Does it Matter if a Million People all Listen at Once…

Spotted all those “million” posts in the last week? Seems to be the season for shouting about mythical milestones. Relax though, because you don’t need to care about it.

In case you missed the news, someone on Twitter reached a total of one million people following them. How relevant Is the question “how many is he following back?” For Ashton Kutcher (Mr Million) is his Twitter use a social network or a broadcast channel? Does it matter?

Looking at my Twitter account I follow around 500 people – generally I’ll add people that respond to me, have been @’ed by my friends, or who’s websites look fun. I don’t automatically follow back if you follow me. I currently have 2500 people following my twitter stream. Part of Twitter (and any social network) is gathering followers… but when you have one million on one side, and eighty on the other, I think one reason for being on Twitter is clear – to bypass the regular media and broadcast yourself.

There’s nothing wrong with using Twitter as a broadcast option – witness both the use that ex-F1 announcer James Allen (@jamesallenonf1) is making of the service during qualifying and the Grand Prix and my upcoming commentary during the Eurovision Semi Finals and Grand Final in May – but like any good tool it has different use case scenarios.

Don’t kid yourself that Ashton and Oprah are doing the same thing with Twitter that you are. But don’t kid yourself that it matters either. If the tool works for you, your social group, your fans, or your media needs, then that’s all that matters.