Twitter is 10 and Going Strong
This summer, Twitter turned 10 years old. In this new age of technology, that is fully grown. Today, Twitter is one of the hottest forms of news dissemination, from presidential candidates to current presidents and movie stars.
Twitter has been criticized that it is no longer growing, or not growing fast enough, compared to other social media outlets. Yet, nearly 350,000 tweets—it’s bird logo’s name is Larry—are sent out every minute. And Justin Bieber has more followers than the population of Spain. Katy Perry is approaching 100 million followers.
There are plenty of stars on the top 100 Twitter followers list from Lady Gaga to Jimmy Fallon. But it is the 39.5 million following CNN that is trending on my wonder board. Twitter is a great news medium. This was made apparent by Donald Trump’s use of the medium—many traditional media reporters would turn a Trump tweet into a full fledge news story, filling some of the insatiable news hole.
Leveraging Twitter is nothing new: Politicians have used TV, big data and social media to win elections. Understanding the nuances of each medium is the key to success. A campaign that works on TV may not translate to Twitter. To be effective you have to be a little outrageous, like Katy Perry, Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga (or Donald Trump). The shock and awe of the statements seem to get more retweets, shares and coverage from the traditional press.
You can call it all social media, but each medium has a voice and a use. It may take 10 years to learn how to use it, but once you find the groove, your messages can take wing with Larry and fly.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.