Twitter, Ralph Nader, and the other 97%

I plead guilty to the charge of contributing to the hype, buzz, hyperbole, or whatever term you care to use surrounding the astronomical growth of Twitter.

I have spent way more hours than I care to calculate tweeting and reading tweets.

I have written probably 10 or so blog posts about Twitter, (and for a little blog like this one that is quite a bit).

Twitter has been a great resource for me, (and quite fun at times I admit).  But I feel the need to point out a couple of things about Twitter that I think are relevant and important.

Yesterday the internet monitoring firm ComScore released a report on Twitter usage that indicated approximately 4 million folks in the United States accessed Twitter in February 2009, which was a 1,000 percent increase from a year ago.

Wow, incredible. 

Did you also know that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates non-farm US employment to be about 137 million?

For the math challenged, that amounts to less than 3% of the people employed in the US visited Twitter in February.  (Actually the real percentage has to be lower, there is no way all of the 4 million Twitter visitors are all employed, but the precise percentages are not the important thing).

You know how much 3% is?Photo - Mike Licht

That's about how much of the popular vote that (kook) Ralph Nader received in the 2000 US Presidential Election.

3% is an incredibly small percentage, but just about the perfect size for an effective echo chamber.

For the HR professional and the HR Technologist, this is an essential statistic  that bears attention.  The vast majority of experienced, capable, and effective HR practitioners are not on Twitter, don't care how many followers you have, are not versed in the art of crafting Tweets to increase the likelihood of the 'retweet', and don't know who Scoble or Brogan or Kawasaki are.

That does not make them less intelligent or valuable to the organization.

Sure 4 million people are on Twitter.  But HUNDREDS of millions are not (at least yet).

And they run HR departments, own small and medium size businesses, and makeup the VAST majority of the working population.

Look, I said before that I think Twitter is an awesome and powerful platform, but it is not the end-all, be-all that is going to solve HR's pressing issues.  It is what it is.

And right now it is about 3%.

(Now hurry up Twitterfeed, and pick this up so it gets to Twitter so that someone will actually read this)

How to contact the Professor? - DM me on Twitter

I have been thinking long and hard about the best and most effective way to integrate Twitter into my next HR Technology Class.  In the last three class sessions, I have variously discussed Twitter, demonstrated Twitter, and even had an HR expert panel web conference that was organized completely on Twitter.

Yet, I still feel like many students are slow to embrace Twitter and to leverage the vast pool of resources and contacts that can be found there.  I am such a huge proponent of the potential of Twitter for networking, for research, and for connecting to some of the best HR practitioners that I feel the need to 'force' students into the Twitterverse.

So in the spirit of the old-timer professor that props up sales for the ancient textbook he wrote years back by making it a 'required' reading, I am going to make Twitter a 'required' aspect of my next class.

In addition to crafting an assignment or two involving making connections with HR experts on Twitter, I am going to enact a new policy.

I am going to instruct the students if they need to contact me, that they have to send me a DM (direct message) on Twitter. That way I ensure two things, one, that they have actually created an account on Twitter, and two, they have figured out the basics of using the service (at least enough to send me a DM).

So, from this day forward students, if you need to contact me, do what plenty of HR experts, consultants, bloggers, and friends have already done, send me a DM.

Steve on Twitter - SteveBoese

Bikini Girl Followers

I love Twitter as much as the next guy, but there are a few nagging annoyances that you simply have to learn to put up with sometimes - auto-dms, rambling two-way conversations between people you are following that you wish they would take out of the 'main stream', and my new personal favorite, the bikini girl follower.

What is the bikini girl follower you ask?

This is the follower that has an innocuous sounding name, my last one was 'Joan', but with a Twitter handle something like 'ExGYtg'.  If you click through to the profile, you find the classic bikini girl profile image, and exactly one update, a link to learn how 'Joan' won a free laptop.

Awesome right?  Good looking bikini girls, with free laptops on offer what could be better?

Now I would really, really like to believe there are truly attractive young biking girls who want to help me get a free laptop.  So, I will give them a chance here.

Bikini girls - instead of following me on Twitter, use the contact form on the blog to send me an e-mail and let me know where I can pick up that laptop, okay?

And for the rest of you reading this, you can follow me on Twitter - click here, even if you are not a bikini girl!

I'm not in today, but my Twitter followers can help you

As the popularity of Twitter grows by leaps and bounds, and as folks increasingly turn to their Twitter networks for information, perspective, advice, and great ideas, I wonder if there will come a time when the standard 'Out of the Office' message - 'Hi, I'm not in, leave a message and I'll get back to you on Thursday', will be replaced by 'I'm not in today, but my Twitter followers can help you, just send me a Tweet with your question'.

Think about it, many folks who have spent the time networking and connecting on Twitter have developed robust, rich networks of hundreds if not thousands of 'followers', many of whom are more than willing to offer assistance, resources, and expert information on almost any question you are likely to throw at them.

A few nights ago I was preparing material for my HR Tech class on the use of Web 2.0 and related technologies in recruiting, and I tweeted a question to my network about what technologies aside from LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter were important to mention. Within five minutes I received a wide range of responses from five or six professional, successful recruiters.  The responses were insightful, helpful, innovative, and I incorporated some of the suggestions in class the next night.  My 'work product' was directly influenced and improved by the use of my network.

So, what's the big deal you ask? Hasn't leveraging your professional network always been a hallmark of successful employees?  In the past the most valuable employees often boasted the largest rolodex.Flickr - rutibegga

All true, but today's social sites like Twitter and Facebook enable more 'super-charged' networking, that is more accessible to every employee.  But unlike the old-timer's rolodexes, these networks are sometimes viewed as 'time-wasters', 'distractions', and even banned or blocked by some short-sighted organizations.

Would any organization force a new employee to erase all the numbers in their contact list? Then why would they try and block Twitter?

Follow me on Twitter - I promise I won't block you!

Why Teachers should Twitter

There are dozens of good reasons for educators to get on Twitter, I am not going to try and re-hash them all again here, but rather tell a simple, quick story of the real power and strength of Twitter for classes and students.  One of the assignments in class is a presentation of a company or organization's application of technology to support or enhance a Human Resources process.

We had a series of excellent presentations on topics like employee self-service, onboarding, and corporate social networks.  We also had a great presentation on the use of technology for recruiting by the US Army.

The student, Jessica Wagner, did a fantastic job of discussing the challenges faced by the Army in meeting their recruiting targets, the makeup and psychology of the 'target' demographic for potential candidates, and the Army's application of innovative technology to bolster their recruiting efforts.

The next morning I sent out a Tweet with a comment and observation on the presentation, which led to the following exchange of Tweets between myself and Amy Lewis, Director of the Talent Acquisition Community on the Human Capital Institute.

 

After that last Tweet, Amy and I took the conversation to a few private Twitter direct messages and arranged a time to have a chat on the subject.  A couple of days and one really great discussion later, we arranged for my student and I to deliver an HCI webcast, 'Tell the Hiring Stroy with Technology' on May 14, 2009, which will be largely based on her original class presentation.

Needless to say, for a student (who is also a new HR Manager) to participate in delivering an HCI webcast presents a phenomenal opportunity, and I want to thank Amy for her interest and support.

The larger point though, is if you are a teacher part of your role should be to advocate and promote the work of your students beyond the four walls of your class, and even outside the boundaries of your school.   Twitter can be a fantastic avenue for that kind of recognition and promotion.  Jessica gave a great presentation in class last week, and now thanks in large part to Twitter, she will get the chance to share that presentation with a wide audience. 

Thanks Amy, thanks, HCI and thanks Twitter.