So lately I’ve been seeing a slew of articles floating around the twittersphere about whether or not teens tweet. Here are just  few of the many:
Do teens hate Twitter?, Teens don’t tweet… or do they?, Why Teens Don’t Tweet, Are teens the driving force behind Twitter?, & Why Do Teens Shun Twitter?

Now I could go on and on about my personal opinions on who I think is right, but that’s not what this entry is all about.  From all the chatter around these articles it obvious that the general population is unaware of how much bias there is in survey data collection. In fact if you can find me a completely unbiased survey- I will buy you a pony. Yes, I will buy you a brand new pony.  All. For. You.

To understand why it’s impossible to prevent some type of skewed result, I probably should explain what types of things create measurement bias & affect survey results. For example,  a user can be feel pressured the give the response the surveyor wants to hear, that’s a response bias.  Additionally, many  surveys rely  only on the population that chooses to respond, which leads to voluntary bias & sometimes because certain groups of people choose not to respond it leads to under coverage bias.  Plus all those people who choose not to respond to the survey can create a non-response bias. If you want a more in-depth look at these bias..  click here

Now back to the whole teens twittering debacle. Why are so many of these studies have conflicting results? Well, it’s that bias beast I just outlined. Since you can’t force anyone to take a survey and it’s difficult to create a representative sample of the Internet population, it’s likely one or more of the previously mentioned bias are dramatically impacting the results in each survey. So in some case the results show teens are twittering.  In other it shows they’re not. And in some there’s not clear results. It doesn’t matter how big the name is of the company who preformed the study, there”s likely to be some type of flaw to point out.  Why do you think Neilsen’s in such hot water for how they measure TV? It’s the harsh realities of survey measurement.

So at the end of the day until companies find a method other than self report to determine a twitterer’s age, you’re going to have to take everything you read with a grain of salt.  It’s the facts of life,  and the facts of survey data.

Today I was bumbling through my new followers for the day on twitter and attempting to return the favor to those who appeared not  to be spammers. I noted to myself that my follwers  list was inundated with screenames such as   “sexxyblond4fun” , “brtnyffedvids”  & “cheapslutontwitter”.  Each was accompanied with an equally as  scandalous avatar of a girl giving her best “i’m sooo naughty ” face.  After seeing bikini after bikini as I cleaned out my account,  it hit me.  Spammers are sexist.

How come I don’t have any spammers following me with names like “nakedbradpitt” or “sexyboytoy”.  Why isn’t my followers list filled with attractive men with their shirts off and wearing a “come hither” look? If men get to look at hot,  sassy & supposedly desperate for clicks women such as this,   I want the same.

I want abs. I want oiled pecks. I want boyish looks. I want no shirts. Is that too much to ask?  Heck, I might even be persuaded to click one of those spam links. I mean Brad Pitt can make me do things I would, in normal life,  never ever do.

Call me shallow, but every girl I know wouldn’t mind if an attractive man followed them around even if it was virtually. The way I see it,  you spammers are really ignoring us females.  You’s be suprised what a hot male avatar might be able to get us to do.

Sometimes when I read Broadway twitter streams I feel like I am watching an episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet 16. Yes, this sounds ludicrous, but let me explain.

For those of you not familiar with the show, it is built around a bratty child and the days that lead up to their extravaganza of a birthday party. Mainly it consists of watching teenagers kiss up as much as possible to world’s most spoiled child so that they may go to the magical fiesta extreme that is the celebration of Miss Nasty Pants’ 16th birthday. But here is the catch, at the end of every episode we watch as Miss Diva loses all her friends as soon as the party is over. Yes, attendees might still say hi in the hallways, but they will no longer kiss Miss Prissy Pants’ butt.

I know, you’re scratching your head asking, “How does this show relate to Broadway & twitter?”

Recently there has been a surge of Broadway shows & etc raffling off tickets & merchandise via twitter. Strategically, I am guessing they think this will build their following & social media presence. It is helping them gain followers. But when they aren’t willing to give out free tickets anymore for answering silly trivia or being the nth person to RT them, will people be as eager to support the show virally? Probably not. Sure, people won’t stop following them on twitter, but they will stop paying them the same type of attention they did when free gifts were in the mix. Like the sweet sixteener, they become just another casual “hey” in the hallways.

Some would argue that the trick is just to offer tickets consistently. But, what good does that really do? If you have to persuade people to like you, then they don’t really like you. Also, by raffling tickets to your followers, there’s a good chance that someone who would have purchased a ticket, had there not been a raffle, would win. If that happens, the show’s losses are double. First their out the price of the ticket they raffled. Second their out the price of the ticket their follower would have purchased. Overtime, if a follower can only win once, the shows profitability and the lure to attentively follow are less. Law of diminishing returns anyone?

What these shows are failing to realize is that an experience is more than just a product, it’s a memory. Give aways are focusing on the tangible rather then promoting the wonderful experience live theater offers. I don’t blame theater companies for missing the mark. It’s hard to make an experience on a world class stage translate into a 140 characters 10 times a day. But, it is possible.

While no show on Broadway twitter account, and for that matter no theater related one, is doing everything correct (or nearly correct), I would like to highlight a shows that is trying to think outside the box & gain followers without bribing users with the chance at free tickets. (Disclaimer: this show still has quite a way to go before mastering the art of experiential marketing on twitter.)

Rock of Ages (@RockOfAges) attempts to recreate the tone of show via their tweets. The majority of their communications are 80’s themed and carry the same cocky tone as the show’s narrator, Lonny. Though this tone is at times inconsistent it does help share the feeling of the play. I like how it presents itself as addition rather than replacement (such as in N2N’s case) for the show.

At the end of the day, you gain loyal followers by being germane. Relevancy can’t be purchased, it can only be earned. While shows on the great white way are trying to make a splash with social media, they are lacking this crucial element.

In Conclusion 2 thoughts:

1. No one will buy what they can get for free.
2. You can’t buy love, but you can buy temporary affection.