Down with Twitter

I was reading a lot about Twitter and Facebook and how these tools have changed the way we communicate and how businesses can market themselves through these two social marketing tools.

I opened a Twitter account out of curiosity and update it regularly - average of one Tweet a day. After 577 Tweets, I've come to a fundamental conclusion that all these hype about Twitter are a whole lot of BS.

Because unless and until you have many followers who are active Twitterers, don't bother to open a Twitter account.

About 2 weeks ago I was working on a corporate gift for a regional meeting that we're hosting. My boss wanted the gift to incorporate the national heritage of all the participating countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Malaysia and Singapore were easy - Petronas Twin Towers and Merlion respectively. Thailand was a headache but after much thought I figured the Thai cultural dance would be good. And then came Indonesia which I haven't the faintest clue what to feature.

So I Twittered:

"What would be the best thing to represent Indonesia - Pura Besakih? Tanah Lot? Indonesian cultural dance? What ???"

Till today I've yet to receive any reply. So what's with all the hype about posting a question and you'll get an answer on Twitter? All utter BS.

To me, Twitter only works if you have a few hundred active followers. Only then will you have the volume of connections to help reply to your questions or whatever. But then, how do you get people to follow you in the first place if you're not a celebrity or someone important?

So if you need advice, help or whatever, you would be better off posting your questions on Facebook where you're guaranteed to receive comments and replies from your friends.

And I know I'm not alone in being stupified by Twitter after reading this entry from The Drayton Bird Blog.