Autobots-Good for Movies; Bad for Twitter

My son and I enjoyed the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen this past weekend. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the non-stop action as the Decepticons battled the Autobots.  If you’re not familiar with Transformers, the Autobots are the good guys. They should not be confused with Twitter autobots.

Twitter autobots are the automated messages that many people and businesses seem to think are the best way to sell whatever it is they are selling to the Twitterverse. Unfortunately they are mistaken.  Autobot tweets tend to fail for several reasons. First, they tend to be rather irritating. Like the pushy car lot salesman that hovers over you and proclaims the perfection of every car  you glance at. And second, those that use autobots fail to understand where the true value of Twitter lies.

That value is in making connections with people, not doing the hard sell. No one can connect with an autobot. That’s not to say there aren’t legitimate uses for them. For instance, setting it up to send a tweet when you post to your blog. Sadly, too many people fail to understand that social media isn’t about getting your message out to as many people as possible.  Use of autobots dehumanizes rather than allowing for connections.

A wise Twitter user will leave the Autobots on the silver screen.