John Edwards is Using Twitter
Sarah Milstein writes in email to the Radar backchannel:
John Edwards is using twitter.Looks like he signed up a while ago but just started using it regularly.
Smart move. Texting is an intimate medium, and anyone following him on
Twitter is likely to feel pretty connected.
I agree. This is a smart move, and reaches out to a good demographic for Edwards.
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You may have noticed that each day, or a few times a day, I have been updating my Twitter page. I have been trying to keep it to once or twice a day so people who visit this blog can see what I am up to that day without the self important, every twent... Read More
Comments: 9
[03.09.07 03:00 PM]
So what makes you think it is really John and not someone working or volunteering (or spoofing) for him? I don't think I'd believe it was actually him unless I saw a video or saw him in person at a computer or device using it.
[03.09.07 03:19 PM]
Not only is he using it but he will have a twitter badge on his blog starting next week :)
[03.09.07 03:36 PM]
It's a fair question, Andy. "Condoleeza Rice" and "Bill Clinton" both have accounts, but they're clearly fakes. I can't say for sure that Edwards's account is real, but the posts appear genuine, and his Website lends credibility to the idea by linking prominently to 43 Things, Flickr, del.icio.us and other sites in the geek-o-sphere.
Sounds like Tristan may have insider info.
[03.10.07 06:52 AM]
Here's a hot moment with John Edwards:
"In San Antonion"
He's got my vote!
[note to self: what kind of demographic responds to this? a very, very small one?]
[03.14.07 01:31 PM]
Texting is an intimate medium
In this context, where a "celebrity" broadcasts to an unknown, unauthenticated crowd, it's no more intimate than signing up to receive SMS from Britney Spears or Donald Trump.
Intimate? Hardly.
[03.14.07 05:21 PM]
Nate, there's certainly some truth to what you say, but I wouldn't completely discount Sarah's observation. You might say that leaving a comment on a web site is an impersonal thing, like sending an email to the White House, where they (and letters) are merely counted rather than read. But in fact, here you are having a conversation with the CEO of O'Reilly. And we've hired people who we became acquainted with through their thoughtful comments on our blogs or articles.
So I wouldn't count out the fact that there might be a progression from getting messages from Edwards to volunteering for Edwards. Engagement is a funny thing.
Think about it.
[03.14.07 05:24 PM]
I meant to add: any tool can be authentic or inauthentic. If Edwards uses this authentically, it will be very different than if it's fake.
[03.14.07 07:49 PM]
Nate, you're right, of course, that the Web can be a highly impersonal broadcast medium. Indeed, the easy anonymity of it sometimes lends to distrust and disengagement. I was thinking of Twitter not only as a Web site, however, but also as an SMS service. And SMS can be a pretty intimate experience.
I find--and others have observed this, too--that I tend to feel pretty connected to the Twitterers I follow on my phone. More so than I do to the people whose updates I get only on the Web.
I'm sure there's interesting research on the emotional effects of a medium (if anyone knows of it, please point the way). But I don't think it's a stretch to say that email usually feels more connected than a public Website exchange; IM feels more connected than email; and txting can trump them all.
The folks at Twitter tell me that the updates from John Edwards's phone are always directly from him; his updates from the Web are sometimes from his staffers, sometimes from him. I'm following him on my phone, and I find I'm a lot more interested in him now that, occasionally, I'm getting txted by the guy.
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jesse [03.09.07 02:30 PM]
Very cool find. It'd be amazing to see him use it throughout the campaign.