Tweeting Pointless Babble
It’s actually important
(WORLD) A week ago, I caught a tweet by Internet Psychologist @grahamjones about the first ‘babble’ article on Mashable —the basics of the article was stating that 40% of tweets are about pointless babble. The article even goes so far as to say that it’s as close to a scientific study as we’ve currently got.
I see these articles and think ‘duh’, without banality and drivel, we would have no friends—its the conversational ‘glue’ we need to hold friendships together. I couldn’t help but try and test the water about my own knowledge (absent of any science and statistical analysis) and pose the thought that ‘babble’ = ‘value’:
Thankfully, I’m not talking twaddle and other people agree with me.
This morning I’ve read another mashable post about ‘babble’ based on a report by Pear Analytics on a study of tweets, and minutes ago @emryall sent me a Time article that introduces the topic by stating:
“It’s no secret that Twitter can be a tremendous time-suck. But imagine getting paid for wasting those precious minutes of your day.”
‘Time-suck’? ‘wasting precious minutes’?? Someone needs to start balancing out this negativity, before we’re all placed in the same boat.
I’m getting a little concerned that people are reading Pear Analytics research and Mashable articles and not applying the understanding behind it. I’m no psychologist, so I’ll leave you to ask the experts, but I know from personal experience that relationships might begin with topics of work, skillsets, events, meetings and handshakes… but that doesn’t keep them in your list of friends. For that to happen, you need to share more personal elements such as: tastes in music, whether you’re trying out decaf coffee for the first time, where you’ve been on holiday, and what cereal you’re eating. Twitter, FaceBook and any other type of ‘update’ service achieves all this and more.
Luckily reading through some of the comments on the above articles, other people (but only about 5%) realise this as well:
User ‘Rand’ says: “Most of what people say IRL is pointless babble too.”
Yes! People talk pointless babble all the time.
User Silas Sao says: “Saying that 40% of Twitter is babble is like saying 40% of your life everyday is repetitive. Kind of redundant.”
Yes! Another ‘life’ reference.
User unmarketing says: “I understand the point of calling it “pointless drivel” it looks great in a headline, but it’s those pointless things, like the song your listening to, the movie you just saw or that ur kid just stubbed his toe that opens up casual conversation with others, which leads to relationships”
Hoo-ray, another winner!
Read these articles with a pinch of salt. Understand that ‘chatting’ forms relationships, and with business networks in mind, it contributes to brand awareness just as much (if not more) than pushing a flyer into someones hand.
Keep an eye on the stats by all means, though value the time and interaction you give to others—it might be ‘babble’, but it is very important babble and people need to be aware of it.
How do you react to pointless babble online? Were you aware of the importance of drivel to enhance relationships? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Right, now that I’ve done this… I’m off for a cup of coffee ;)
September 30th, 2009
Glad someone else is making a stand for pointless babble. The thing is, it is far from pointless. I ignore a lot of it, just as I do in real life hile waiting for someone to finally, please-for-the-love-of-God-sometime-soon, get to the point of what they are saying. Nothing wastes more times in my life than having to listen to audio (speech), even if it is fairly succinct and to the point (except perhaps video, which also wants to take up other senses which could be usefully employed doing something else!)
The babble is social grooming; it helps us form bonds with others, and gives that light-touch of social contact which lets us know we are part of a group.
Of course, as I make it well known that I prefer electronically moderated communication, it may be no surprise that I like services such as Twitter. But I also like efficient communication, and, frankly, Twitter is one of the most efficient I have found.
September 30th, 2009
I find it refreshing that you’ve actually taken the time to distinguish the significance of “pointless babble”. It’s the subtext of our lives.
When someone I know is visiting a new restaurant, or saw an interesting exhibit at a museum, or even shares a one liner about their day-to-day, it provides me insight into their experience, how they put things together, and how they use language. Granted not everyone may be interested in these details and not everything that everyone writes is interesting-BUT in those cases where one sound bite resonates, catches fire, and organically turns into a community conversation may be the spark that might turn into a movement or at the very least fodder for the next conversation I have with someon!
April 26th, 2010
[...] Originally posted on MediaSnackers Tags: Friendships, Networking, Psychology, Relationships, Tips, Twitter [...]