The 'O9er's Arriving on Twitter
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The Arrival of the "O9er's" at Twitter
Before I get into the nitty gritty of this post, know that I first "tested it" with a panel of 3 marketing savvy people in the Twittersphere. Guy Kawasaki emailed me and said to run with it. Jim Mitchem (@smashadv) on Twitter likewise gave it his thumbs up after I explained it. However, John Battelle's response was that he didn't want labels that might limit the ability to morph. So, like the song goes, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Recently on Twitter someone asked a thought provoking question. Can we still call those who are now coming to Twitter "early adopters?" That inquiry in my mind raised a question: did the writer make a mistake and really mean "early adapters" (not adopters)? "Early Adapters" is a marketing term that dates at least back to 1962 when Stanford University Professor Everett M. Rogers used the term in his book "Diffusion of Innovations". Rogers classified consumer attitudes towards new products into five categories according to how quick consumers are to purchase new products; 1. Innovators, 2. Opinion Leaders or Early Adapters, 3. Early Majority 4. Late Majority, and 5. Laggards or Late Adapters. Online research will also provide his analysis included percentages thought to represent each stage of a new products' marketing cycle. My take on the question raised about Twitter is that on December 31, 2008 the "Early Adapter" stage came to a close. Those who "bought into" the new social networking concept of Twitter ("micro-blogging) prior to 2009 are Twitter's Early Adapters. This includes those who found novel uses for Twitter and those who have developed the hundreds of Twitter-based applications which today make the Twitter experience more enriching. (According to Professor Rogers, that is what Early Adapters do - they find new ways to utilize products (or services) to satisfy needs, or to explore opportunities beyond those for which a product (or service) was originally targeted.
According to Rogers, those who follow the Early Adapters are the "Early Majority". But, I believe Twitter can be better served by a less generic sounding label. So, I am calling the current wave of Twitterspherian's "O9ers" based on their characteristics which are easy to observe for yourself. Characteristics including joining Twitter with the totally acceptable, self-serving aim of promoting their business, either a product or a service, a cause, or a career - now to include their politcal careers. New members of the Twittersphere are arriving daily Twittering to promoting books, TV webcasts, magazines, web-base services, marketing websites, multi-level marketing schemes, as well as other social networks. They remind me of those who exactly 8 score years ago piled into covered wagons and headed to California in search of gold.
But, did you notice the nuance in the name I'm giving to the current wave? I use the letter "O" - as in "Obama". That is in large part because of what our president did throughout his amazing presidential campaign as a classic Early Adapter - he found ways to promote and accelerate acceptance of the political and organizational building utility of Twitter. This is witnessed by his amassing the largest number of followers on Twitter ever. Besides this subtle, but sincere reference to the president's contribution to Twitter's mainstream acceptance in the marketplace of ideas, "O9er" is much more lyrical sounding that "zero niner" or "ought niner", don't you agree? That about settles it then, at least from my current perspective. They are "O9er's" and they are arriving in droves in search of staking claims to some of that precious Internet gold - and their pace of arrival appears to be accelerating daily. Likely fueled by those who have been laid off from regular jobs and now are turning to the Internet either as entrepreneurs, or consultants, or in search of new opportunities to connect to a better future. Your comments, whether yea or nay, are always welcome. Tom Nocera Post Script: Within days of my post encouraging new information was reported from the United Kingdom showing graphically and proclaiming Twitter to be the fastest growing site in the UK with a near 1,000% growth in hits between Jan. 09 and Jan. 09. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to see where Twitter's trajectory is heading - it's rocketing right into the hearts and minds of mainstream acceptance. http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/70877
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