Is Twitter feeding the short attention span?

May 14, 5:15 PMSF Internet ExaminerTracy Yen

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Source: Hitwise

Call it a fad or a useful tool, Twitter continues to pop up everywhere. There was the coming of age for the dot com, blogs, podcasts, online videos and now Twitter or microblogging is up next -- drawing the public's attention and affection. The other day a television commercial ended by offering its Twitter page in lieu of the oft common yet overlooked Web site URL. Heck, on ABC's Nightline a few weeks back, Kogi BBQ was featured as a company using Twitter to announce where and when its truck would appear on the streets of Los Angeles.

One cautious opinion to the "next big thing" came from Nielsen Online when it reported "more than 60 percent of U.S. Twitter users fail to return the following month." David Martin, vice president of primary research at Nielsen Online notes other beloved Web site also experienced a slow rise to the top perhaps Twitter will follow in those footsteps.

Like the blog craze, marketing/PR organizations and consultants are clamoring to organize "how to" strategy sessions. Job descriptions are starting to include a social media component, namely blogs and Twitter to garner attention. What are you supposed to do with your Twitter page?

At its best, Twitter is a modern communication medium to announce news, applaud accomplishments and highlight industry factoids. In the era of the short-attention span and the need to consume content faster and smarter, it's fits the bill. It also invigorates readers to act as noted by Hitwise who saw Web sites visited after Twitter to be mostly ones condusive to sharing - email and Facebook anyone?

The evolution of social media means each word truly counts and tactics to generate user interest is at a premium.

For the time being, thinking in 140 characters is the challenge set on authors be it celebrities, companies or individuals. Brevity is king. No useful press release or recipe can truly make it in 140 characters. Instead it's a brief introduction and a link, even then URL shorteners are preferred. Whether as a strict reader or writer, Twitter has its uses once one "figures it out." For more than 60 percent, it doesn't seem to be that obvious.

My recommendation: start by reading other pages. Read, digest, analyze. In no time, it'll be clear how you should be posting, where to find "your people" and what kind of social media guru you want to be. We are a world of consumers. A read-only route may make your account seem inactive but leave that to the researchers to figure out how to monitor page views and time spent.