“Give your fingers a rest”, advises editor

Barnaby Page of Screens.tv and aka.tv is a highly-respected commentator on the latest developments in digital OOH and other new forms of communication. As such, he is perhaps better placed than most to comment on the latest internet craze/scourge, Twitter. With an elegantly argued case that there is a time and a place for Twittering, Barnaby is perhaps illustrating that, as a serious communications medium, Twitter is reaching – if not maturity – then at least a sober adolescence in the minds of media professionals.

Give your fingers a rest (1)

Barnaby Page – 06 Apr 09, 17:08 PM

With Screen Media Expo Europe nearly upon us, to all those sitting itchy-fingered in the conference rooms (you know who you are) I have just one polite request:

STOP THAT TWITTERING.
Trust me on this: there is nothing to be gained by Twittering conferences in real time, except the irritation of your followers and a spurious sense of “being first”.
Twitter is great for big, unpredictable events unfolding moment-by-moment – things like election nights, Windows reinstalls, soap opera Christmas specials. But when it comes to conferences, what those people who couldn’t attend really need is a thoughtful round-up of key points after the event, all accessible in one place. An article or an email or a blog post, in other words.
Being told what speaker X said five seconds ago, when you the Twitterer aren’t in any position to know whether it’s a trivial throwaway or the lead-in to an important revelation, is useless.
So just don’t do it. The world can wait.

Give your fingers a rest – SCREENS.tv Blog