The XX GeneXus Meeting devoted some time to Twitter thanks to the talk called "Coffee and Twitter" by Gabriel Icasuriaga and Alejandro Cimas — from Artech — and Víctor Villar — from Montevideo Comm.
A large number of users from diverse fields — from technology or marketing companies to individual followers of this microblogging network — discussed some aspects of the tool that brought about the greatest leap in the 2.0 world since the inception of Facebook, giving rise to a network of amazingly loyal "addicts."
In fact, the talk formally started after Icasuriaga said, “Hello, my name is Gabriel Icasuriaga and I haven’t twitted in the last five minutes.” Over a cup of coffee and with one tweet after another dropping in their mobile devices, participants discussed the Twitter community’s uses and profiles.
Firstly, they considered those regarded as the “missionaries” — significant users in certain areas who have a large number of followers and generate great loyalty. Among the usual user profiles there are “those who generate, those who read and those who replicate everything.” The latter are identified as “exhibitionist profiles,” because they tweet constantly and honor the phrase "going to the toilet is no longer unused time.”
Using and abusing
Every participant explained their own reasons for entering the world of Twitter and how long they've been using this network (a year or a year and a half in most cases). While the interest of some derives from "the need to share interesting links and information," as explained by Engineer Víctor Villar, for others the reason is plain curiosity or a business need. For instance, “to find out what people say about the company’s products and the competition.”
One conclusion reached is that people complain a lot through Twitter, even more than on forums, but they react well when the company responds and interacts with them, highlighting feedback as the symbol of Web 2.0 and Twitter in particular.
Regarding frequency of use, the “Coffee and Twitter” talk evidenced one aspect: the high level of addiction this social network generates. From “It's my vice” to “It’s the first thing I do when I wake up” or “I use it every time I can,” participants went back to the joke at the beginning of the talk, confessing how increasingly addicted to Twitter you become once you understand what it is about.
Twitter versus Facebook
The rivalry between Twitter and Facebook naturally came up, even when they are not exclusive social networks and many users have regular accounts in both. Referring to the phrase “Facebook is for friends that are now strangers. Twitter is for strangers that should be your friends,” most participants agreed that the profiles of users of both networks are quite different.
Twitter is more linked to information and communication, with a deeper and stronger use of social media. It’s also aimed at more advanced users, who are more technically oriented and older than the users of Facebook, which according to Icasuriaga is “lighter and blander” than Twitter.
With the premise that "the best ideas can be expressed in 140 characters,” most participants mentioned Twitter’s capacity to communicate ideas, drive interaction and generate loyalty among its followers. As an example, participants compared the different criteria applied in a “retweet” as compared to a plain “I like it” in Facebook.
Some repercussions of this talk may be followed through the Twitter profiles of the three main participants: @masternet, @cimasan and @vrvillar.