TWITTER, TWEET, TWADDLE & LINKEDIN

Some of you reading my Blog may have noticed how seamlessly it is now integrated into my LinkedIn profile. The wonder of technology.

I, like everybody else, am being encouraged to use social networking media. Not long ago a business colleague of mine invited me to join them on Facebook; I obliged. Hmm. Very soon people I knew 25 years ago were contacting me. Admittedly that was interesting and welcome. Others too – even my son’s fifteen year old friend! Ah – cute! But a swift trawl through some of the content of some sites left me feeling – what’s the point?

Then a good friend insisted we should be on Twitter. Get a following, he said, and to do that you follow first, then you lead. Eighteen thousand people could soon be with you, following you. Sound great?

Well, we experienced, my wife and I, Twitter briefly. And what an appalling concept Twitter is.

British industry has long complained about levels of education of school leavers and even graduates. The phrase ‘can’t string/write two sentences together’ springs to mind. And currently, it is unclear to me whether Twitter is a causal or symptomatic link. Certainly, symptomatic seems more likely (given its relatively recent appearance). But that is only a question of time – like television programmes which imitate reality, eventually reality imitates the programmes. Eventually, no-one in the ‘normal’ population distribution will be able to write more than 140 letters. In short, no-one will be able to think.

I wanted to quote from Twitter to show the inanity – the Twaddle – of all this ‘tweeting’, but really wherever you go you find exactly the same stuff. It’s like being on a train and listening to the many Ancient Mariners on mobile phones who have to shout out loud: “I am on a train … yes, that’s right. I’m on the train … sorry … yea… tunnel  … yea … on a train”. So there’s little point in quoting it – it’s beyond parody.

On the other hand, I have also discovered LinkedIn – what a contrast! How useful and relevant an application is this. How useful to be able to stay with people as they move from role to role. How clear it is to be able to connect with people beyond your own network. Finally, in this brief eulogy, how wonderful to be able to join special interest groups and see key issues being raised and answers proposed.

I am pretty amazed by LinkedIn and recommend all business people to join it. It’s not like the naff side of social networking – sure, there will be unwelcome people who try to exploit the system, but no group, club, organisation is free from that problem, virtual or otherwise. It has, perhaps, most compellingly, clarity of purpose: it exists to do something – smooth business for business people. That to me is music; so go for music – avoid the noise elsewhere.

James Sale