A week ago , popular blogger and online market Jim Kukral launching a marketing experiment called TwitterMeThis.
Basically, TwitterMeThis is an experiment by Jim to see how the Twitter media can be used. He has asked people to follow the TwitterMeThis account at Twitter and periodically he asks his followers a question. The first person who responds to this question gets $5. There are currently 701 followers so it’s safe to say it’s proved to be popular with a lot of people.
The experiment has generated mixed reactions. Some bloggers think it’s a good idea whereas others think it’s pointless with some going as far as saying it will ruin Twitter.
The fight begins
One argument in particular has gathered some momentum, between Jim Kural and fellow marketer’s Sam Harrelson and Shawn Collins.
Round 1 : Jim launches TwitterMeThis as a marketing experiment.
Round 2 : Sam Harrelson cricizes Jim via Twitter.
Round 3 : Jim responds with a video response via GeekCast.fm.
Round 4 : Sam responds with a video via CostPerNews
Round 5 : Shawn Collins joins in the debate with a video entitled ‘Death of Twitter by Jim Kukral‘ (in his post Is Jim Kukral Killing Twitter?)
Round 6 : Sam Harrelson launches TwatterMeThat, a blog which imitates TwitterMeThis and links to a Twitter account where Jim’s Surname is spelled incorrectly (something I have did in the past too!).
Round 7 : Jim states on Trisha Lynn’s blog that he doubts he will continue to their joint project GeekCast anymore.
Round 8 : Shawn Collins deals a knockout blow and takes this ‘over the top’ debate into overdrive by stating that Jim was already emailed about being replaced.
Is TwitterMeThis ruining Twitter?
I responded to Shawn Collin’s post last night and stated that ‘this kind of thing isnt good for twitter’. I didn’t really expand too much on this statement at the time but those who have read this blog in the last month will know that I’m not a fan of gaming or manipulating social media as the medium gets ruined when people try to exploit the site for their own benefit. That being said, I don’t have any major problems with those who do, I just don’t want to be part of it (some might say that if I’m not part of the solution I’m part of the problem but I prefer to look at it that I’m leading by example!! 
). However, do I have the right to assume that Jim is using TwitterMeThis for self promotion or is his sole aim of this project to experiment with this new social media. I’m a regular reader of Jim’s blog and he has come up with some innovative methods of getting traffic so my initial thoughts when I read about this project was that he was using it to drive traffic to his blog. Maybe that is partly his plan here but at the very least he has stimulated some good discussions through this (it’s not like he’s selling his account!).
Since last night my view has changed slightly about this whole thing. I still agree with Sam’s original comments that TwitterMeThis is not really pushing any boundaries however I’m not 100% sure if my original view that it is ‘ruining Twitter’ is correct.
Michael Buechele posted a great post about all of this yesterday and ended it with the following statement :
Ultimately, Twitter Me This is an experiment. Jim had an idea and wants to see what happens. I say if people, the Market, users, friends, followers, or whatever the term is now, do not want something like Twitter Me This, then let the Market decide. All you have to do is un-follow. Hard to get a question answered when no one is reading it.
Trisha Lynn said pretty much the same thing the day before when she said
I don’t see what the harm is in TwitterMeThis. If you don’t lke it, don’t follow it.
Michael and Trisha are 100% right. If you have a problem with people using Twitter to promote themselves or promote their site then don’t follow them. You have full control over what messages you see as you can pick and choose who you follow. This is in stark contrast to a social media site like Digg where posts can be spammed onto the front page.
What do you think?
Michael and a few others have suggested that this whole debate is perhaps a scam to get more people to use the TwitterMeThis service. I doubt this is true as this is the kind of thing that can do more damage to a bloggers reputation than good.*
I do share the opinion with the commentators on Shawn’s blog that this spat is getting a little childish. I love debates like this that get bloggers and web developers talking but when you know it’s too far when the personal attacks start.
What do you think? Is it wrong to create a twitter account for the sole purpose of promoting something. Whether you agree or disagree, Jim Kukral has definately shown that Twitter can be used to to do just that.
Let me just say that I was the one who told them I wasn’t doing this week’s geekcast, not the other way around.
I’m not sure if I can speak for all bloggers who have followed this but personally I don’t think it matters if you told them you were not doing it or Shawn said you were being replaced. The thing that has surprised me was the pettiness of all of this. Sam’s video response was pretty good in my opinion and he made some valid points so I was surprised to learn a few days later that he had started TwatterMeThat. It seemed like a childish response, particularly as the site seems more concerned with making fun of you rather than making fun of your project.
As I said in my post, I don’t that the project will achieve much as far as stretching boundaries however having a difference of opinion is one thing, the responses we have all witnessed have been childish.
Hey Kevin. This is an awesome post. The Geekcast members reaction to Twitter Me This is really out there, except Lisa who always seems solid. The puppet shows, quoting Jim from a year ago, and kicking Jim out is so over the top I thought it had to be a joke. I’ve been in meetings where the people hated each other but still worked together to bring a new product to market, so I think you’re right about you take on everyone’s reactions to this. In the end, the only reaction that counts is the Twitter community’s. So far they’re still following.
yeah with 700 followers its clear the experiment is doing ok for Jim.
One thing I forgot to mention in my post was Shawn quoting that Jim was quitting Twitter way back in November. He placed the quote in his latest video and if you hadn’t read Jim’s post you would think that Jim had flipped and completely changed his mind about the service - he hadn’t. Correct me if im wrong Jim but your post was quite clear was that you were thinking about quitting because you were spending too much time on Twitter, not because you didn’t like Twitter.
Good post… Lisa Picarille said it best on twitter that the boys’ should get along. It’s been blown WAY out of proportion in my personal opinion. Perhaps I’m being naive in thinking that it’s as simple as “don’t follow if you don’t like it” but I’m a peace lovin’ person
This spat has been one of the most immature that I have seen in a while. Jim, Sam, and Shawn are all acting like junior high kids. Sam creates TwatterMeThat? Jim calls Sam a douche bag? Come on, people. By revealing this side of themselves, it will cause a lot of people to not trust any of them in a business relationship.
[...] if you haven’t been following the drama, here’s a good rundown from Mike at 1115Media. Anyway, as you’ll hear in the video below, I think Feldman is a funny and talented dude and [...]
Lol… this whole thing is funny as heck… in a pretty darn stupid way.
Yes, Twitter is meant to be a place where you tell your friends “what you are doing”… but isn’t Facebook a place to network w/ new friends and catch up w/ old friends? What about Myspace? Heck… what about the regular postal mail? What was it created for?
What I’m getting at is… w/ any new medium of communication… it represents a potential new way for us marketers to get to our target audience. If us marketers didn’t try new ways to market to people we would stop evolving.
I agree w/ Sam in the way that I really don’t want to see Twitter turn into a big ol’ spam machine where people are overtly pushing their products and getting people to buy their crap. When I see that (which I am seeing a ton of overt selling w/ no attempt to make personal connections in the last 2 weeks), I simply accept their “follow” and don’t return the favor. Simple as that. If I don’t like it I don’t pay attention to it.
Jim isn’t the first well known marketer to build a Twitter list specifically on giving stuff away… nor will he be the last (I can think of 2 very very very popular twitter users who bribe people to follow by giving stuff away… and did it way before Jim ever started his project)… yet where are the outspoken critics for those people? Is it because Jim is known as an “internet marketer” by trade… and the other guys are billed as something else? Could be.
I don’t know… we need to look at this w/ level heads. Jim created a game (people like games) that simply asks questions and gives out money (people like money) on a completely voluntary and opt in basis. If people don’t like it they can simply opt out.
Just wait until Twitter finally figures out how to monetize… I can guarantee that whatever way they decide to monetize will be a heck of a lot more intrusive and a pain in the ass than Jim’s little experiment. Something to think about.
- Trevor
Your right, the commercialisation of Twitter is inevitable however I hope they go down the non-intrusive gmail type ad integration way instead of just putting loads of banner ads everywhere.