By Richard Bracker
Twitter might be an "ego-massaging time-drain," but New York Times contributing technology writer David Pogue said social media serves a higher purpose than a glorified chat room.
Pogue was the key speaker at the third Annual Ragan Social Media for Communicators at Coca-Cola World Headquarters in Atlanta, GA., February 22-24. He described social media as a "unique new channel, combining real-time, two-way public and private communications" where "no middleman separates the celebrity from the fan ... or the company from its customers."
A 10-year contributor of the Times and author of one of its most popular blogs, Pogue’s Posts, Pogue was there to give his opinion and keen insight regarding to the Twitter evolution. Does Pogue have a problem with a Twitter user being limited to 140 characters in each submission? Basically, he thinks it’s both limiting and wonderful. But a microblog it’s not.
"It forces you to be concise and clever. It’s a challenge that you have to rise up to meet," he said. "It lends itself to certain kinds of conversation such as jokes, thoughts, observations, questions, greetings, headlines, jokes and riddles."
Pogue said the syntax constraints also make Twitter much easier to consume. "When you have a minute and you’re on the receiving end of these things they aren’t daunting at all," he said.
"You can sit down and duck in and read a few and then duck out," he continued. "It’s not like e-mail where each one can be pages long, just like an albatross around your neck."
Pogue compared Twitter to more discussed recent technological advents such as Google Buzz, Gmail’s social networking application that allows users to post Facebook and Twitter status updates via email.
"They’re just two different things ... like should you use a spoon or a fork. Twitter remains great for lightweight, fast and witty submissions whereas Google Buzz doesn’t force people to be as concise," he said.
How exactly how has social media’s ubiquity impacted printed media, and to what extent will it continue? Pogue lamented the "fast decline" of print but stated that "there are pros and cons for either way and ... with each having its place."
"You would be hard-pressed to find a college student who has a subscription to a newspaper or magazine. The reason is becoming quite obvious. You can go online and many are just free. They’re in your phones and in laptops," he said.
Pogue hopes that newspapers will continue, both as news-gathering organizations and a lens through which to understand and filter the world.
"They’re going to always be there, but in probably different delivery formats," he said.
Each week, Pogue contributes print and e-mail columns and an online video. He also is an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, a frequent guest on NPR’s "Morning Edition" and a regular on CNBC.
He’s also one of the world’s best-selling how-to authors. He wrote or helped write seven books in the "For Dummies" series. In 1999, he launched the "Missing Manual," a line of humorous computer books that includes 60 titles.
Ragan Communications and PRSA were sponsors of the three-day Atlanta conference, where tickets drew a cost of $1,195 (or $945 for Ragan "members").
Top billing was given to Coca-Cola, which hosted the meeting. Coke SVP-PA Clyde Tuggle discussed how Coke uses social media to enhance its reputation, build brands and engage employees. |