The Whole Point, In 140 Characters
Something amazingly fun and humbling happened just a moment ago. I tweeted this:
Frustrated.
It wasn’t much. A solitary little vent, momentary and fleeting. A (dare I say) microexpression of what I was feeling at that particular moment. One single solitary word, tossed out into the Twitter ether. And in a world that moves by at dozens (hundreds?) of tweets per second, that’s precisely the kind of thing that could go completely unnoticed.
But it didn’t. Within seconds, I received 24 (yes, 24, on a Friday night no less) replies from people asking what the matter was. I got another half dozen direct messages, some of which were from people I’d barely corresponded with but whose names and little 1″ faces I’d come to recognize. Everyone expressing concern and a desire to help.
Seriously?
This isn’t a statement of some obscure notion of popularity. It’s about something far more fundamental than that, and the reason that I am intensely passionate about how piles of plastic and wires and silicon can connect people on a truly human level. It’s the simplicity of a personal connection, and how much it resonates when someone cares enough to reach out.
I felt better almost instantly. Some people made me laugh, some just put a smile on my face. But in every case, I realized that for all the things that these people could be doing or saying in those few moments, they took the time to reach out to me.
Next time someone wants to know why I bother with something like my blog, or Facebook, or Twitter, I’m going to tell them that my momentary frustration was powerfully and immediately dispelled by a couple of handfuls of friendly voices. Voices that cared enough to take two seconds, reach across the void, and connect. Thanks, Twitter friends.
Frivolous, my foot.
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Don’t you just love it? At any given time of the day or night I can go on to twitter and find someone to interact with, encourage, entertain, or educate. I have even had conversations in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep! It’s great to have you in my twitterstream:)
Nancy Sutherlands last blog post..In The World of Micro-Blogging Are You a Quitter?
Remarkable.
Phil Baumanns last blog post..philbaumann: @CreativeSage Not to sound agist by any means, but do you think part of this is genrational? re: prop 8, how did demographics influence?
Hey, you’re welcome.
Mark Dykemans last blog post..In lieu of
Hey Amber, this is a great post, and so simple.
I’ve been encouraging my clients to do this when considering digital/social media because the technology doesn’t matter if the connection isn’t there.
Simon T Smalls last blog post..Twitter 0.04% of Australia’s population
So true Amber. I’ve experienced the same thing several times. Each time, the concern people have still amazes me. Last Thursday, I had a less than great day and lightly tweeted about it. A co-worker who follows me actually sought me out and said “I don’t mean to intrude but if you ever need to talk, let me know.” Just that alone improved my day a bit.
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Amber, You nailed it. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Amber, you are so right about the connection. When I first joined twitter it was hard to understand why this would be a benefit for me on any level. And now I cannot see my life without Social Media. You are very insightful. And obviously people care about you!
Craig Suttons last blog post..Buying a computer? Spend the money, save the hassle!
@Nancy And ditto to you! It’s a great community that I’m proud to be part of.
@Phil, @Mark, and Susan – thanks for being here.
@Simon That’s absolutely the truth. The connections are what draw the people. It’s a self-preserving cycle.
@James Little things really do matter. And it’s amazing to get well wishes from people you know only through the little box. It gives me faith in humanity all over again.
@Craig I remember thinking the same thing about Twitter. I think we all did at one point. How wrong we were.
Excellent post! Companies must NEVER forget the human element of connecting with their customers. So many “business” types are afraid to get close, but it’s in that closeness that one becomes a customer for life. Willing to forgive minor errors or challeges.
Without that human connection, there is no glue bonding that customer to that particular business, no matter how strong their brand is.
Thanks again for the post!
OutsideMyBrains last blog post..It’s Not Your Daughter’s Twitter Anymore!
@OutsideMyBrain – Ditto, everyone should learn from the mistakes made by NAB. People talk to people, not brands.
http://www.duncanriley.com/2008/06/16/nab-spams-blogs-australia-blog-owners-need-to-change-banks/
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