Twitter: Back Row Commentary for the Real World

In school, there were front row students and back row students. Front row students read ahead, took copious notes, and asked probing questions right up to the very last minute of class. The back row ran color commentary—sometimes insightful, sometimes inane.

Up until recently, online communication vehicles have been targeted to a “front row” mindset: webinars, decks, and long-form blogs were all about conveying information.

Then came Twitter.

Twitter and other status update tools are decidedly “back row.” They’re often more about passing notes than passing along information.

This implies that short-form social media is more than just a set of tools. It’s a way to convey information we haven’t been able to convey before… at least, not outside a live setting.

I know personally I’d love my life to have a soundtrack; with Twitter, it at least got ongoing, back row commentary.

Jason Seiden is Co-founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media, a training company that shows professionals how use social media to work more effectively.