More than ever, I am asked by¬†moms and dads what is the whole point of Twitter?¬† Two years ago the big question was: are you on Facebook?¬† And, as that behemoth social networking site graduates from public confessional to¬†valid business tool, expect Twitter to progress in much the same way.¬† First, a quick definition for the newbies out there… Twitter is made up of users who have followers, as well as, are followers, of other users (you follow?)¬† Each “twitterer” submits status updates called “tweets” that are made up of short messages a¬†maximum of 140 characters.¬† Tweets often include urls and therefore have huge potential to send a video or post viral (the ultimate digital marketing goal.)

Like Facebook, parents are well-advised to jump on the bandwagon and familiarize themselves¬†with Twitter.¬† That’s because it’s more than¬†another cyber-waste of¬†time that provides a¬†person’s household play-by-play (Baby’s crying now!… Just made homemade broccoli soup!… I’m watching Oprah at 4!)¬† While the online socializing aspect will not fade, the greater potential for Twitter will likely be its ability to influence people and outcomes.¬† And what stakeholders are most interested in affecting an outcome?¬† Large corporations, of course.¬† As Twitter (and Facebook) grow increasingly accessible to our kids, their exposure to marketing campaigns will expand.¬† The upside to this is that a growing population of users can just as effectively create an outcome that they desire, simply by trading honest feedback about certain products or services.

Researchers Asur and Huberman of HP Labs have discovered that Twitter can predict a movie box office success in the first weekend it is released, as well as the following weekend.  By reviewing almost three million tweets that mention particular movies prior to release, they were able to forecast this with greater accuracy than the typical method used by Hollywood Stock Exchange.  The implications are immense for all businesses looking to better understand how a new product will fare in the marketplace.  Furthermore, the researchers conclude that their methodology can eventually be utilized to determine election outcomes. 

No doubt, there will be a race by corporations to manipulate the twittering of the masses to turn marketing campaigns in their favour.¬† But the question remains – who has the greater power? The people or the marketers?¬† Parents who are willing to better understand the power of social networking technology can pass along their knowledge to their children and in turn, empower kids to withstand the manipulative forces of marketing while standing up for their own beliefs and opinions.¬†¬†Encouraging kids to bring positive change¬†with their collective digital voice?¬† Now, that’s something every internet-exhausted parent can stand behind.

Interesting Links about this:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1604125/twitter-predicts-box-office-sales-better-than-anything-else