The day Twitter went Mainstream

It was bound to happen sooner or later. With Twitter’s exponential growth (131% in March alone, according to E-Week.com) over the last year or so, all the experts werre pretty much predicting this one: Twitter would eventually go from something people were hearing about, but not nessicarily knowing about, to being a mainstream application.

It just happened, a couple days ago.

There were a couple of things that I believe are responsible for pushing it over the edge. The first is that Oprah joined Twitter, and then dedicated a show to the social networking tool. She interviewed Ashton Kutcher, who, along with his wife, Demi Moore, have been on Twitter for quite some time. Anything that Oprah touches turns to gold. A book that is selected by her for her book club is sold out overnight. Products featured on Oprah’s “Favorite Things” episodes see dramatic increases in sales immediately. If Twitter has Oprah’s stamp of approval, the masses will be joining.

Ashton Kutcher is the second reason I believe Twitter can now be considered to be mainstream. During the past week, he engaged in a race with CNN to see who could be the first person on Twitter to make it to 1,000,000 followers. On April 17, Kutcher won that race.

Now, I love Twitter, and I think it’s a fantasic tool. But, honestly, there is a part of me that wants to keep it just among us geeks and nerds. I use Twitter for business, to get the word out, and to connect with people. I don’t use it to celbrity-watch: there are other places where I could do that, if so inclinded. I guess I’m worried about Twitter getting watered down by tons of users who are just on it because it’s popular, or because Oprah’s on it, or because they want to see the photos that Kutcher published of Bruce Willis’ wedding.

I have a new Twitter motto. In Glengarry Glen Ross, the boss, Blake, tells the rookie: “A-B-C. A-always, B-be, C-closing. Always be closing! Always be closing!!” My new Twitter motto is: A-B-G-V: Always Be Giving Value. Because for me, that’s what Twitter is all about.

UPDATE: I just have to share with you a quote from a blog article I just read by Shel Holtz:

I do not care who was here before Oprah. I do not care whom I beat to Twitter, or who beat me. It does not matter. The only thing that matters is whether your tweets are interesting or valuable. If they’re not—at least to me—I will not follow you. If they are, I will. Whether you were here on the day of Twitter’s launch or joined yesterday is irrelevant. Only the quality of your content matters. Period.

Nice. Well put, Shel.

Read the rest of the blog article, I don’t care if you were on Twitter before Oprah.