Just over three months ago, I decided to give Twitter a try and created an account for myself. From the very beginning, I have been skeptical about whether or not Twitter could add value to my life or enhance my leadership influence, and participating in the twitterverse still has not convinced me.
Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Christian book publisher Thomas Nelson, Inc. is the one who ultimately convinced me to give Twitter a try. His blog is one of the best places to find great posts on leadership, social media, customer service, publishing, personal productivity, and about a dozen other important topics (go there now and subscribe to his posts, you won’t regret it). Mr. Hyatt is a strong believer in Twitter’s ability to build influence and expand leadership, and he’s an avid Twitterer.
Aside from following a few friends and family members, I specifically chose to follow Mr. Hyatt’s Twitter feed so that I could get a clearer insight into what makes him a great leader. Unfortunately, I have grown to realize that the things he tweets don’t impact me at anywhere near the level that his blogs do. Sure, some of his tweets link to his great blog posts, but I already subscribe to his RSS feed, so the Twitter link is redundant. On occasion, he’ll post a link to an article that I find interesting, and its fun to hear him talk about his morning runs, but few of those tweets challenge me beyond the exact moment I read them.
And its definitely not just him.
I follow a number of people who I consider big-time influencers, but I generally get the same reaction to their tweets. Their influence on me exists more in their books, articles, and blog posts, not in their tweets. Does that make sense? I think it’s the inherent lack of depth combined with having to comb through a collection of too many pointless messages that continues to turn me off. I realize that this post has a “me, me, me” timbre to it, but when it comes right down to it, should I invest my time in something that isn’t directly challenging me and making me better?
I’m not going to call it quits with Twitter, and I will continue to read the tweets of Mr. Hyatt and all the other people I currently follow. I’ll even continue making tweets of my own. While I’m not currently prepared to say that Twitter is pointless, I am confessing that, after more than three months, I’m still not a convert.
Am I still missing something? Do you agree or disagree with my take on Twitter’s value?
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