Has Twitter Marked The End Of The Blogging Boom?
The impact of Twitter
There is no doubt that Twitter has had a profound impact on the blogging, Internet Marketing, SEO and SMM scene. From major corporations to small, local businesses, it seems that one of the top marketing objectives of many is to establish a solid Twitter profile.
From plugins for Wordpress for Twitter, social bookmarking gadgets for Twitter and everyone’s favorite bloggers all a twit about Twitter. There is absolutely no doubt that Twitter is the place to be if you want to be somebody.
What is it about Twitter that makes it such a hot market for businesses as well as large and small and individuals from all interest groups? After all, you are limited to 140 characters and your links are not followed by Google.
How Twitter replaces many Blogs
Twitter fits a niche that many blogs currently occupy. That being the niche of a blog that has very little need to say a lot, but says a lot in a small amount of words. Now, there is also those blogs that say little, but are focused on affiliate marketing. Twitter is ideal for both of these markets.
Twitter is an ideal place to promote your most recent content as well as the most recent content of others. Using existing services, it’s a relatively simple matter to aggregate all your latest posts via TwitterFeed, while adding value by aggregating the content of related sites.
Furthermore, since Twitter places a strong emphasis on short text updates, it is an ideal market for shortURL services which make it even easier to mask affiliate links. With some savvy marketing copy and some creative linking, it’s very easy to make good affiliate sales through the use of Twitter. After all, it doesn’t matter if affiliate URLs pass link juice. All that matters there is a sale!
The benefits of Twitter
Ok, so Twitter is a great place to say a lot in as few of words as possible and the nature of Twitter makes affiliate marketing so much easier, but what other benefits does Twitter hold?
Twitter has become a superior source for breaking news. A perfect example of this is the US Airways flight 1549 crash into New York’s Hudson river. This particular incident exemplified the power of this micro-blogging platform. Not only was the reporter able to post live updates from their phone, but they could include pictures as well. This is simply amazing!
Sure, you could “live blog” such an event, but if you do not follow the blog that posts this info, you would never know. Twitter, on the other hand, has many tools to track what is the hot topic at that moment. One such tool is Twitscoop.
The benefits of traditional Blogs
Where traditional blogs shine over twitter is in the details, literally. Given Twitter’s limitation of 140 characters, you really cannot go into much detail in what you post and multi-posting on a particular item may get lost in the “noise” of twitter. Traditional blog posts, though, enable the author to fully develop a subject to the extent they feel is needed. If 255 characters is what it takes or over 1,000 characters is what it takes, this is acceptable in blog posts and is the norm.
Since Twitter has not made available means to direct monetize a user’s stream, blog posts still provide the greatest monetization avenue. Sure, affiliate URLs earn some a chunk of change, but there’s only so much you can sell in 140 characters or less. For some products, a much more substantial body of text is needed to make the sale. This is where linking to blog posts really comes into play.
The crossroads of Twitter and Blogs
As mentioned above, there is only so much you can do in 140 characters or less. Services such as Twitterfeed make it possible to aggregate your RSS content onto twitter, which serves as a critical crossroad for those who want to leverage both Twitter and a blog.
Essentially, short and sweet is not always the answer and Twitter does not make it easy to follow a Q/A session on a particular topic. Blog and Forum posts do, and thus are still the preferred methods of communication for many subjects.
For example, if I’m troubleshooting a particular driver issue, details in 140 characters wont cut it. However, if a Twitter user links me to a post using a shortURL service which has extensive details on a driver issue, but they still only used 140 characters to point me in that direction, there is a major benefit of leveraging both the shallow content of Twitter and the deep content of a traditional Blog or Forum.
Which do you choose?
Neither or both! There is no 100% correct answer to this question! If 99% of your blog posts are under 255 characters, you might find good success with Twitter. Then again, you may not. People on Twitter can be fickle at times. If you attract a good following, then you very well may have success on twitter. However, doing so is not as easy as following a ton of people right after signing up. In fact, you could get yourself banned if you do so.
There is a high emphasis, from what I’ve seen, on Twitter for attraction. If you have something worthwhile to say, the followers will come. Regardless, that does NOT mean you will have thousands of followers even if you have something worth saying. Again, it’s a balancing act.
To attract, you have to say something worthwhile, but you also have to ask for the “follow”. Solid judgment , a prudent approach to following others, and engaging in genuine conversations is key here.
If the above is more than you are willing to invest in your marketing campaign, then you should definitely focus more or traditional avenues! Very active avenues, like Twitter are high maintenance, to a degree. If you cannot invest the time to make the most of it, it’s usually better to focus on other efforts that will return a higher ROI.
In the end, is it a matter of personal preference?
The most direct answer is yes and no. Yes, in that you can achieve success through either blogging or micro-blogging. Both provide revenue streams to some extent. Both provide an avenue for getting your message out to the masses. Both provide a means to measure your success, even if only somewhat.
The real differentiating factors are how much you want to say and what audience you are targeting. If your primary audience is one where short, concise blurbs are the main draw, twitter is an ideal channel. However, if your audience wants quick updates, but relishes, occasionally in the details, you would be best to keep that blog and aggregate your latest post link via TwitterFeed.
Interesting thoughts. I just don’t see how a Twitter tweet can reach the indepth levels of a blog post. I think there are room for both, personally.
RT @jrmorris: Has Twitter Marked The End Of The Blogging Boom? http://tinyurl.com/bozrzg
As a reader, I much prefer blogs to twitter.
Anyway, how long will twitter last before it isn’t the hottest new thing anymore?
when it fades and something else gets into the momentary spotlight, good quality blogs will still be there for the readers who enjoy them.
RT @jrmorris: Has Twitter Marked The End Of The Blogging Boom? http://tinyurl.com/bozrzg
I don’t think so, if twitter doesn’t start offering good monetization opportunities to its users, it will not end the blogging boom.
via @jrmorris: Has Twitter Marked The End Of The Blogging Boom? http://tinyurl.com/ajwkt4
via @jrmorris: Has Twitter Marked The End Of The Blogging Boom? http://tinyurl.com/ajwkt4
What does Twitter look like? It looks like a Text Messaging platform, with the limitation of 140 characters. Text messaging is popular among teens but it cannot replace speak phones. Neither can Twitter blogs. No way!
Your post cleared my doubt on what is Twitter. Thank you for posting this nice info. Keep posting such wonderful info.
Twitter is great but I think it can’t replace the blogs that have a lot of good information, maybe the little ones but the good blogs will stay.
Yes , twitter is very important tool for marketing these days as you can tell about your product/website to lot of other people out there
Twitter cannot replace blogs, not the biggest fan of twitter.
I have to say that Twitter is the first thing on the web that Ive been excited about in ages.
I don’t think so! No big fan of Twitter either!
Twitter is neat. But I just don’t see how it can benefit your business.
Twitter is amazing and I have seen it do some amazing things for businesses. Look at what Skittles recently did, they turned their site into a twitter feed of all tweets that mentioned Skittles. That created a lot of online publicity fr them, which in turn resulted in a lot of links, which help websites gain trust.
For me, that is exactly the benefit of Twitter. It helps build relationships!
Personally, I don’t think Blogs are in danger of becoming extinct due to twitter. In my post, I tried to convey both sides of the coin. For some, twitter may be a better channel for conveying their message. For many, Twitter is a good channel for driving an audience to their message on their blog/site. For others, Twitter is just annoying.
I’m in the middle. I use it as a tool to connect, announce and expand, and at times, relax. It’s my preferred social channel to feed my inner social butterfly. Having the right tools, like TweetDeck, helps tremendously.
Blogs and Twitter are entirley different things. Blogs will become extinct if they deliver rubbish content on a regular basis. Twitter will become extinct if nobody can make any sense of all the messages or keep up with the conversation. In both instances, it’s down to how you as a user define your blog and twitter account. You make your experience it what it is. And that’s what’s cool about it.
I couldn’t agree with you more CJ!
For myself, my business, and my partners, we have found ways to maximize our Twitter involvement through selective befriending, strategic posting and by backing up tweets with in-depth blog posts and articles. We make the most of what the technology has to offer as far as it fits our needs.
Great point, CJ! Thanks for sharing.
I think the two can work in tandem. twitter feeds through to blog, blog feeds through to website.
It’s a model that has worked for me.
I hope twitter is not the end to blogs. Without a doubt I choose blogs over Twitter. I see the fun in having things be live but I still choose blogs!
I’m not sure this is a true assessment. Blogging has too much of a foot hold right now, and it is an accepted medium for communication between the people throughout the internet. It is difficult for something as twitter to truly take it’s place. I personally want more content.
I don’t think twitter will end the use of blogs. Twitter is great, but not content rich.
i must say that i still prefer blogs to twitter. i still enjoy making posts on blogs than making them on twitter…
I never knew about this, great article atleast something i learned from you about twittering. I indeed used as a marketing tools but not so much got profited with it. Hope i will follow your tips to see how it works. thanks buddy
Twitter has become very popular, i just heard on the radio today that some that the radio host on bloom berg are even using it.
I don’t think that one is necessarily better than the other. They are just different. I think twitter is great when you’re on the go or to supplement your blog. But I think blogs are still going to be the way to go for most people who spend more than 30 minutes online everyday. Still, reading articles like this really has made me appreciate the growing power of twitter. I think I’m going to start updating mine more often.
I don’t get how people can suggest that Twitter could ever replace blogging. I tweet (is that right) but i still don’t get it. I signed up for the account but didn’t use it for months because I thought it was stupid…still do, but much like “social networking” I do it because it can be useful.
*shrugs*
But I seriously doubt it could ever replace blogging.
Great post. The layout is nice.
I have found twitter as a place to answer quick questions from both friends and customers. Any active twit will tell you the same even with 140 characters a lot can be said. With the recent story around it being monetise,we would see brand maximise the potentials of twitter. Thanks
Thanks for sharing the information.
Great Post! I was just saying today that I didn’t see a lot relevancy to Twitter but after reading this post I understand much more how to utilize it. As with any social media, it takes time to develop.
I am not really a user of twitter but I think it is useful specially to those with business because it’s a way of communication between you and your friends or customers. You can earn a lot with the help of twitter and because of this post, people would love to have their own twitter account.
yet another great post, I’ve not maximized the full potential of twitter yet. but I have started to see some sort of traffic from my analytics from twitter. I guess,I’ll spend more time there now.
Excellent!
Twitter is going to be very popular. What do you think about their business model to get profit?
One thing is sure. Twitter is very popular and also very powerful.
Excellent article!
I like twitter but i do not think it will stay as hot as it is now and effect the blogging scene for any extended period of time. Like everything else when its new and the latest craze it has its time in the lime light.
Twitter is great……
Twitter is really great. If you use some good updates on your twitter account. You can surely get a good social promotion of your business.
I think that someone like you — who thinks through these things very intently — will never be fully satisfied with a Twitter over your blog. I am curious, though… why not use Twitter specifically as a springboard FOR your blog.
Instead of using the platform as a be-all and end-all in and of itself, why not cultivate a crossover following that reads you on Twitter, and is linked here as well?
Nah man, Twitter helps bloggers. I use itwitter and a few other plugins and I think the whole concept works well together
Twitter cannot replace blogs, not the biggest fan of twitter. just wait a time
When I look for an article in someone’s blog, I usually read that the blog also use Twitter. I don’t implement Twitter yet. If I really need it, I will try to use it.
I still think that blogs will not be on the way out anytime soon. Without an actual proper business model, twitter might die a natural death unfortunately.
Something that differentiates blogging from Twittering is that blogging is an activity and is not contained within one site (like Twitter is). Twitter will not kill the blog trend, and if anything, the way Facebook and other social networks are changing their formats to adapt to the new micro blogging trend, may kill Twitter.
Although Twitter is much more than just micro blogging, it does not offer much content, and mainly links. Already there are many other micro blogging services besides Twitter, ones that actually improve on Twitter’s model, yet they are not as popular and likely never will be. Micro blogging and regular blogging will always exist and will help each other grow.
In the end the two will live in peace, twitter and convetional blogs.
Hi,
Personally, I still prefer Blogs over Twitter. Most of the tweets provides website url to blog. I think blogs and twitter are helping one another.
twitter is great! its taking over many older message boards. connection to the cell phone helps.
twitter can’t replace to blogs.
I don’t think so, every blog is connected with follow me button. So what’s the point.
I honestly don’t think Twitter will ever replace blogging; blogging is an improvement on something that has been carried out throughout time, whilst Twitter is simply an addition to the improvement.
It’s the same as mobile phones. In themselves, they are improvement on the landline. Over time, they were improved by becoming smaller, but that has changed and their size in recent years has increased.
I would agree to the point you raised in this interesting article
Twitter will never take the place of the blogs. There are a lot of people who have something to say and Twitter is not enough.
Also, Twitter is not a very good ideea to advertise on…
via @jrmorris: Has Twitter Marked The End Of The Blogging Boom? http://bit.ly/kbOoo
via @jrmorris: Has Twitter Marked The End Of The Blogging Boom? http://bit.ly/kbOoo
Honestly, I think twitter is a bit faddish. I don’t see it ever replacing blogging. It might help get rid of those useless blogs. Twitter does have its place, but no one us sure what that place is yet.
Remember how hot MySpace was? Its cooled off quite a bit.
Blogging may cool off too at least in the “pop culture” mind, but its use and function will go on and on. It may however evolve.
Twitter is great and has so many good post so i don’t think that is right.
nice post!!
great work. i must say this post has very succesfully compared both blogs and twitter between each other.
my perception is very much towards blogs.
useful content. go on….
Twitter is becoming over-used by spammers I think. Every time you follow someone on there, you get all sorts of crappy messages about how you need to whiten your teeth and shit.
True, but how is that any better than using the name “Best Registry Cleaner Tools” with a backlink to a sales page when you’re commenting on a blog post? Think about it.
i dont think it is the end…but twitter has made blogging more expandable as the blogger can tweet his post to his followers
The blog is the anchor- Twitter is the invite. And a way to spread that invite far and wide
I too do not think that twitter has done anything bad to blogging. Actually the fact is that twitter has become a much more helpful tool for blogging.
Twitter is great and has so many good post so i don’t think that is right.
Some of the blogs read are very business related, contain a ton of step by step information, which may work in a twitter environment. If you wanted, you could “leak” a bit of the story each day to your followers (keeps them engaged to your twitter account). However, I much would prefer blog where I can get all of my information at once and move on.
Well, in my view, twitter can never replace blog cus its only 120 character..less than an SMS!!!!