Twitter and the news agenda
May 15th, 2009 |
by Jon Hickman
Published in
General, social media | 10 Comments
Image CC frontlineblogger
Today the Telegraph published an article headlined “Oldest Tweeter talks cuppas and casserole on Twitter at 104”. The article tells the story of Ivy Bean, who has taken advantage of some IT training offered to her at Hillside Manor residential home in Bradford, and has recently taken up use of the popular micro-blogging service Twitter. The story is being gently taken up by the Twitter community, who are excited about the concept of the “world’s oldest tweeter”. But in some ways this story is actually quite troubling.
Let’s leave aside for a second any issues with the way in which Ivy is represented by the article (a charming, sprightly old lady whose pleasures are naps, casserole and Deal or no Deal). After all, this may be a fair picture of her, rather than a simple caricature. What I find troubling is that I can’t help but feel that Ivy is the centre piece in a PR puff story.
The article appears to me (whether fairly or unfairly) to be a simple copy and paste from a press release issued on behalf of IT trainers The Geek Squad who, we are told “helped the pensioner get bang up to date” by helping her join Twitter. The Geek Squad are one of only two Twitter accounts that Ivy is following at this time.
What’s the problem?
Of course, I would never argue with Ivy being on Twitter if she wants to be and if she finds it helpful. In fact, I can see Twitter and other social media as being useful ways to mitigate against certain problems traditionally highlighted in association with age, such as social isolation. However, if there is any chance that Ivy was encouraged down this route for anything other than her own interest then there are a number of issues that bear consideration:
- Have The Geek Squad prepared for the sudden follow-on interest in her life? Ivy’s followers are increasing every minute while I write this article.
- Have The Geek Squad prepared her for the fact that she is now open to public scrutiny, and that her existence on Twitter is now something that is open to public debate? This includes some very upsetting speculation. (Yes, I am aware that I am engaging in that same debate now – this is not lost on me).
- If Twitter has in any way been foisted upon Ivy as part of a pre-empted piece of marketing, this raises a whole host of ethical questions. It would also be a classic example of how to get social media in marketing & PR wrong.
- There is hunger from the mainstream press for stories about Twitter, which makes it an attractive target for PR departments. Where will this lead us next? Are the newspapers being in any way critical of the stories they see?
In writing this I am very much drawing on my own experiences of our MA Social Media programme being picked up on Twitter and blogs. The number of responses and new followers I had to deal with were quite daunting for me and I had the resources of a University and a lot of experience in social media to draw on. If Ivy has been pointed at Twitter to create a story and left to it without support then the interest in her might put her off continuing to use social media. And that would be sad: keep tweeting Ivy, for as long as it makes you happy.
May 15th, 2009 at 10:07 am (#)
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May 15th, 2009 at 10:49 pm (#)
Wow, where to start? Very good post Jon. These are exactly the same concerns that I find myself expressing in regard to the way we tend engage new people with social media. Definitely ‘social media surgeries’ and the like are a good thing, and definitely they should be run by savvy, enthusiastic people. But there seems to be a big chunk missing from the journey into social media, which I tend to refer to as pastoral care. It may well be that this aspect isn’t the duty of social media consultants and surgeries, and is not where their expertise would be best put; so how do we extend their work? I don’t know how this fits with the Media Trust’s Digital Mentors programme, or with the work of UK Online Centres, so maybe someone else has identified it as an issue; but I don’t often hear it.
(As you know I’ve wittered a bit about this kind of stuff before: http://citizensheep.com/blog/tag/digital-divide/)
I’ve had some thoughts in the past on how we can do this (and I know that others, such as Nick Booth, have too); maybe it’s worth us fleshing something out?
May 17th, 2009 at 8:52 pm (#)
Thanks for the comment Michael. As ever, you have put my point more eloquently than I could. I’m also unsure how things like Digital Mentors fit into this discussion, but I know some of the Media Trust guys are in Birmingham soon so it would be good to get together with them to chat about it then.
Hopefully in the meantime they, and Nick Booth, might pop by and share some thoughts.
May 18th, 2009 at 8:46 am (#)
The starting point for solving Michael’s pastoral care problem is helping people understand why social media is useful to them.
If you “give” someone a tool which helps them, they will quickly understand it’s value and how it fits into their life. They will also have an incentive learn to use it and maintain it, or get someone else to keep it sharp for them.
If you give them tools for the wrong trade or one they don’t recognise, you are effectively handing them a problem, not a solution.
So social media should be relevant and useful.
May 18th, 2009 at 11:17 am (#)
We think it’s great that Ivy is twittering! Well done her and the Geek Squad for the training.
If Twitter is helping Ivy keep up to date with what interests her, whether that’s following the lives of her favourite celebrities or keeping in touch with friends and family, then it’s clearly the right technology for her.
As far as Digital Mentors is concerned, it’s going to be all about putting the individual and community first and matching the technology to their needs. Hopefully there’ll be lots more Ivys in future!
May 18th, 2009 at 4:26 pm (#)
@felicity so to pick up on Michael’s thread, is there a pastoral element or does Digital Mentoring stop with skills training?
May 18th, 2009 at 9:28 pm (#)
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/16/did-the-uk-press-con-a-104-year-old-woman-into-joining-twitter-for-digg-bait/
Would love this to be a real example of digital engagement, but it does look staged.
Just how much a little digital help along with ongoing involvement can brighten lives of older people is seen in @Granumentally’s story — as told by her grandson: http://ourmaninside.com/2009/02/08/my-gran-is-on-twitter/
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 am (#)
I have to agree with Jon Bounds – this does possibly look staged. Having browsed Ivys posts on Twitter, something doesn’t seem right here (is it the phraseology or the casual style of communication — I’m not sure).
In fact, is it TOO suspicious to believe that poor old Ivy has nothing to do with her account at all, whilst some Geek Squadder (or maybe even someone at the residential home) sits in their office and imagines how an old lady spends her time? I almost hope someone else IS taking care of it, because the account must be attracting some unwanted attention.
This will certainly boost the profile of social networking sites to a new demographic – but I echo Jon Hickmans concerns that this IS being used as a promotional tool by a 3rd party to promote their business.
I guess it’s inevitable that companies will jump on this bandwagon – the press obviously love social networking stories (I know this first hand) because they are so very “now”. I guess/hope this will calm down over time.
June 2nd, 2010 at 5:32 pm (#)
Interesting take on the story here: http://eu.techcrunch.com/2009/05/18/the-real-story-behind-the-104-year-old-who-joined-twitter/ (via http://twitter.com/bostinbloke)
June 2nd, 2010 at 5:42 pm (#)
And this is the same Ivy bean of 2008 who was oldest person on Facebook!
She must love the Press coverage?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1045158/Meet-Ivy-Bean–worlds-oldest-Facebooker-aged-102.html