Before I get to the subject matter, I’d like to review the blog issues around language as they are different. Many times it has been pointed out that the Twitter discussions are similar to what we were discussing about blogs a few years ago. These conversations were about the need to do it, platforms, early adopters and so forth.
That was being said about what to do, now what was being said online is different. for a while, there was comment road rage, but that has settled down to civility except in the extreme political blogs where Hitler and genealogy are commonly associated with whomever the other side is.
I’ve noticed some different aspects of Twitter now that it is for the most part mainstream.
Many Tweets are about everyday things, and recently and quickly the language has gone down the toilet, and since I mostly follow analysts and a/r professionals, guess who the offenders are?
I’m a grown up and have heard all the words. In a former life, I’ve said all the words, but if you’re going to come off as a professional, guess what…..this is a very public forum and many are watching.
My uncle told me once that profanity was the mark of an undereducated person to without the ability to properly express themselves. The only thing is that I know some of these folks aren’t undereducated, just under performing with the language.
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respectfully disagree. many analysts - myself included - are carefully professional in their blog, because it is their primary professional outlet, and persistent by nature.
twitter, on the other hand, is a channel generally ephemeral by nature. while some analyst may view twitter as their primary or secondary business channel, i do not. i treat it, actually, as a personal tool first, and at best in a work sense it’s a water cooler type conversation. in which case i don’t expect comments there to reflect on my professional standing or reputation.
if they do, so be it, but i think that would be both unfortunate and somewhat unfair. if AR professionals choose to track a personal channel, that is, of course, their prerogative. but judging it by professional standards isn’t really reasonable given that it’s not written as such.
Well, I wasn’t really speaking about you, but your response is insightful. Given the view of this in the corporate world, it still reflects upon the individual, regardless of intent. That being said, it’s still considered when speaking to the individual in another venue, water cooler or not.
These are not just my reflections, rather a discussion I’ve been listening to and have participated in.
I’ve not heard any complaints about analyst language on Twitter or blogs. Then again, I’ve not heard any complaints about analyst language in bars, so you’ve got to wonder about my credibility on this topic.
I just wanted to say that I think you’ve raised an important consideration for the analysts like Stephen who embrace Twitter for the conversation. There’s a heavy mix of personal and professional comments on Twitter. And it’s this personal-professional mix that makes Twitter pretty much impossible for AR profs to ignore or treat as an analyst’s personal chat channel. It’s still early days, yet already:
- many analysts tweet about and link to their research activities
- several use it to comment about business, e.g. comment/critique a vendor event, briefing or product launch
- some cross-post Twitter to FriendFeed or other social media aggregation tools
- some auto-post Twitter updates to their blogs
Those analysts are shaping the way that AR profs will approach microblogging.
Meanwhile, there are other yellow flags to wave at analysts who treat Twitter as an endless series of billboards…
[...] the benefits. Now, however, I am being forced to reconsider that view. Because, as John Simonds reports (not to rag on John here, he’s just the messenger), one or more of the professional [...]
[...] Barbara and Stephen point out that despite the separation of the tools and intentions, they are part of the online opinion that one forms of the author. I’ve read the multiple social media outputs of numerous people, and all of that comes together to make up how I view them, regardless of their intent. I’m guessing I’m not alone, so Stephen and Barbara are right. [...]