People should be and ARE free to use their web 2.0 and social network services however they wish. At the very least, Guy Kawasaki should be allowed to post his own link roll for himself.

    Doubledown Tandinos last blog post..First Annual Resident Choice Awards

  • http://www.inspirationalguidance.com Diane Corriette

    Twitter can never decline because like you say all you need to do is unfollow so eventually the spammer will find they have no followers.

    Guy provides value and I like a lot of what he Tweets. If you just sent tweets Jack and never interacted it wouldn’t bother me because I know you and I appreciate you are busy running a business. The interaction thing really isn’t a big deal for me – but that’s just me!

    Anyway thanks to the power of outsourcing you might think you are talking to the real person when you are actually not! Stephen Pierce has started replying to people who leave blog comments and for a few seconds I wondered if it was actually him or not! I just find it difficult to believe that he would actually sit there reading and commenting on blog posts. I accept he is a busy man with a lot to do and don’t expect interaction from him but get a HUGE amount of value from his posts.

    For true interaction I will catch him on a teleseminar or make the time to go see him at an event.

    This twitter thing is being taken way too seriously. Its just 150 characters of opportunity to tell a bunch of folks something. I have made some great connections, managed to learn some interesting facts and found out some valuable news. Everything else I ignore or unfollow from!

    • http://www.jackhumphrey.com/ Jack Humphrey

      This twitter thing is being taken way too seriously.

      AMEN! All of the back and forth on all Twitter issues is really funny when you look at it next to, say, wars, economies, or the price of getting back and forth to work (for the lucky ones who have to do that kind of thing.) :) It’s just silly and also it’s grasping at something to make news out of that probably doesn’t deserve this kind of attention.

  • http://www.evowebdev.com/blog Ray Gulick

    At its best (not necessarily as it’s most experienced), web 2.0 is about connection. No interaction, no connection. More like spam 2.0.

    Ray Gulicks last blog post..HostGator’s Support Ticket System Problem

  • http://www.dnaofsuccess.com Jack Zufelt

    I can usually weed out the spammers. I’m glad that there is an unfollow function.

  • http://www.spiritualpreneurs.com Sharon Wilson

    The no interaction thing doesn’t really bother me. It’s a personal choice on whether or not you interact with your followers.

    Sharon Wilsons last blog post..How Are You Solving Problems?

  • http://hartofsuccess.com/ Stefanie Hartman

    I find a lot of value in “broadcasters” on Twitter. I find their Tweets interesting.

    Stefanie Hartmans last blog post..Brilliant Idea

  • http://www.inspiredtowrite.com Julie M

    This is really a good post and I agree with your perspective. I think ‘ghost’ posts and auto DM’s just plain out suck! isn’t that the same as sending out pre-programmed e-mails or text’s to your friends to ‘seem’ like you care? Yes, he does not really interact as far as I can tell. And, No it does not bother me nor do I feel spammed. I RT him all the time, cuz many of his articles are good, but nada in return. I know I have less than 1,000 followers so maybe that is why. But, No I don’t think he is ruining it, he is one person and most people I have met there are positive and supportive!

    Julie Ms last blog post..The Second Person I Met in Cyberspace

  • http://www.mikehaydon.com Mike Haydon

    Ditto what Diane said. Taking it further – if people really thought someone like Guy Kawasaki was spamming them, they’d unfollow him with three clicks. The fact that he has one of the largest followings on twitter suggests people find his stuff useful. So why would he change a working formula?

    Mike Haydons last blog post..Inspiration to Achieve Your Potential

  • Cole Taylor

    | It really is like any of the tools we use … I don’t read every post on Facebook, even those of my best and dearest ‘friends’. I also don’t watch every television episode, of any show. I don’t read the entire Sunday Times … I’m just not that ‘in’ to anything to that extreme. Except perhaps my kids and their concerts, ball games or graduations. Or, the dog walks. Those things, I Don’t miss.

    Let the tools enhance your life, but treat them like tools.

  • http://www.1writeway.wordpress.com Marie Ann Bailey

    Glad I found this post! How Twitter is used has been an issue with me since I opened my account. You might find Matt Bai’s essay in the NY Times interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/magazine/26wwln-lede-t.html

    My biggest grievance is the personal tweets (“going for coffee” etc.) that clutter my page. At least Kawasaki’s tweets have more substance. And it doesn’t bother me if Twitterers like Kawasaki don’t interact with their followers … I mean, if you have hundreds of followers, how could you ever find the time much less the energy?
    That said, I do wish some Twitterers would just open separate accounts–a personal one and a professional one–so that followers like me can just follow the tweets I’m really interested in (like that link to a great blog on writing) and not have to slog through tweets about whether or not it’s a good day to go to the beach. If anything is going to kill Twitter, it’s the mountain of mundane tweets that will.

  • http://drkblog.com Dr. K

    You wrote “And I’ve noticed he’s totally phoning it in with no personal interaction with his followers that I’ve seen.”

    That’s not true about the personal interaction. I replied to one of Guy’s tweets, and we had a great back and forth, talked about several things, wound up exchanging books.

  • http://www.sixdegreestheagency.com Chris Dixon

    Guy responded to one of my tweets the other day.

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