A Bit of a Leap, There

Russell Brand has a brilliant stand-up bit where he reads hate mail from angry viewers aloud to his audiences. He reads profane insult after profane insult, he finally reaches a segment that claims he supports "terrorists who destroy the world," causing him to proclaim, "A bit of a leap!".

I had a similar reaction to Twitter CEO Dick Costolo's keynote at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

He claimed that Twitter has become an ad-hoc partner with television, allowing viewers to comment on what they are seeing in real-time with people across the country. This has helped make television shows events again and emphasized the importance of watching television in real-time, rather than recorded on the DVR, that bane of networks that allows viewers to consume media and skip over advertising.

Even more promising, Costolo claimed that Twitter activity feeds support the notion that viewers are sticking around for the commercials--and not just on Super Bowl Sunday.

OK. I can dig it. We've already heard stories of people going on social media blackouts to avoid ruining the end of a favorite TV show or the result of a missed sporting event. As Twitter continues to grow and swallow up more channels of information, it will become more and more important to make sure that we consume information at the same time as everyone else to make sure that we are up to speed. Makes sense.

Costolo compared Twitter several times to water, calling his website "a utility so useful and ubiquitous, we almost forget it's there".

A bit of a leap!

Although I applaud Twitter for resisting the urge to copy Facebook's every move (Costolo has proclaimed that there will be no Twitter phone), the service is hardly ubiquitous. In fact, it seems to be all but useless to most users--Sysomos estimates that 22.5% of users account for 90% of Twitter's activity. It is a service that seems to be of great value to some and of very little to others. Doesn't sound like a great description of water to me.

There is no doubt in my mind that Twitter will continue to innovate, add features, and grow in importance. But until then, Mr. Cosotlo would do well to avoid such grandiose statements and gestures.


Thanks to CNN and Mashable for providing information for this post.