Comments on: Don’t get Twitter? Think of the golf course. http://writingroads.com/blog/2009/03/dont-get-twitter-think-of-the-golf-course/ A writer's blog about strategic marketing with powerful words Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:14:58 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Janine (@twincident) http://writingroads.com/blog/2009/03/dont-get-twitter-think-of-the-golf-course/comment-page-1/#comment-2410 Janine (@twincident) Sat, 28 Mar 2009 04:02:47 +0000 http://writingroads.com/blog/?p=1575#comment-2410 I swear I had 5 friends from Facebook join Twitter and start following me when I posted the link to the Today Show piece on Twitter. Why does the Today Show validate it for people? don't know, but it does! I swear I had 5 friends from Facebook join Twitter and start following me when I posted the link to the Today Show piece on Twitter. Why does the Today Show validate it for people? don’t know, but it does!

]]> By: Monica http://writingroads.com/blog/2009/03/dont-get-twitter-think-of-the-golf-course/comment-page-1/#comment-2374 Monica Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:49:35 +0000 http://writingroads.com/blog/?p=1575#comment-2374 not everyone is going to in a twitter lovefest. you must be comfortable sharing life and business with masses of pple you will never know IRL. I just think it's funny for once I'm in know before others. usually, I'm the last in line. not everyone is going to in a twitter lovefest. you must be comfortable sharing life and business with masses of pple you will never know IRL. I just think it’s funny for once I’m in know before others. usually, I’m the last in line.

]]> By: Moms At Work http://writingroads.com/blog/2009/03/dont-get-twitter-think-of-the-golf-course/comment-page-1/#comment-2373 Moms At Work Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:02:00 +0000 http://writingroads.com/blog/?p=1575#comment-2373 A great explanation! I must share this with the ... ahem ... less than webinized people at my office. A great explanation! I must share this with the … ahem … less than webinized people at my office.

]]> By: --Deb http://writingroads.com/blog/2009/03/dont-get-twitter-think-of-the-golf-course/comment-page-1/#comment-2372 --Deb Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:02:01 +0000 http://writingroads.com/blog/?p=1575#comment-2372 I'm just laughing at your first line, because I SAID THAT this afternoon! My mom was trying to remember the name of Hobby Farm Home Magazine and was saying, "Hobby Home, Hobby Lobby, Hobby Horse, Hobby (all this with me bent over laughing) ... this is like charades!" So, naturally, I quoted from "When Harry Met Sally" (One of the best movies ever.) How great to see you using the same quote on the same day--because it's not really one that you can insert into just any conversation. Now, all that said? I should probably go back and read the rest of the post, huh? I’m just laughing at your first line, because I SAID THAT this afternoon! My mom was trying to remember the name of Hobby Farm Home Magazine and was saying, “Hobby Home, Hobby Lobby, Hobby Horse, Hobby (all this with me bent over laughing) … this is like charades!” So, naturally, I quoted from “When Harry Met Sally” (One of the best movies ever.) How great to see you using the same quote on the same day–because it’s not really one that you can insert into just any conversation.

Now, all that said? I should probably go back and read the rest of the post, huh?

]]> By: Maury http://writingroads.com/blog/2009/03/dont-get-twitter-think-of-the-golf-course/comment-page-1/#comment-2370 Maury Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:39:29 +0000 http://writingroads.com/blog/?p=1575#comment-2370 Speaking from the standpoint of an audience member at said workshop, I feel like I can understand their perspective and perhaps give some of my own. Now, granted, I am far more "in the know" about web stuff than, well, probably everyone in the crowd (barring maybe some of the MVOL employees), but I myself had avoided Twitter until you showed it to me yesterday. It looked like a glorified Facebook update, and I didn't realize the potential for connecting with people on such a large scale. Additionally, I had no idea about the live search engine, which instantly became a huge selling point. It took that "lesson" to get me interested. I had been considering the viability, but didn't know how to make it valid. This showed me. However, the crowd on this island is not just "less than webinized" but often completely terrified of technology on the whole. Luddites, and proud of it, as Vonnegut might have said. That's fine, I suppose, but it creates a larger challenge for teaching them: the learning curve starts all the way at the bottom. Fortunately for me, my first job ever was to teach Word processing to elderly people, so it gave me a sense early on (at 14) about how to approach this. A typical day on the job went as follows: "click here" "click?" "use the mouse..." "mouse?" "Oh, uh, that oval shaped thing in front of you with the buttons on it." And the student proceeds to flail wildly around the screen and the room, mouse in hand. A lot of these people are scared to death of computers in general, not just the internet. They may think themselves savvy, but to stand behind one of them and watch them operate a computer, it's all you can do not to throw them out of the way and do it yourself. "Oh god, they're so slow, they're clicking the wrong button, they don't know what the @ symbol is for! Augh!" It takes a severe amount of patience, which unfortunately, there just isn't time for when you have to cram in that much information over the course of a couple hours. I guess the benefit is: you can then snag the interested parties for consulting jobs. However, if they are overstimulated, their brains will shut off and that interest will give way to fear of the new technology and they will go "forget it, I'm surviving the way I am, I don't need this." Telling people "this is easy" will only get them so far, they want their hands held as they walk with you into the darkness. Personally, I enjoyed it a lot. I found myself wanting to jump up and answer the questions for you, at times, but I didn't want to take anything away from your presentation, and as you can see from my sudden flux of tweets, I found it valuable: you sold me on twitter, and not just sold - I went from a skeptic to a maniac for the site, instantly. Speaking from the standpoint of an audience member at said workshop, I feel like I can understand their perspective and perhaps give some of my own. Now, granted, I am far more “in the know” about web stuff than, well, probably everyone in the crowd (barring maybe some of the MVOL employees), but I myself had avoided Twitter until you showed it to me yesterday. It looked like a glorified Facebook update, and I didn’t realize the potential for connecting with people on such a large scale. Additionally, I had no idea about the live search engine, which instantly became a huge selling point. It took that “lesson” to get me interested. I had been considering the viability, but didn’t know how to make it valid. This showed me.

However, the crowd on this island is not just “less than webinized” but often completely terrified of technology on the whole. Luddites, and proud of it, as Vonnegut might have said. That’s fine, I suppose, but it creates a larger challenge for teaching them: the learning curve starts all the way at the bottom.

Fortunately for me, my first job ever was to teach Word processing to elderly people, so it gave me a sense early on (at 14) about how to approach this.

A typical day on the job went as follows:

“click here”
“click?”
“use the mouse…”
“mouse?”
“Oh, uh, that oval shaped thing in front of you with the buttons on it.”

And the student proceeds to flail wildly around the screen and the room, mouse in hand.

A lot of these people are scared to death of computers in general, not just the internet. They may think themselves savvy, but to stand behind one of them and watch them operate a computer, it’s all you can do not to throw them out of the way and do it yourself. “Oh god, they’re so slow, they’re clicking the wrong button, they don’t know what the @ symbol is for! Augh!”

It takes a severe amount of patience, which unfortunately, there just isn’t time for when you have to cram in that much information over the course of a couple hours. I guess the benefit is: you can then snag the interested parties for consulting jobs. However, if they are overstimulated, their brains will shut off and that interest will give way to fear of the new technology and they will go “forget it, I’m surviving the way I am, I don’t need this.”

Telling people “this is easy” will only get them so far, they want their hands held as they walk with you into the darkness.

Personally, I enjoyed it a lot. I found myself wanting to jump up and answer the questions for you, at times, but I didn’t want to take anything away from your presentation, and as you can see from my sudden flux of tweets, I found it valuable: you sold me on twitter, and not just sold – I went from a skeptic to a maniac for the site, instantly.

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