Fair enough. I don’t care either. Nor do I care where you are right now, especially if you’re using Foursquare to tell me about the sun-dried tomato concoction you’re eating at a cute little suburban café. (If you’re in Italy eating osso bucco or meeting with the president of the United States over a beer, that’s a different story.)
Now there’s data to support the fact that I’m not alone. As @toddwasserman reported on Mashable, researchers at Carnegie Mellon, MIT and Georgia Tech recently conducted a study to determine how tweets are received by other Twitter users. They created a web site, “Who Gives a Tweet?” through which Twitter users could get feedback on and have their tweets rated. Researchers found:
- Respondents liked 36 percent of the tweets, disliked 25 percent and ranked their reaction to the remaining 39 percent as neutral.
- Tweets that were part of a semi-private conversation were among the most disliked.
- Tweets relating to a mood (“So tired today”) or activity (“Just ate a sandwich.”) also were unpopular.
- On the other hand, sharing information, asking questions of followers and self-promotion, like linking to a story or blog you just wrote, were more likable.
Researchers also provided suggestions for providing better tweets.
Although I believe many tweets are worthless drivel, I also believe there is great business value in Twitter. WordWrite Communications has long advocated our one-third rule to those who can’t quite see the business value in Twitter as well as the many clients for whom we provide social media strategy and execution. As you work toward industry thought leadership and engagement with key stakeholders, your tweet composition should include in equal thirds content:
- about your business;
- about your industry; and
- dedicated to engaging with those who follow and like you.
There is plenty of valuable content on Twitter and there are plenty of great opportunities for your business and organization to appropriately leverage the tool. I’d be happy to share with you how we’re doing it for our clients and how we could help you.
In the meantime, I’m off to a PRBI annual conference in New York City. I’ll be staying at the University Club and am having dinner Friday night at Il Gattopardo on West 54th Street. I’ll be sure to let you know how my accommodations are and what I’m eating for dinner. I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat just waiting for those tweets.
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Jason Snyder is a senior vice president for WordWrite Communications.
