I wanted to share some thoughts about a couple of posts that I have found interesting.

I read Seth Godin's caution to microbloggers ("You will be misunderstood") post this morning, and it got me thinking about a topic that i have discussed several times recently: how does Twitter tie in with, overlap, replace blogs and other social media. My discussions generally begin with me explaining my take on why someone would get into microblogging (Twitter being my favorite example) in the first place, and usually include some conversation about why blogs are still relevant.

There was a well circulated article on Wired Magazine's site that suggested that the answer to the question of why someone should get into microblogging is that social media tools like Twitter and Facebook and are now the place to be and have made blogs "outdated." The way I read it, the Wired article suggests that Twitter has replaced the "traditional" blog for all but the most popular "corporate" blog sites.

I take a different position - I think that Twitter (and Facebook for that mater) actually has the potential to make a blog, and other media content, more relevant and visible. I believe that particularly if you are concerned with marketing something (be it your personal brand, a product or a school), or reaching out to a constituency, microblogging is a tool that can make your other tools more effective. On its own, it is not going to get you very far in establishing the credibility or utility or desirability of the things that you want to talk about. There just isn't enough room to share what you need to share.

So why get into microblogging? As I see it, microblogging is a way to share where you are or what you are doing, to drop a quick question or observation, to participate in an ongoing conversation, to find out what other, interesting people are thinking about, and it is fun to boot. But for me the most valuable reason to get into microblogging is to share and to be made aware of links to longer, more thoughtful pieces that you have found or written yourself. Case in point, I found out about Godin's post because I saw Andy Chase's tweet about it.

Back to Godin's point: If you have something important to say, you should be very careful about trying to make it fit in 140 characters. Consider taking the extra time to blog about it, or record a podcast or a video. Then use Twitter to send people to your post. Not only will you reduce the likelihood of being misunderstood, you will be adding value to your microblogging participation by expanding the content that you bring to the table.

If Godin is correct, this post will be misunderstood by someone. Please let me know if so, I would love to tweet with you about it!