Murdoch’s Twitter lesson

When I first started reading about News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch joining Twitter, my initial thought was that this was hardly news.

News Corporation, after all, is a giant digital media company. Surely Rupert should have been on Twitter a few years ago, if he is as serious about social media as he appeared to be a few years ago when he made his big investment in MySpace.

And surely Rupert is only going where hundreds of thousands of small business CEOs and managers have been before him. Smart SME leaders are all over Twitter, presenting a public, welcoming face to their businesses.

But then I stopped. I know lots of CEOs and chair people who aren’t on Twitter and wouldn’t go near the thing.

So I did an experiment. I took a look at the Smart50 list, grabbed a sample of 10 names and tried to find out whether the leaders of these companies were PERSONALLY on Twitter.

Much to my surprise, none were.

There are lots of company accounts, of course, with plenty of references to these company leaders made in various tweets. But I just couldn’t find any personal accounts in my little sample.

(And yes, I know there are at least some CEOs of Smart50 companies on Twitter – Dave Slutzkin of Flippa.com is a great example.)

Now, I am not the greatest tweeter in history, and it did take me some time to get on Twitter, but having monitored the service for most of 2011 I have come to realise that it is a very personal medium.

Company Twitter accounts are great as an information source and as a sort of news feed, but the tweets that I take the most notice of are from real people.

For company leaders, this is a huge opportunity. Twitter provides a chance to monitor and listen to customer feedback, explain new initiatives, respond to complaints, offer advice, give opinions and generally show how in tune with your community you (and by extension your business) actually are.

I know that for most company leaders here, the biggest thing is the commitment required. Just like a company newsletter than disappears after a few months, a Twitter account that starts with a flurry and then goes quiet doesn’t look great.

But you don’t have to be on Twitter every five minutes to make a big impression. One tweet a day – as simple as a link to an article you read or a thought from a conversation or meeting you had – can get the ball rolling.

So why not take a leaf out of Rupert Murdoch’s book and get the ball rolling on Twitter this year? But before you do, take a few tips from one of our tech gurus, Paul Wallbank. He’s written a great blog today which has three tips for Rupert Murdoch, which can be summarised as:

• Shut up and listen.
• It’s about community.
• What’s your objective?

The last point is particularly important. My Twitter objective this year is to participate in the conversation more, instead of just listening.