Here's this week's column on Bill & Chris' excellent online adventures. Enjoy. -sf
Tweet Twins
How two brothers used social networking to open doors
By STEVE FRIESS
Early this summer at a party for Mac King’s 10th anniversary as a Vegas headliner, I asked Las Vegas Sun columnist John Katsilometes where he was sitting. “Over there with the Twitter guys,” Kats answered.
Everybody uses Twitter these days, which is why I was intrigued that I knew, without hesitation, that Kats meant Bill Cody, aka @VegasBill, and Chris Rauschnot, aka @24k. In an Internet minute, the duo had gone from suspiciously regarded unknowns to publicist-adored media fixtures, invited or given access to all sorts of fancy events.
Read the rest at LasVegasWeekly.Com
Photo Credit: Erik Kabik
2 comments:
"But the Twitter guys are redeemed to me because they’re transparent. They tell everybody when they’re freeloading and never wrap themselves in journalistic cloaks."
Well of course, the FTC required that bloggers openly disclose perks and comps and other such gifts as of 2009.
I'm not saying these guys aren't nice, I've never met them and can't judge (wouldn't be surprised if they're reading this, hi guys!), but what they do is why a law like that was needed. It seems the Vegas tourism industry has a lot of spare luxury and privilege that they were making so little use of that the regular first guys to get out there in front of the public and make the industry look good could really be rewarded with quite the good time.
Even when good intended, juice is still juice, and I'm surprised that so far removed from the era of suspicious backroom dealings that Vegas still has so much of it.
Here's what most people don't know: There is software that can help you grow your Twitter list. Also, if you start sampling their followers:
Surprise... surprise... surprise... truckloads of their followers seem to be other social networking gurus and similar. Other people who are probably using similar software. And/or following them because they are social media gurus. Not because of Vegas or travel stuff.
How does it work? Various twitter software out there lets you auto-follow people who already following other people, hope they follow you back, then unfollow those who don't (or not in their case... 24k is "following" 43,000 people... supposedly). I would have enjoyed hearing how he keeps up with tens of thousands of tweets a day from those he is following (as he does seem to respond to people). My guess, more software that filters out most of the people he is following.
Look... they have a zillion followers, but when they twitpic something, they are lucky if it gets 300 views. Out of 49,000 followers (using 24k as an example). That is a rate of well under 1%. IE, it appears they've really padded their number of followers but at the end of the day, is much of anybody reading their tweets?
Don't get me wrong: This isn't sour grapes. I'm in that category where we're afforded many of the very same invites (or quick positive response from PR people if we ask for something). I'm not some pissed off outsider looking in. In fact, what they have pulled off is nothing short of brilliant.
But I think there is enough evidence to suggest that they have convinced people of a following that doesn't really exist. Those would have made for some interesting questions.
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