“Consumers active on Twitter are clearly the most influential online,” said Morgan Stewart, principal, ExactTarget’s research and education group. “What happens on Twitter doesn’t stay on Twitter. While the number of active Twitter users is less than Facebook or email, the concentration of highly engaged and influential content creators is unrivaled–it’s become the gathering place for content creators whose influence spills over into every other corner of the internet.”

This survey of over 1,500 consumers identified top motivations for following brands with the leading reason being to actually get information from the brand they are connecting with. Companies employing high school interns to tweet “lolz, our brand rocks, yo” over and over will surely flop because a true consumer seeking information needs to connect with someone authorized to not only make decisions about disseminating information properly and in accordance to your corporate culture but needs to be able to manage crises and have instant access to everyone in the C-suite.

The study reinforces what we’ve been blogging about for years- consumers on Twitter and social networks have high expectations when interacting with brands online. Signing up for a Twitter account, slapping up a sexy background and syndicating your press releases to the account is not a social media strategy (unless you count colossal failure a strategy).

Our own studies show that active Twitter users are among the more invested in web properties and are likely to evangelize as well as criticize at a more rapid and vocal rate than average consumers.

Key results of the study:

• 72% of Twitter users blog at least monthly
• 70% comment on blogs
• 61% write at least one product review monthly
• 61% comment on news sites
• Daily Twitter users are six times more likely to publish articles, five times more likely to post blogs, seven times more likely to post to Wikis and three times more likely to post product reviews at least monthly compared to non-Twitter users

Twitter users are well informed and use the platform not just to be social but to garner information. They push their findings out onto their other networks. If your company is present effectively, a Twitter user should be able to connect with something you tweet- for example “we just got our first shipment of the fall line” should elicit responses such as “ooh when can we see it?” or “do you have pics?” or “I’ve been waiting forever!” or a simple retweet. If your Twitter account is a megaphone and lacks interaction however, you’ll hear crickets because people are not connected. If they can’t see behind the scenes of your company, they’ll have nothing to blog about regarding your brand and they won’t have a reason to interact.

• 23% of online consumers read Twitter updates at least monthly
• 11% of online consumers read Twitter updates, but do not have a Twitter account themselves
• 20% of consumers indicate they have followed a brand in order to interact with the company — more than become email subscribers or Facebook fans for the sake of interaction.

There is a misconception that the Twitter community is made up of Twitter users. As you see above, there is a segment (that I would argue is growing) of people that are simply referring to Twitter accounts to garner information, not necessarily to be social with or even to connect with. Twitter accounts show up in Google results, so we believe this behavior will rise with time. But the golden egg listed above is the third line- more people are seeking interaction on Twitter than via Facebook or email. For the few brands that can actually be personable and execute an effective Twitter strategy, there is a lot of market share to be grabbed up here!

• Men are more than twice as likely as women to follow brands on Twitter to interact with the company (29 percent compared to 13 percent)

This result is a clear indicator that before even opening the lid to your corporate laptop, you must know your target demographic. Before you set a strategy in motion, you must know who you’re reaching and what your goals are. If you simply jump on Twitter in hopes of striking it rich, you’re in for disappointment. Now, this stat doesn’t clearly indicate why there is such a disparity- it could be that men are more likely to follow anyone that follows them or that women are (which has been proven) more socially minded on Twitter, so they are not looking to interact with a logo. Again, knowing your demo is critical.

The bottom line is that Twitter offers a community of users that embrace brands rather than balk them and opportunities for branding, customer service management, sales and more are alive on Twitter despite the skepticism toward the platform. We’re no longer in a stage of contemplation as to whether or not Twitter “works.” It does. But the good news for you is that it is an easily abused platform with the majority of brands failing horribly. There is market share to be grabbed up.

Twitter as a service has had its ups and downs and has added a tweak here and there over the years but hasn’t made quite the leaps and strides or redesigns as many anticipated given its massive funding. The culture has shifted from a seedy hole in the wall bar to a hustling and bustling metropolitan street while the service has mostly sat still.

One of Twitter’s few upgrades or updates has been the recent announcement of “Fast Follow” which allows anyone (whether they are on Twitter or not) to follow any user and receive text messages with that user’s updates, so if you wanted to be notified when we (@newmedialab) have updated our Twitter account, you would simply text follow newmedialab to 40404.

Some argue that it’s a futile attempt to garner new users to Twitter and others argue that it’s a wonderful opportunity for businesses. Blogs have covered this new service but Twitter users have not buzzed much about it, so I don’t believe it will change much of the culture of Twitter.

The upside:

I think the upside to Fast Follow is for messages on an emergency basis rather than users connecting with a restaurant or their insurance agent (who wants to get a text in the middle of a meeting about switching to Geico and saving a bundle?). Who would I Fast Follow if I weren’t on Twitter (thus couldn’t just tell a specific users’ messages to go to my phone)? My kids’ schools for emergency updates live, my city’s services like Amber Alerts and such, or maybe a designer who doesn’t tweet anything other than when they are releasing new exclusive fabrics that I want to get to before others do (that’s just an example, I don’t actually care about fabrics but you get my point).

The downside:

The downside to Fast Follow is non Twitter users that don’t understand why they are getting a slew of text messages about every move of someone or a company that they have followed and they don’t understand what “RT @mashable: something mundane happened today http://bit.ly/sdjfslerj” means or what “omg roflcopter” means or why the hell it’s coming to their phone, and I believe that the non-Twitter users will be even MORE turned off to Twitter because of this Fast Follow option, so the plan to garner marketshare will backfire.

Will there be a culture shift?

I don’t think Fast Follow will denigrate Twitter culture, but I think it will turn off the non-techie users that try to be hip for a second and will reinforce many peoples’ belief that Twitter is for geeks. Fast Follow doesn’t make the space noiser or more streamlined, in fact I don’t think it changes the landscape much at all, but it makes people funneling money into Twitter feel good that the service is actually doing something with those fancy offices. I will say however, that the one upside is for emergency notifications which could help parents and the like.

Photo courtesy of @jenndeeringdavis.

Today, Twitter unveiled a new design for their homepage that they’re testing out, with an emphasis on dynamic content that highlights the information flow. Their last homepage redesign was a stagnant page that put a new emphasis on search, but this new homepage is more three dimensional and acts kind of like a taste test for non users that can peek in on what Twitter is like before they sign up.

Here’s what it looks like in action (10 second video):

According to Twitter, “All of our recent changes embrace the notion that Twitter is not just for status updates anymore. It’s a network where information is exchanged and consumed at a rapid clip every second of the day. With so much being shared, we know that there’s something of value for everyone. People who internalize the value of Twitter understand the power of this simple medium. But it hasn’t been easy to make that value transparent or obvious for curious folks coming to Twitter for the first time.”

My assessment:

This is all well and good- data, value, buzz word, buzz word, blah, blah, blah. My feeling is that the new Twitter homepage is beautiful and it adheres to the theories of Web 2.0, but I think it’s so busy feeling with the rapid pace of updates and the scrolling trends that a new user who is timid (which let’s face it, is the majority) may become overwhelmed. Is this what Twitter’s like? Will I have 823493208 strangers yelling about Just Bieber when I log on? Am I supposed to know what trending topic “CLRN” means?

I think you’ll hear over the coming weeks that new users got scared and turned away. It’s already intimidating enough and it’s not typically my personality to be all Debbie Downer about things, but I think if Twitter did some concentrated focus groups on people not yet on Twitter, they’ll find this dynamic content to be too intimidating, despite its sexy, shiny, masterful, gorgeous design, it misses the point- to market to those not yet on Twitter, not inundate them.

UPDATE: within two minutes of posting, we got tons of volunteers, MAN Austin is generous! Thanks SO MUCH for all of your help, we’ll see you at the Tweetup!

The February Tweetup is coming up and we need help! I’m awful at manning the sign in table because I float around all hostess-y like, so I’m looking for help in hour blocks.

All volunteers have to do is stand at the sign in table, guide people to making their name badges with their Twitter names on them and signing in with their Twitter name.  Hell, we’ll buy you a beer for volunteering, so why not?

Spots to be filled:

6:00 – 7:00 @kimhollenshead @terribishop
7:00 – 8:00 @tiffclemons @memaples
8:00 – 9:00 @lorriemeyer @baddmom

Anyone coming after 9:00 can figure out how to sign in and we’ll be nearby, so I’m not worried about the table after then.

This is a GREAT opportunity to meet people and perfect for those who don’t want to float around the room but have an instant connection. Kim (listed above) helped out last time and can attest to how easy and fun it is!

DM or @ to LaniAR if you’re interested. Thanks!!

Easy as pie

So, I’m not sure why pie is easy, but it is and so is this… Hubspot.com has a grader tool to judge your performance on Twitter via an algorithm and although it seems bots have been rewarded and placed at the top of the list, the top people per location changes every day (you can check Austin by clicking here).

Want to follow 50 twitter users in Austin that Hubspot considers to be at the top of the game? Click here to follow all 50 (and yes, the list changes constantly, so this is just a snapshot in time)… seriously, one click and you follow them all through TweepML (which allows you to sign in with OAuth).

There are a LOT of people missing from the list, so tell us in comments who YOU would add!

What’s a Tweetup?

A tweetup is a free happy hour open to anyone and broadcast via Twitter. It’s a very organic event and it started off with a few of us having dinner and has evolved into a full blown scene. About 100 people showed up this Thursday at Iron Cactus in the Arboretum (who took great care of us by the way, you should host YOUR next event there), here’s the RSVP list.

If you want to comment on the pictures, tell your friends how stupid or gorgeous they look, you can do so over on Facebook. If you didn’t know about this event, leave your Twitter handle in the comments and we’ll make sure you know about the next one that’s in the works! Tweetups happen every month folks, we’d love to meet you!

You knew this was coming…

If you’ve ever had an email address and had Prince Abdulla contact you offering to pay you $5k if you transfer some money for him or been told you can work from home and make six figures per year just by buying a starter kit, you know how the online scam world operates.

It took longer than I expected, but Twitter has become a breeding ground for scams much like those that hit your email spam box or call your phone with private numbers.

Better Business Bureau points fingers

BBB has issued a warning to everyone about Twitter scams:

The e-mail links to EasyTweetProfits.com, a company out of Surrey, England. EasyTweetProfits.com claims you can make $250-$873 a day working at home with Twitter. The Web site offers a seven-day free trial of their instructional CD-ROM for $1.95 to cover shipping. Buried in the lengthy terms and conditions are the details that the trial begins on the day the CD is ordered—not when it is received—and if the consumer doesn’t cancel within seven days of signing up, they’ll be charged $47 every month.

Similar to other work-from-home schemes, phony blogs by made-up individuals have been created as testimonials to the success of Twitter-money-making programs. Make-money-on-twitter.com is one such phony blog—supposedly by a Derrick Clark of Virginia—where the author brags about making up to $5,000 a month posting links to Twitter. The blog also includes an image of the supposed check Derrick received for posting links on Twitter, but the exact same photo of the check has been used countless times on other phony blogs for various suspect work-at-home jobs.

The blog links to TwitterProfitHouse.com which, similar to EasyTweetProfits.com, claims you can make $250-$873 a day working at home and offers a seven-day free trial of their instructional CD-ROM, for $1.99 shipping. Again, however, reading the fine print shows that the trial period starts once the CD has been ordered and the consumer will be billed $99.99 every month if they don’t call the company to cancel.

How not to fall victim:

If you’re contacted in any medium be it via Twitter, the phone, a fax or a salesperson in the mall, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.  Most scams involve you making yourself vulnerable in some way whether giving your SSN or bank account number and you can be very damaged.  If something is questionable, ask others on Twitter what they think and ALWAYS trust your instinct if it’s telling you to run.

The Problem:

When you have a Twitter account, people come from out of the blue to follow everything you say. You have no idea where they came from and you don’t want to ask them directly in case you met at a party or through a friend and you have since forgotten. Who needs *that* embarassment?

The Solution:

TweepDiff is a simple tool that allows you to enter two twitter usernames (for example yours and your new follower’s) and see who you have in common. This way you can see instantly what common ground you have AND you have an automatic conversation starter, “cool! I see you follow @hotdogsladies too, isn’t he insanely funny?”

Are You Addicted to Twitter?

The fastest way to know if you’re addicted to Twitter is to take the quiz. The other way is to look at the 46 phases of Twitter which range from “1. Hear the word Twitter. Scoff.” to “25. Make it your life mission to get RT’d.” to “44. Think to self, ‘I should twitter that.’” to see if you’ve completed the final stages.

8 Side Effects of Twitter Addiction

I’m no doctor and studies that I just made up in my head show that addiction to Twitter side effects can be:

1. Verbal diarrheaing via SMS.
2. Telling your children to behave or you’ll Twitter about them.
3. Eye twitching when others mock The Twitter Bird.
4. Drunk Twittering about barf and stating that you feel “sdjkxg%sy” tonight.
5. Strong desire to evangelize about Twitter to others.
6. Strong desire to roll eyes at companies not on Twitter.
7. Increase in anger levels due to robotic spambots.
8. MY FAVORITE: Twitterbutt which is defined by thick lady hips from your butt melting, shifting and spreading as you sit at your computer for too long because you can’t step away from Twitter without missing some crucial news about cheese or Michael Jackson.

I’ve been on Twitter for an crazy long time and for personal reasons, I had to change my account to a private account. As you know, when someone requests to follow me, I have to manually approve them which is great because I can be sure of who is *not* following me and no one can see my tweets in a public timeline or on a third party application because I’m private.

The problem is that it is an insane time sucker for me because I average 40 new follower requests each day and although from the approval panel I can allow them to follow by clicking “accept” or “decline” as shown below…

…I still have to click on each user’s name in order to follow them back. Yes, I am aware that I can take the extra step to click on the people that follow me and follow them from there but would it be too much to ask to add a third button that it seems you have space for called “follow”??

Why care?

I care because not only do I spend numerous hours daily engaging in social networks, I help others to do the same and any streamlining that can be done, especially with the uber popular Twitter network, it *has* to be pointed out. So please, Twitter, I beg of you to add the third button for those of us who have to be private. If you do, I’ll be your best friend. There, I said it.