The Twitter Challenge

Twitter is obviously the sexy new thing in the world of communications. Nobody's quite sure where it's going, and that makes it even more exciting to watch.

But, there's a steadily growing resistance to Twitter. It, along with other so-called social media tools, has a serious problem with what some have dubbed an "echo chamber" effect: people tweet about Twitter, or blog about tweeting on Facebook, or create meetup groups on Facebook for bloggers to meet in person (and then tweet live from the event)...

A small sampling of the backlash:
There's this article.
Or this video.
Or this article (and comic).

I seriously think that Twitter can be a very useful tool, and that it will evolve into a fairly standard mode of communication. Whether it quietly finds a place in the background, like RSS, or merges with instant messaging tools, or dramatically replaces our e-mail remains to be seen. Trouble is, if it continues to be weighed down by people who's main topic of conversation is Twitter itself, it will have real difficulty becoming "mainstream" in any form.

So here's the challenge for Twitter users who want it to be treated seriously:

For the next week, don't use any of the following words in your tweets:
- Twitter
- social media
- Web 2.0
- any cutesy "tweet speak" like tweeple or twiterrati or twits

Also, remove from your bio any references to being a "guru" or "expert" or "ninja" for any of the above topics. Yes, even in those rare cases when it's true. Tell us something else about yourself.

And finally, do not link to more than a couple of articles, blogs, videos, photos, cartoons, or other media where Twitter is discussed, criticized, or otherwise the focus.


So, who's in?
Are you willing to give it a shot?
Think you can do it?

I challenge you. And if you're following anyone who could stand to cut back on self-referential Twitter-centric posts, send them here.