Maybe I should open up a twitter account and see what this is all about.

I couldn’t agree with you more. Over and over it has been shown that (well written) long copy tends to outsell short copy – especially for more considered purchases and/or complex sales. Also, some temperaments have more questions and need more (or different types of) information to feel comfortable buying. So, as you said, the trick really is to design one’s link structure so that each visitor can move as quickly through their buying path as they want while also being able to drill down for information on things that matter to them. I think you’ll find that Persuasion Architecture addresses that design issue perfectly.

But on Web 2.0 platforms brevity seems to rule more than in-depth content. Just check out most people’s Facebook comments, updates, wall writing etc. Or Flickr photo explanations, or even the length of the average viral video – it aint the 30 minute films going viral.

-Jeff

Just wanted to point out that the subject/content of the post was on Web 2.0 principles, so the principles themselves were not meant as a counter to long wordy blog posts but as operating guidelines to success in a Web 2.0 world. It was simply Bryan’s hope that my writing style might change due to twitter addiction. In other words, I might become habituated to omitting not only needless but all non-essential words.

-Jeff

It’s understanding thoughts.
If you have more than one thought in a sentence, then you’re creating confusion in my mind.

So if I have a sentence like: When we go to the supermarket, and then when we go to the hardware store…

Oops. Two thoughts. Now my brain in scrambling.
That’s part of the problem. The second is the legendary Jeff’s language (Yes, I’ve sat with Jeff over dinner). You tend to use words that are complex and very ‘thesaurus-like.’ This causes another problem. My brain freezes. Because when you speak or write, the brain is trying to work out what you’re saying. If you use words that are complex e.g. transmogrification then you confuse me. My brain is in scramble mode once more.

Now combine the factor of:
1) Too many thoughts in one sentence
2) Too many complex words

And you have a recipe for confusion.
Confusion that Twitter won’t solve.

)

Me = No Twitter

hey, that’s within 140…may be i’ll try hard this time

I’ve been a Twitter user for 1.5 years now, and I can definitely see a difference in my writing/communication style. While I do get on my verbose kicks, my point-drive information otherwise is usually constrained to 140 characters or less out of habit. Phone, inter-personal, and internal conversations have been condensed and consolidated to make the point in just as many characters.

My thought about marketing since Twitter’s release has been – “what happens to the ‘elevator pitch’ now? does it become a ‘Twitter pitch’?”

twitter/neotsn

I find this to be a real challenge. I love Twitter and hope to someday be good at coming up with meaningful tweets that my followers will actually get something out of.

I don’t follow a whole lot of people, but I can say that from what I’ve seen, tweets with substance are few and far between, but there are definitely some of those. I find tweeting to be a great excercise in content review.

What am I really trying to say and can I communicate it clearly in 140 Characters or less?

Makes sense to me.