Six by Tc7

For the uninitiated, Aggers is the nickname of Jonathan Agnew, a stalwart of Test Match Special on the Beeb. As a lover of test cricket and a long-suffering England fan, I have been enjoying following Aggers on Twitter (@aggerscricket) during the current winter series in South Africa. Not only does he keep me updated on the score, but he knows how to banter – a fine twitterer if ever there was one.

But what I particularly like is the instantaneousness that Twitter gives you of something you can’t get elsewhere. Take an Aggers tweet from this morning:

Strauss press conference. “Test won’t last 5 days” http://twitpic.com/xwfkg

Here we have it, the thoughts of the England captain and a photo from the press conference, published ahead of its appearance in other media, even in the age of 24 hour news.

What strikes me most is not necessarily the real-time news itself, but my emotion as a Twitter follower. Coming direct from the horse’s mouth, this snippet of action feels like a real exclusive. It reminds me of the feeling of discovering the debut track of a great new band that your mates haven’t heard of – well, I used to know that feeling before I entered my 30s, had a kid and lost the ounce of credibility I had, but you know what I mean! When you stop and rationalise it, it’s not that amazing, but that’s the point.

Wouldn’t it be powerful if your organisation could harness that emotion to make your users take action for the good, make a charitable donation or, for the more commercially-minded, make an impulse purchase?