Twitter’s Backchannel: Next Best Thing To A Backstage Pass?
Posted by meredith on 06-15-2009
During the Ypulse Mashup I lost count of how many times attendees asked whether teens and/or Millennials were on Twitter, but I can recall the best answer that I heard: Lauren Puglia of the digital think tank Undercurrent basically told us yes and no — right now it still comes down to psychographics.
Meaning for teens and Gen Y-ers that run with a techie crowd, are part of a fanbase with a large Twitter presence, or just happen to be an Angeleno really into Korean BBQ, Twitter is the place to be (on the flip side, if you don’t fit any of those descriptions, it’s pretty much the middle of nowhere.) Anastasia made a similar point in an earlier post, specifically with regards to music fans who had a stake in following their favorite artists to learn the latest details of an upcoming tour, album, .etc. Both arguments rang true to me, and how I personally use Twitter on a daily basis.
That said, here is one non-daily aspect I don’t think we’ve really touched on yet – following an event’s backchannel as a real-time program with constant updates and commentary. This past weekend I attended a four-day long music festival featuring a bunch of bands playing at different venues all over the neighborhood (about a five-mile radius give or take). It was the first time the organizers had put on the event, and there were more than a few hiccups in the form of last minute schedule changes, cancellations and so on and so forth. Enter the trusty backchannel and its steady stream of helpful hints enabling concertgoers in the know to avoid the hassle of showing up at a show that was already full, or worse, not happening at all. Not to mention the added perks of daily recommendations and heads up for last minute surprise shows provided by the magazine behind the festival.
Early adopters may have already caught on to this benefit of Twitter way back at last year’s SXSW Music Festival, but with a growing number of Millennials still snatching up smartphones and festival season just coming into full swing, I have a feeling that the word still has a way to spread. And I’m sure fans and concert promoters alike will be more than happy to oblige.
For more coverage of the latest trends and developments in mobile technology for youth, check out the Ypulse Mobile Channel.
Categorized under: Mobile, Movies & Music
June 16th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I’ve started observing early signs of mass migration from Facebook to Twitter, however, I don’t expect users to abandon Facebook so much as simply change the type of content they put on it.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Twitter really is a free mass text-messaging service. My daughter plays travel softball. Savvy tournament directors are using Twitter to communicate game delays and changes in field assignments, especially useful during weather delays. Team coaches are using text messaging to get the information to team members. Twittering/texting is going beyond a social tool and become a life tool.