Internet's Dark Secret: It's Made of People!

Like 'Soylent Green,' the mysteries of the Internet are easy to unravel when you realize this: It's people. The Internet is made out of people.

Twitter, Facebook, search engines, websites, video, monitoring software...

The point of all of these tools is to help people connect and communicate. You've got to fulfill the expectations of the people on the other ends of these tools for them to work for you.

So don't be overwhelmed, intimidated or turned off by the technology. And conversely, don't make it all about the technology. Make it about the people. (Just don't actually turn the people into food. That's not supposed to happen until 2022, the year in which the film, Soylent Green, is set.)

But do add Soylent Green to your Netflix queue, and while you're at it, add SNL's the Best of Phil Hartman, who could impersonate Charleton Heston like no other before or since.

Think you're following 1,000 Tweeps? Actually it's closer to 40.

Twitter's supercharged adoption rates have taken it from nine million unique visitors in March to 17 million in April.

But recent scrutiny of Twitter adoption rates have turned up two interesting results:

• 60% of users who start an account abandon it within a month. (Source: Nielsen)
• 10% of its active users are responsible for 90% of the Tweets. (Source: Harvard Business School)

Based on these metrics, while my account might indicate that I'm following 2,000 people on Twitter, I'm actually following more like 800 (40% of 2,000). And, 10% of them--80 people--are responsible for 90% of what I see. The other 720 folks are responsible for a smattering of Tweets.

To see if these numbers bore out, I reviewed an hour of incoming Tweets and counted closer to 150 individuals and news feeds of which no more than 10 people or outlets were responsible for multiple Tweets. This is not scientific by any means, but it tells me I'm following users who are twice as active as the average. This is what I'd expect to see since I tend to follow other communicators and journalists; however, it still illustrates the point that only a small percentage of followers are consistently contributing to Twitter.

What do these trends mean for communicators and their clients? Well, for one, it means Ashton Kutcher does not have 2.1 million followers -- he has 840,000, max of which 84,000 would fall into that most active 10% and who are, therefore, likely to be on Twitter at the moment he sends a Tweet. And now the question is whether that's the 84,000 who really care what Kutcher has to say? (And could it be that high? ;-)

But enough about Kutcher. What this post is intended to illustrate is that amassing large audiences is not as important as targeting and attracting followers that care about and share your interests.

And, in that respect, social media is no different than all forms of communication that preceded it. The first commandment remains 'know thy audience.'

If you're being followed by 1,000 people, keep in mind that 600 of them are no longer using Twitter because they didn't get it. Of the 400 remaining, only 40 of them can be expected to really engage.

So take stock and identify who those 40 people are, find more like them, serve that audience as best you can, and consider cutting loose those who may be cluttering your communications rather than adding to them. Approach your social networks with the same discipline you use to build a direct mail or media list--you want the highest response rate possible so pay close attention to your followers' profile.

And if you're someone who is an above average user on Twitter, help newcomers and encourage them to stay by engaging with them, recommending TweetDeck and other tools that improve the experience, and so on. Think of it as your community service.

Communicate at a Glance

The Internet has changed our reading habits.

If you're like most people, you don't read online as much as you scan. And in all fairness, with so much information available to you, who can blame you?! Reading a website word-for-word makes about as much sense as admiring a field flower-by-flower or a grove tree-by-tree.

As communicators, we recognize these behaviors and preferences and leverage them for better results.

I've been talking about 'at a glance' communication for the last two years, by which I mean information that communicates the message with one look. Headings, subheadings, short bulleted lists, diagrams, images and captions all help to achieve this outcome.

Paragraphs of full prose kill this effect.

With attention in short supply, smart communicators are turning to visuals to engage their audiences. Economy of words and efficiency are essential to getting your point across.

However, there is a time and a place to use a lot of information: when you are trying to show 'at a glance' that you're the experts or the best source for something. In that case, employ the opposite tact and overload your communications with links, words, inserts, papers, slides -- no one may read any of them but, 'at a glance,' they'll get the message that you've got a lot to say or show, which must mean you've got a lot to offer.