Food & Wine Pros | Can you learn to use Twitter?

Food & Wine Pros

Can you learn to use Twitter?

Yesterday I took part in a panel discussion organised by We are Like Minds as part of London’s social media week on how food businesses can more effectively use different platforms. The irony was that, apart from the fact that I was an early adopter and use it a lot I don’t consider myself in any way a social media expert.

Discussion with my fellow panellists Square Meal editor Ben McCormack (@mrbenmccormack), journalist Kate Spicer (@spicerlife), chef Gary Usher of Sticky Walnut (@stickywanut) and digital media agency owner Eric Schwamberger (@cyberialab) revolved mainly round Twitter.

Some interesting points that came out of the discussion:

* Social media - especially Twitter - can be hugely useful in raising consciousness of your business - Sticky Walnut which has just won an AA award for English restaurant of the year being a great case in point. (Another is Sally Butcher of Persepolis who has now had three books published on the back of her quirky Twitterstream @persiainpeckham.)

* It’s fine repeating a tweet that flags up a link so long as you do it in slightly different form of words. People log on at different times of day and in different time zones

* People don’t have more opinions these days - they just have more platforms to express them

* Twitter can give causes such as Scottish independence and sustainable business practices real momentum. "A movement can be created in a day." (Schwamberger)

* For companies - particularly larger companies - Twitter can be a great way of responding to consumer complaints (as I can personally vouch through dealing with First Great Western, Virgin and BT). And a powerful way of expressing them (see Helen Graves of Food Stories campaign against sexist graffiti)

* The social media publishers who will stand out amongst the cacophony of online ‘noise’ are the ‘trusted voices’ who pass on genuinely useful information. “If you hear a recommendation from someone you trust that information is gold” said Schwamberger.

* People will become more mistrustful of Twitter endorsements that are clearly paid for

* The key influencers will not be the same as the opinion leaders and critics in the old media. In 5 years time they may well be the most talented bloggers i.e. self-publishers - arguably that is happening already

* There will be new social media platforms we don’t even know about yet. A new Twitter.

* Hashtags can be irritating. Especially instructions from an event organiser to tweet a certain tag (of which the organisers of our event were also guilty but we liked them so we're doing it anyway). They should be used to flag up a subject in which certain people might be interested e.g. #wine #beer or in an ironic way to ‘trend’ something random like #avocadotoast

But I was thinking afterwards - is there a standard way of using Twitter that you need to be taught or is it rather a question of allowing your Twitter stream to reflect your own personality? For example indulging in silly banter with Twitter ‘friends’ (guilty on my @food_writer account at least) or retweeting praise about yourself or your business. Some people - including me - feel uncomfortable with that in a Very British way (see @SoVeryBritish). For companies though there needs to be a real human being behind the tweets - someone who understands the business and not just some tech-savvy intern. If you simply see tweeting as part of the job people don’t connect with you.

So what do you think is the future of Twitter. Are you engaged with it as you were? What do you find useful about it and what annoys you?

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Comments: 2 (Add)

R_Witter on September 23 2014 at 12:52

I can see why you see Twitter as unsatisfactory James, good luck condensing that comment into 140 characters.

James Moffat on September 23 2014 at 09:14

An interesting question Fiona.

Very much like grammar and the written word, there is always a drive towards codification of a communication channel in order to facilitate understanding. Twitter is no exception.

Twitter has a very crude grammar, and like the real world there are 'grammar nazis' who want you to confirm because they feel their way is right.

It really depends how you use it. If its a creative medium then go wild and do what you wish If you are a brand, you probably have to speak in a particular way.

As for the future of Twitter it needs to continue to evolve or die because it is a very unsatisfactory channel of communication. Ultimately it disintermediates two users and like all digital channels needs to develop to offer a more fulfilling social experience.

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