Some interesting posts by folks I follow on, you guessed it, Twitter about how conference and other types of presentations are shifting based on Twitter feedback and how speakers should integrate social in their presentation (Owyang). I completely agree with this, but I think we, as communicators, need to think about balancing the loudest (Tweetiest) voices with those who are less outspoken (and don't Tweet constantly).
These media have given us the ability to quickly shift a conversation as necessary based on feedback, but we need to always be thinking about the silent observers or those who engage just by listening and may be more shy or thoughtful about their comments.They can't be left behind just because they don't have "Twitter machine" ( Kornheiser). They're important and, if you look at the demographics, they come in good numbers. According to Pew, Twitter penetration tends to be strongest (and still not terrific) among younger folks (19% of those 18-24) and goes down from there, hitting only 5% of those between ages 45-54.
This goes beyond presentations though, as it should be a consideration for institutions and organizations in general. We all get lots of feedback via blog comments, Tweets, Facebook postings, videos posted to YouTube, and so on. The natural, and often right, reaction is to jump in and join the conversation, etc. but how much should we let these media drive strategic direction of our communications? It seems to be a difference between using social media as a feedback mechanism (good) and a research instrument (slippery slope).
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