I understand that Twitter is a cultural phenomenon, but for one reason or another, I don’t have one. Maybe it’s because none of my friends use the service either, I don’t know. However, do I really want to know what my friends are doing every half hour? I’ve known most of them for years and, judging by that familiarity, they maybe experience one exciting moment per week on average, if that. Thus, I use my $15 cell phone, or my email, or I surprise them by knocking on their door (nobody does this anymore).
So, if people aren’t following the minutia of their friends’ lives on Twitter, who are they actually following? The company is supposedly valued at over $1 billion, so somebody is using the damn thing.
The service would have never blown up without celebrities, many of whom have millions of followers. In a way, Twitter is becoming the MySpace of micro-blogging. Companies use the service as a vehicle to advertise their products and celebrities use it as a vehicle to advertise themselves. The only “social networking” really happening is when users comment, most often on celebrities’ accounts. In the end, everybody is selling something. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s just proof that Twitter is more of a giant billboard board than a worldwide chat room. Perhaps that was their ulterior motive. For companies, Twitter is a wonderful and free promotional tool.
Since Twitter is a powerful social amalgam of celebrities, companies, and people like you, there is obviously a ton of junk flying around their site. In response, Twitter has a new “lists” feature, which allows users to organize accounts by various categories. While this should clean things up a bit, users are still on the mother site, and will undoubtedly encounter unwanted information.
Lisa Cohen is attempting to capitalize on this idea of categorizing. She has partnered with the hilarious Michael Ian Black to create WitStream, a social networking site exclusive to comedians.
Per The Comic’s Comic:
They’re all representative of the kinds of funny people WitStream wants to be in business with, sharing short bits of comedy and starting dialogues. The launch press release noted that “founding contributors” also included Rainn Wilson, Al Yankovic, Mike Birbiglia and Rob Corddry, and mentioned that Black would be leaving behind his 1.36 million Twitter followers @michaelianblack, hopefully bringing them with him over to the new site.
The site also spotlights each member with a profile page that includes a bio, schedule for upcoming live shows, and pages for them to share videos, reviews and sell merchandise.
What about Twitter?
“One of my many problems is the double-edged sword that is Twitter,” she said. “It’s the quickest way to describe what I’m doing and what micro-blogging is. On the other hand, there are people who hate Twitter and won’t go on it. I have comics who go on WitStream and love it and they won’t go on Twitter. Twitter has this code. It has its own little language with the hashtags. It’s not very friendly to non-users. If you don’t speak that language — I think by creating threaded responses, it allows people to read it so you’re not hashtagging. It’s an easier introduction to the medium.”
That’s where Cohen feels WitStream can help. “I’m bascially the filter in between the creators and the audience,” she said. “With Twitter, people like it because it’s democratic. People have the same rights and the same tools. Not everybody in the world is as talented enough to broadcast and to publish. I think people are finding the same thing with YouTube. Everybody has come around to, it’s too much, there’s too much crap out there. I don’t know how to dive in. We’re the Funny or Die is to YouTube as Witstream is to Twitter.”
Of course, the comedians will post updates of their upcoming appearances and promote their CDs. The main appeal, however, is that followers will be able to read the humorous thoughts of some of their favorite comedians. Isn’t that really why people read Twitter — to be entertained?
