It occurred to me today that I follow very few CIOs or CIO-types on Twitter. I also realized that I don’d understand why that is the case. I am a business technologist and they are business technologists so are there differences between us? Well, of course there are differences but I am not talking about the obvious demographics. I am thinking about the differences in purposes of using Twitter, intent of using Twitter or understanding of social media in general. Most importantly, I am not convinced we all understand the opportunity of tools such as Twitter. At this point, I will give the early disclaimer that I don’t claim to know the “right” use of Twitter or even the best practices. I just know that I use it, I don’t follow many other CIOs and other CIO types don’t follow me. In fact, I don’t claim to be a corporate CIO just a broad minded technologist out to better the business I support.
My core thought is that senior technologists don’t use Twitter because they don’t know why they should. So, here are my first thoughts on CIOs and Twitter …
- PEOPLE: The next wave of the workforce is on Twitter and it is a greatly diverse population. It took me a while to realize that I wasnt exactly a Senior, a Boomer, an X, or a Y. I was a mix of all four given my set of diverse, life experiences. After a year on Twitter, I have met both online and in person several thousand people that fit all sorts of backgrounds. I find that I engage in more, different types of conversations. There are management consultants, deep technologists, moms, dads, athletes, newscasters, etc who are all on my follower and following lists. Twitter has contributed greatly to my understanding of different ages, professions, interests. All of that rolled into one has helped me understand different people, how to work more effectively, and what trends are occurring in people’s lives.
- IDEA EXCHANGE: Twitter is a next generation technology and hot bed for learning about new technology. How should Twitter be used in the workplace if at all? Well, the answer is that it should and that the use of it should vary company to company. Twitter is not all we should be thinking about as technologists. I give as an example the recent collapse of Google Wave. That’s technology that conceptually should bring people together. At the end of the day (and the end of Google Wave), it was technology that nobody understood or cared to learn about. I recently held a few discussions via Twitter all sorts of people on the topic of Google Wave. I was able to quickly discern that nobody understood it and nobody wanted to put the energy to determining how to use it with the exception of one person who used it well. Of course, the example that person gave was that they used Google Wave for design documents and job postings which is about the the only way I have heard of anyone doing anything with GW. There are also technologies that are becoming more popular such as Flipboard which most of the Twitter population heard of and was using a month before it hit blogs and magazines. My view is that Twitter is a great way to learn about the latest technology first, digest how others are using it, discuss with others how your company might use it, and then contribute back other ideas. Another option would be to just read the same old magazines and blogs which will get you a load of the same old ideas.
- CUSTOMER REACH: Twitter is a free way to reach to your customers one on one in a time effective way. I work for a company in the recent past received a significant portion of negative press. This negative press empowered people to become more vocal on Twitter on topics such as pricing, technology availability, customer service and even the same topics on the competition. I didn’t and don’t typically interact directly with them. However, I do send Tweeps to our customer service desk and I do listen to the ideas and bring them back to the business leadership table. Interacting with current and future customers on a personal level is very exciting and informative.
- FUN: A technologist should use Twitter because it is fun. Not everything on Twitter is serious or “social media” related. Sometimes people take on the personality of something goofy such as the famous Cookie Puss cake from Carvel. Ever wonder what the online rivalry between Cookie Puss and Fudgie the Whale would be like online? Well, why not find out by following them? If you are a Star Wars fan and wonder what Darth Vader would have to say on Twitter, you can find that out too. While you won’t learn much from following those, it will provide comic relief in your day. There are countless other personalities you can follow – ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, Mark Cuban, Martha Stewart, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
I look forward to interacting with you on Twitter. You don’t have to be a CIO, technologist, social media expert, computer person, etc … you just have to be able to interact and form thoughts in 140 characters. 
Feel free to peak in on what I have to say on Twitter – either on the right hand side of this website or at http://twitter.com/danaedwards. I follow just about everybody back and I enjoy the conversations.
-Dana
