Disney Social Media Moms, Jealousy and Twitter
I just read fascinating article in the New York Times on how Twitter was used at SXSW and has become the new high school cafeteria online. Author Amy Harmon writes, "The tantalizing window Twitter provides on the lives of friends, colleagues, rivals and celebrities can have a downside: knowing too much about the fun you are missing." The exact same thing is going on right now at the Disney Social Media Moms conference (look up the hashtag #DisneySMMoms).
Essentially, because Twitter shares up-to-minute status reports and allows folks to congregate online via hashtags, it is the perfect tool for allow folks to connect with other at a live event and to share what's being learned with a broader audience. Well, that's the bright side of Twitter. The darker side is that more than half of all tweets related to an event contain zero substance and seem to serve only to highlight the fact that an individual was invited and you were not.
The Disney Social Media Moms Conference even had its own #NotatDisneySMMoms hashtag created, and the Twittersphere was abuzz with vitriol during the conference registration process because of the opacity in how it was publicized and how attendees were selected. (Full disclosure: I am not attending this event nor did I try to, but I am following the event's hashtag in the hopes of learning more social media best practices.)
An unfortunate Twitter party was even organized last night during the conference ostensibly to include others who could not attend in person. The bulk of the tweets exchanged were about how much fun attendees were having going so far as to share, "#DisneySMMoms have commandered Mizner's Lounge and ordered hundreds of Glowtinis courtesy of @MomTalkRadio!" I attended the Twitter party hoping to learn more about the event's sessions but left feeling it was a total waste of time.
Mommy bloggers attending this event should focus on sharing the substance and key takeaways. There is a wonderful opportunity to serve more as a reporter and less as a Page Six columnist. Bloggers who try to lift those up around them by sharing will fare far better than those who try to position themselves as unique by virtue of their participation - those bloggers could well face a backlash of unfollows/unlikes/unsubscribes.
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