Yesterday, I was a panelist at a social media event. While I did leave with a swell sense of goodwill toward my fellow social media marketers, something happened that added to my general frustration with, well, sorta the world as a whole. A colleague said “Twitter is stupid. Ninety-nine percent of tweets are worthless.” (That’s paraphrased, fyi, but real close).

You should know, I would not Twitter if I weren’t in this business. I, in fact, go out of my way to have people NOT know what I’m doing, rather than the Twitter-route of keeping people abreast of what I’m up to. So, despite my not really being “that into it” I still believe that to suggest it’s “stupid” is counter-productive to the collective good.

I replied, “Couldn’t you say the same thing about television?” My response surprised him, I think, but I have 150 channels available to me and I have a hell of a time finding something to watch every time I sit down on the couch with a Tombstone pizza and H2OH!. How many times can I watch a Family Guy rerun before I feel like my life is, well, stupid?

So, stupid is in the eye of the beholder. Millions are using Twitter and it is adding to the quality of their lives while (arguably) harming no one. From our work perspective, therefore, it has become one of dozens of effective mediums through which some companies can share their information and engage with (a portion of) their desired audience. Should 100% of all companies use Twitter as a communications channel? Heavens no. But, should one dismiss it as stupid because they don’t like it or see how the value translates to their lives? No. How many more times do we have to remember that the same was said about email when it arrived? Or microwaves? Or, I dare to speculate, the stilletto heel?

I’m sure my colleague would agree that Twitter does have value in the business world, and that I’m manipulating his casual comment to make a point out-of-scale from his conversational quip. He’s correct. But, make the point I must.

As I said to a client this morning (after relaying this story to her), I really, really don’t enjoy High School Musical. I find it to be an insult to the gods of art and our species as a whole. And, I feel the same way about golf. My distaste knows no bounds for these two (and, well, many other) popular iconic things. However, though I can’t for the life of me understand how or why, many millions adore golf and High School Musical. But, I mean, didn’t I just confess to eating frozen pizza while watching a cartoon? Who am I to judge?