Comments on: If You Charge For It, It Ain't a Tweet-up!

By: Derek K. Miller

Derek K. Miller — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:04:27 +0000

I think this is a perfect opportunity to chuck the word “tweetup” in the rubbish bin, along with “webinar.” I’ve never been fond of either word, so use them as you wish — I probably won’t, regardless.

By: Brown Bagging It at PodCamp Boston

Brown Bagging It at PodCamp Boston — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:58:28 +0000

[...] Self Righteous Bullshit [...]

By: Doug Haslam » Blog Archive » Social Media Top 5: Twankruptcy, Twitter DDoS, Paid Tweetups (You Bet!)

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:21:14 +0000

[...] chapter held a meeting for members that charged admission and called it a “Tweetup.” What? Outrage! Or, so what? “Tweetup” only signifies Twitter. People applying rules to things that [...]

By: Abbie S. Fink

Abbie S. Fink — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:56:02 +0000

Thank you Scott for seeing this for what it is.

By: Scott Monty

Scott Monty — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:53:19 +0000

I’m going to chime in here for two reasons:
1) My name was already invoked above (by Benn)
2) I coined the term “tweetup,” so I think I should have some say as to how it’s being used. See http://www.wordspy.com/words/tweetup.asp for the details.

Personally, I don’t care if a tweetup is free or includes a cover charge. The point of a tweetup is it’s a face-to-face meeting of two or more people who use Twitter. Period.

By: Derek Peplau

Derek Peplau — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:46:16 +0000

As with any subculture which ceases to be a niche and is adopted by a far wider audience, Twitter’s unique vernacular was inevitably going to be adopted and used by this larger group, and some of the Twitter “I’ve had an account since 2006″ purists won’t always agree with how it’s used…

This phenomenon is not unique to Twitter. And it’s happened here because Alison et al chose to apply the term “Tweet-Up” in a different way than the “accepted” definition used by the self-appointed defenders of the concept of what Twitter is and represents.

I happen to agree with the notion that a Tweet-Up should generally be free or at most charge a nominal fee to cover some of the organizing costs, but the spontaneous aspect I think has long-since ceased to be a requirement; many are planned out well in advance. But mostly, skewering Alison for daring to use the term in a way you don’t agree with (not to mention saying, “their membership should be very leery as well the clients of any attendee”) is about as petty as it gets.

THAT’s the FAIL here.

By: steve_dodd

steve_dodd — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:00:21 +0000

Shel and Doug, I agree. The last I heard, ours was a free market economy. Twitter is a service that serves many masters, some purely social, some purely commercial and some in-between. If someone is offering a Tweetup for a specific purpose and audience and need to charge for this, those who perceive value from it will attend, those who don’t, won’t.

For those “purists” who are against “controlled” activity and want this free social society, doesn’t trying to control how another user uses or benefits from a service like Twitter go against the very grain of what you are trying to protect?

Please, there are such more important battles to fight.

By: Alison Bailin

Alison Bailin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:56:13 +0000

Just to be CRYSTAL clear – PRSA is a NON PROFIT organization. We are volunteers. It isn’t a business. We don’t make money.

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:54:50 +0000

Phil said: “I’m at the National Poetry Slam this week…”

I totally read that as “National Poultry Slam” and the images that conjured up will not be easily forgotten.

(sorry for the hijack, but I thought we all needed a little laugh here…)

By: @michaelpearsun

@michaelpearsun — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:54:46 +0000

Interesting stuff by everyone so far. Not sure how much I have to add. After reading through the comments I feel like on one side, tweeter should not be abused for the end gain of your personal business, but if people are taking advantage of twitter for their own personal benefit then why shouldn’t a company. So if they want to call it a “tweetup” then they should be allowed. With this much push back, PRSA will probably refine their methods.

On the other hand, it also feels like a “get a free vacation so we can force a timeshare down your throat.” So I can understand the feeling of manipulation that some twitter faithful would have felt.

Not great twitter etiquette, but if the people will go to your event, why not?