The internet is evolving at a rapid pace and it is changing the way people consume information. As marketers, we need to understand how the consumption of information is changing to make sure that our messages to consumers are in a form that they understand.
One platform that is greatly changing the way peoeple consume info is Twitter. So whats the big deal and why all the buzz? While it took a little over a year for Twitter to reach about 5 million users, it was able to reach its second 5 million users in about a month. Whether its the race between Ashton Kutcher and CNN to be the first in the history of Twitter to reach 1 Million followers, or the rumor that Oprah is going to send her first Tweet tomorrow, people are flocking to Twitter and its effecting how masses of people consume online.
Two things about Twitter are changing the way we consume. First, Twitter only allows people to post short bits in 140 characters. This is causing people to get right to the point and say exaclty what they mean. 140 characters is quite the opposite to the long 3 page in depth blog post. More and more people are getting used to consuming info in this short, tell me exactly what I need to know, 140 character form. They read a few short tweets and move on. And my guess is their attention span for a long blog post is changing.
The second thing about Twitter is its shear volume. Many people follow hundreds, if not thousands of people and recieve all of their tweets in a constant stream. Its a firehose of information, and who has the time to read it all. Anthony calls this the Twitter Paradox in that “I read more but I read less.” The amount of posts, info and links that we are exposed to has gone way up. But we don’t have the time to read it all, so we scan, much like we do with search results.
Now this isn’t to say that Twitter is going to make all other forms of communications and media disapear. It is simply one platform that is having an effect. The point is that there are many types of media that we can use to communicate and they are changing as we speak. To reach an audience, we need to understand each of these forms and identifiy which forms are best for communicating with a particular audience. We are currently thinking about the the different demand states of an audience and the different forms of media that would be best to reach them.
