10 Reasons Twitter is a Waste of Your Time

I was a Twitter resistor for quite some time. A few months ago, I jumped in and decided to give it a try.

I should have waited.

Here are 10 reasons why, as a business owner, you are wasting your time investing it on Twitter:

1. With few exceptions, the return generated by Tweets (in dollars and cents) makes it a poor investment for your time. (Your time is valuable right?) How much business have you generated from Twitter in the last 14 days? Was it worth it?

2. You thought email was bad. Can you really have a conversation with your 80,000 followers? No way. You’re not listening to all those folks and they sure aren’t listening to you either. So what’s the point?

3. Does Twitter truly build relationships or does it just make you feel like you’re doing something productive?

4. Anyone can join. When there’s no barrier to join, there’s no filter for people who add no value.

5. Twitter is a focus killer.

6. When has any other gizmo/device/technology with as much hype as Twitter (in the general media) ever stuck around to become a semi-permanent foundation of business?

7. Twitter is like a party where everyone got an invitation. Is that really a party you want to go to for business building pursuits?

8. If communicating in 140 character blocks was so effective, why aren’t we doing that all the time?

9. By nature, humans are self-centered. If you’re in business, you know that. So that means I don’t care about what you’re doing right now. And I don’t care to hear about what you’re trying to sell me. I care about me. And that’s the real issue. On Twitter, no one is talking to me. They’re talking to everyone… usually about themselves.

10. It seems like Twitter makes people feel the need to talk even when they have nothing to say. Do you really need to hear 150 famous quotes everyday? How can you expect your business message to get through when everyone is talking?

That said, I do think there is some value to be found. If you have nothing better to do. Not so much in the using of Twitter, but in the leveraging of the data Twitter provides. Particularly with regards to:

SEARCH.

Twitter (although the results are probably pretty skewed.) is a quick way to find the pulse of certain markets.

And, (for now), it’s easy to get the attention of just about anyone. Since Twitter is so new, people who would otherwise ignore you actually get your message.

So that’s a plus… but I imagine it won’t last.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Twitter once the novelty wears off. And once the conversation becomes so crowded it becomes useless.

If you are using Twitter in your business, but nothing is happening, why keep it going? (Or at least automate it to repost blog posts/podcasts and then move on.)

Why not invest in one of the other hundreds of business building techniques that are actually proven to create value for the majority of the people who use them?

Monetizing Twitter = Bass Ackwards

John C. A. Manley

I'm with you regarding Twitter. I have it automatically posts links. Sometimes I'll click a Tweet button. I had it on my to-do list to Tweet once a day... but it just makes more sense to me to blog/write emails and let that go to Twitter. I have made sales through Twitter, but... (sorry, I've exceeded 140 characters).

anitaashland

The way most marketers use Twitter is too much like a cocktail party where you have to shout to be heard above all the noise and it's unappealing.

But Twitter is an effective customer service tool for businesses. I know online marketers tend to size things up by ROI and amount of traffic and tend to overlook customer service, but many corporations in particular have discovered how powerful a tool Twitter is for customer service. For example, I know someone who had a big problem with a UPS package and spent an hour or more on the phone with UPS to no avail so they ranted about it on Twitter. Within minutes, UPS responded via Twitter and resolved their problem right away.

Terry Heath

Great post. Have to tweet about it right away. ;-)

Of course without Twitter I would never have found this article to read in the first place, since I followed a link-tweet to get here.

But really, didn't people once say the same thing about blogging?

leistermg

Hey Terry,

Thanks for the comment.

You're right, you wouldn't be here without Twitter. So for that, I thank the Twitter Gods... and you.

And you make a good clarification: I don't think Twitter is stupid... I just think it's a time waster for most business people.

I think our most important resource in business is our TIME and our focus. And I think that Twitter works to undermine both of those... in its current format.

Thanks again for reading!!

Kelly Mccausey

As Twitter has grown, I've noticed the difference but Twitter remains as focused as I want it to be because I choose to only pay attention to people who have something to say that I want to read. With my Seesmic reader I have organized it so that I never have to be distracted by nonsense, it works great for me.

I definitely get value from Twitter in terms of traffic, new listeners, new subscribers and new customers. I have heard 'I found you on Twitter' a lot over the summer. That speaks to me about the value of my time spent there.

Now, I do spend personal time on Twitter - time when I could give a hoot about getting a return. But overall, I'm there to communicate with my target market and find that it works.

Alice seba

Thanks to @michelfortin to bringing me to your blog...never been here before. Twitter sucks. ;-)

Anyway, I agree that a lot of people are putting too much emphasis on Twitter and wasting away precious time. ABSOLUTELY!

However, I think many of your points hinge on the fact that anyone can use it, there's tons of noise, etc. Sure, anyone can have a Twitter account, but that doesn't mean that you have to follow them, have them send you DMs, etc. YOU have completely control over your Twitter experience, so yeah when you allow everyone in, it gets a little out of control.

And as far people being all about themselves, of course. It's the same wherever you get a bunch of random business people (assuming your connecting with business people on Twitter) together. But when you're selective about who you network with, it's a whole different ball game.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and glad I found your blog.

Carolyn Carey

These are some good points, Michele -

But at the same time I do know of some
who are killing it with Twitter so it does
have it's pluses.

I'm just in the process of unfollowing
anyone who doesn't add value to my
life and concentrating on making
relationships that might turn out into
something worthwhile in the future.

I find it a good way to get info out
fast, and those who are interested
listen and those who aren't don't.

I'm personally not a fan of automated
posting as it defeats the whole purpose
of why Twitter was started in the
first place.

So I'll continue for a little while but
will definitely keep your 10 reasons
in mind, as they have a lot of validity
in themselves.

Thanks,
Carolyn Carey

PS I hope you keep Twittering, tho -
I love hearing what you have to say! ;)

Ben Settle

I get marketing-gasms reading contrarian stuff like this -- good stuff

10 Reasons Twitter is a Waste of Your Time

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