It’s easy to reel off a few names when it comes to publishing: Houghton Mifflin, for one, should be familiar to UCSD students. They’re the guys stiffing you another $300 for that new chemistry book with the extra graph or problem set every couple years. Unfortunately, it’s been getting tougher and tougher to put a finger on who will be the new royalty of the publishing world in a few years; revenues at traditional venues nosedive as a casualty of the information available online. Move aside, Houghton. Enter, Twitter.com.
At the risk of sounding like a huge nerd, I’ve got to say Twitter has absolutely blown up in the college sphere recently. While I admit the premise is creepy and even a little disturbing (Who really needs to know your every thought? Not me), in practice it works wonderfully as a news distribution center. I can easily follow (not stalk, that’s Facebook) prospective employers, especially those at small companies where the head honcho actually has to write the updates himself. It’s a great way to check out people you may be working for, or with, in the future; it can also bring people with niche interests together. Oh, you like competitive bass fishing too? Awesome.
Twitter’s greatest use may be its ability to connect companies with their constituencies. It’s obvious that Southwest Airlines prides itself on being young and lively, and its Twitter feels like an introduction to the apparently young, lively people who work there. A recent tweet linked to a blog entry listing instructions to be the best pickup artist on your next flight.
You also get to find out what famous people are up to. Newsflash: Barack Obama does not personally update his Twitter. Now that I’ve ruined the equivalent of Santa Claus for all of you faithful believers, wipe away those tears, and realize the power inherent in getting the chance to talk to even Obama’s press secretary’s intern’s sister’s ex-boyfriend ‘mdash; or whoever they have posting tweets.
Yes, updates are called tweets. Silly, right? I don’t know who came up with the terminology: Oh wait, it was probably Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, and a paradoxically terrible Twitterer. Recent tweet: ‘Buying some Camper shoes.’ One hour later: ‘Shoes on, time to walk and discover.’ This kind of overuse (abuse?) makes Twitter an easy target for naysayers.
But while instances of social networking faux pas abound ‘mdash; that guy who called in sick and then posted pictures of himself in a sparkly green fairy costume at a Halloween celebration comes to mind ‘mdash; that’s not the only thing to watch out for as you delve deeper into the tweet-sphere. The speed at which Twitter operates, as well as the prevalence of cell phone use connected with the site, function both as the reason for its popularity, and a reason to take care what you post.
Recently, in a move that provides direct evidence for my theory that the human population is getting dumber by the second, a man posted a few sentences following an interview that ended in a job offer. His choice to tweet his indecision about making a tradeoff between getting a ‘fatty paycheck’ and the fact that he would assuredly ‘hate the work,’ begs the que
stion: Who would hire this moron?
When a representative for the company responded moments later, informing him that the company was indeed aware of the invention of the Internet, and in fact used it on a regular basis, the potential hire immediately shut down his account, but the damage was done.
Within hours, a Web site, YouTube parodies and millions of tweets related to the debacle were floating around online.
You kind of have to feel for the guy. This is so different from the days of yore when you could bash a company prepared to pay you big bucks in a tanking economy and not have it emerge until the guy you share a cubicle with gets drunk at the company holiday party and tells your boss. That gives you months of income to live off of once they fire your ass.
Whether you’re looking for a job upon graduation, keeping up with your favorite columnist’s latest rant or you just find it hilarious that Ashton Kutcher recently posted a TweetPic of his wife in her swimsuit without telling her, just think of Twitter as the new Facebook, but with less photos of drunken nights and a higher chance of actually accomplishing something with all the time you spend on it.
Houghton Mifflin doesn’t seem to have a Twitter account, and judging from the number of friends I have pissed off about their book prices, it seems like the right time for the company to start forming connections with the people putting money in their pockets. @HoughtonMifflin: get with the program.