We’re told to be polite, earnest, and respectful. However, as we’ve learned from Reality TV, face slaps and unfiltered emotions are often more engaging than polite interaction. Micro-blogger Chad Johnson attracted a lot of praise for the influence he earned with raw unfiltered messaging; Twitalyzer in 2011 called Chad Ochocinco the most influential American on Twitter.
Recently, we’ve seen an epic “brawl” on Twitter centered around Nassim Nicholas Taleb and his book, Antifragile-Things That Gain From Disorder. Dr Taleb has attracted a lot of attention with his challenging, brash, and often bombastic tweets. His persona is more Ochocinco then Emily Post. Even more interesting is that his topic is Macroeconomics and Econometrics rather than cheating spouses, baller theatrics, and celebutantes. He is making economics interesting.
Engagement, engagement, engagement. That seems to be the popular buzzword in the social media industry these days.
