4 ms·

So my startup uses Twitter as an extension of our news aggregator, as another way to distribute links that "go popular" with our users. Since June, we've kept

So my startup uses Twitter as an extension of our news aggregator, as another way to distribute links that "go popular" with our users. Since June, we've kept up our same tweeting frequency and the quality of the stories has even shot up a bit. But referrals, click-thru's and retweets are down to about half of what they were in August. We were scratching our heads about this for a while. Maybe a lot of the folks living on Twitter over the summer, retweeting our stuff moved on to some shiny new toy once fall hit?

steveklabnik 17y ago
Are you using Twitter as a glorified RSS feed, or are you participating in conversation?
- jcromartie 17y ago
  > Are you using Twitter as a glorified RSS feed Isn't that what it is? (totally serious here)
  - steveklabnik 17y ago
    If you just use it for that, you're missing out on a lot. Yes, technically speaking, it's a glorified RSS feed. But due to the presentation and the way people use it, it's more than that. Check out, for example, the Dell Outlet. http://twitter.com/DellOutlet http://twitter.com/DellOutlet Dell made $6.5 million from this Twitter account. Why? Because they actually engage in discussions with their customers. It's an incredibly powerful way to reach people that are buying your stuff. Part of the reason I'm still a Verizon customer is because I got frustrated with their service, complained on Twitter, and within 15 minutes, I got an @reply and then a dm from a rep, who got actual real CSRs to call me, and my stuff got fixed.
  - stilist 17y ago
    You’re forgetting the IM half.
- brandnewlow 17y ago
  Either way, we've done exactly the same thing throughout the whole period.
  - steveklabnik 17y ago
    Yes, but it's possible that people got bored and unsubscribed. I have no real idea, just throwing some ideas out there.
    - brandnewlow 17y ago
      We've gained followers over same period.
      - mgrouchy 17y ago
        An increase in followers is not the same as an increase in engagement.

steveklabnik 17y ago

Are you using Twitter as a glorified RSS feed, or are you participating in conversation?

jcromartie 17y ago
> Are you using Twitter as a glorified RSS feed Isn't that what it is? (totally serious here)
- steveklabnik 17y ago
  If you just use it for that, you're missing out on a lot. Yes, technically speaking, it's a glorified RSS feed. But due to the presentation and the way people use it, it's more than that. Check out, for example, the Dell Outlet. http://twitter.com/DellOutlet http://twitter.com/DellOutlet Dell made $6.5 million from this Twitter account. Why? Because they actually engage in discussions with their customers. It's an incredibly powerful way to reach people that are buying your stuff. Part of the reason I'm still a Verizon customer is because I got frustrated with their service, complained on Twitter, and within 15 minutes, I got an @reply and then a dm from a rep, who got actual real CSRs to call me, and my stuff got fixed.
- stilist 17y ago
  You’re forgetting the IM half.
brandnewlow 17y ago
Either way, we've done exactly the same thing throughout the whole period.
- steveklabnik 17y ago
  Yes, but it's possible that people got bored and unsubscribed. I have no real idea, just throwing some ideas out there.
  - brandnewlow 17y ago
    We've gained followers over same period.
    - mgrouchy 17y ago
      An increase in followers is not the same as an increase in engagement.