Twitter ROA? a continuing inquiry into the value of Social Networking tools

Introductory comment: I find that posting links within my writing interrupts the flow of the post. If readers are interested in the link references they will be footnoted at the end of the post.


I have recently been nagged by my colleagues to sign up for Twitter - a microblogging sensation that is sweeping the social network world. You will see a boring segment of my recent twitters on the sidebar of this blog.

In a conversation with Adam Green of Grazr, I asked the question : "what is the Return on Attention(ROA) on the use of twitter?". He hasn't yet given me a sufficient answer.

This led me to inquire of Jerry Michalski whether Twitter could be filtered and connected to his now famous online Brain. (1). where I found this blog post on Breakthrough by Terry Frazer (2) describing the work of Lisa Haneberg. This 2x2 is Lisa's, and provides a good way to think about ROA.

Here is Lisa's comment on Breakthrough:

"My point it that breakthroughs generally happen in conversation.

To generate breakthroughs, introverts - or extroverts - or anyone needs to be in conversation about their goals and ideas.

Even if we look at science, the individual work we do is important, but it is the sharing and collaboration that usually catalyzes bigger advancements.

I am a proud introvert myself. I have learned that to generate more breakthroughs, I need to engage others in my work, listen more, and share more."

Here is how I position Twitter on Lisa's chart:


I currently position Twitter in the "unfocused" side of the chart. A peak performer ( upper right hand corner of the chart) generates a high ROA from his or her activities in social networking and I have not yet found the ROA in Twitter. It may be a useful "engagement" tool, but for me, I need some way to manage the Twitter flow in order to move it toward the upper right hand corner of the chart where peak performers can integrate into their daily practice. Until that occurs - I won't be happy with Twitter.

(1) Welcome to Sociate - Jerry Michalski's home on the Web .

(2) Breakthroughs Happen in a Social Context:

Yi-Tan on FaceBook and Widgets

http://www.yi-tan.com/

The Gladwellian Connector pictured above is Jerry Michalski, founder of Yi-Tan, a collective which uses the chinese symbol above to mean: Conversations About Change.

Here's how Jerry describes what his collective is all about:

"We're here as part of a larger network to explore, prototype, adopt and recommend solutions around social media and technologies that are going to change the way people communicate, collaborate, engage with each other and organise for work and play."

I met Jerry last year at Meshforum 2006, and today accepted his invitation to listen on his weekly Yi-Tan community conversation - sort of a dial-in radio talk show with Jerry as the host. The subject of today's call was a timely exploration of the meaning of the "new" FaceBook
Platform and how it may effect the solution set that Yi-Tan has been exploring.

If you didn't get the invitation in time to hear the conversation, the link above will take you to the podcast archive of the call. Given time, I will attempt to synthesize the conversation, so you won't have to listen to the full hour to get the gist - but here is my takeaway:

"Facebook is emerging as an important player in the intersection between social networks and how people communicate through conversations".

I have just joined as a member of Facebook as you can see from my sidebar, and intend to learn as much as I can what all the buzz is about.