Young PR

Twitterdipity :: Connecting the Collective Consciousness

Twitterdipity. I coined a term with this earlier in the week as yet another lightbulb went off in my head, thanks to a thought halfway across the world delivered by my current favourite web app - Twitter.

I’ve said earlier that Twitter fills a need because it gives immediate and pure access to personality. However, I’m learning that it can go much further than that and plug directly into the head of your fellow Tweeters. Twitterdipity happens when Lee Hopkins in Adelaide sees the same movie within hours of me in New York, when Frank Arrigo in Seattle makes me hum ‘Cows With Guns’ all afternoon, or when Allan Jenkins in Copenhagen and Kait Swanson in Ohio post the same links within minutes of each other.

Being plugged into the conscious of your mates (oh, sorry, ‘followers’) has more than a trivial benefit, as I found in practice this morning. Through my good friend Dave Kuhnlein I was invited to talk to a super experienced and intelligent group of marketing executives. I think each of the people in the room had more experience with marketing than I do with breathing, and it was exciting to have the chance to pump ‘em full of the social media good oil.

A couple of minutes before my presentation I sent a out this tweet:

paullyoung Presenting for the next hour or so on social media - please share some thoughts! Let’s show how this works in practice… about 14 hours ago from web

I didn’t know what response I would get, so I was stunned almost an hour later when I clicked through to my Twitter stream to find a treasure trove of snappy insights. Check it out:

cameronreilly @paullyoung social media is changing the way I shop, vote and entertain myself. apart from that, it isn’t very important. about 13 hours ago from TwitBin in reply to paullyoung

conniereece @paullyoung - will you be demonstrating the value of Twitter as both a presence app & a resource for information & contacts? about 13 hours ago from web in reply to paullyoung

TDefren @paullyoung The fact that you can insta-poll hundreds of people for ideas is just one example of the power of Social Media! about 13 hours ago from web in reply to paullyoung

LPT @paullyoung - who’s the audience? what are they hoping to learn? about 13 hours ago from web in reply to paullyoung

cbasturea @paullyoung: As the Cluetrain says, “when you think of the internet… think of a table for two.” Then, before you know it, it’s a party:) about 12 hours ago from web in reply to paullyoung

prblog @paullyoung - how else would we have met were it not for social media? this is more than a nice to have statement… about 13 hours ago

prblog How r Fbook/Twitter complimentary to blogging? different info types shared across all 3 make for a deeper more substantive conversation. about 13 hours ago

prblog my worldview has been enhanced via blogging and my blogging has been enhanced by social networks like twitter and facebook… about 13 hours ago

140 characters leads to great thoughts from great people all around the world. Cameron Reilly, CEO of the Podcast Network, chucked in his two cents from Melbourne. Todd Defren, Principal of Shift Communications, makes a great point from Boston. Dell’s Metaverse Editor Laura Thomas and consultant Connie Reece contributed from Texas. Brilliant blogger Kevin Dugan goes tweet crazy from Cincinatti. And my colleague Constantin Basturea outsmarts me once again just downtown on Broadway.

Our conscious is connected, and in the course of an hour I had some heavy hitters contributing to my rambling Australian address on West 42nd street. Twitter ain’t just trivial - it’s a glimps of the thread of consciousness that binds us all.