

Zappos CEO on how Twitter has made him a better person - anuraggoel
http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/ceo-and-coo-blog/2009/01/25/how-twitter-can-make-you-a-better-and-happier-person

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ojbyrne
I find this one-way broadcast from leader to follower usage of twitter to be
kind of... evil.

I'll just single out one bit that I find truly annoying:

    
    
        * Cause my followers to smile with something funny
        * Inspire my followers (for example, with an inspirational quote)
        * Enrich my followers' perspectives (such as with a link to an interesting article)
    

It's all one way. Leader-follower. Not one thing on there is actually him
learning from someone else, except for the (presumably always positive)
feedback from his followers.

Every link to twitter on there is his tweets. The closest we get to things
actually going the other way is a picture of a guy with a cat on his head.

~~~
brk
Your observation is correct, although I can tell you that Tony does interact
back with people.

I made a comment once that Zappos should add Kangol hats to their merchandise.
I really sent it more in the ether than to him directly, but he direct-
messaged me back saying they would look into it.

Another time I was at a tradeshow and saw an interesting RFID inventory
solution. I direct-messaged Tony to tell him about it, and I got a thanks
reply back shortly after.

I think he's paying attention to and listening to what others are saying. I
took the tone of his article to be more positive, and I do believe that he has
far more followers than "followees", which is not abnormal for Twitter pseudo-
celebrities.

~~~
ojbyrne
I'm willing to concede that it might not reflect his actual behavior because I
checked his twitter page and he does have lots of "followees."

------
boredguy8
"What would you do differently if you were always on camera?"

One person I know calls this "glass house living" -- and I wish more people
lived life that way.

~~~
tdavis
That would be awful, though. To always be considering every move you make and
everything you say because it may offend someone. Just the fact that I have a
business requires me to censor myself, which I hate. That's absolutely nothing
compared to being on camera 24/7.

I suppose if I was always on camera I'd kill myself because it would be a life
with far too much compromise.

