If you Twitter -- tweet -- don't "TWACK!"

I heard an interesting interview with Chris Brogan on John Jantsch’s DuctTape Marketing podcast yesterday afternoon. Chris, who is recognized as an expert in the social media space, was being interviewed about his use of Twitter, the micro-blogging utility that has become so popular of late.

Among the various and sundry ideas both men tossed around was a comment about how they loath getting blatant sales pitches from people who they don’t know who are following them. Neither of them had a good term, or any term for that matter, to describe this Twitter equivalent to junk mail or SPAM.

Well divine light has shown down upon me. Ladies and gentlemen, I have that term! And the term is, “TWACK.” Now I realize that sounds kind of goofy but, follow my logic. As with all words within the twitter lexicon, it begins with the letters T W, as in Twittonary (Twitter Dictionary). This is a cool tool you can use to look up the meaning of anything and everything on twitter. “TWACK” also sounds like Elmer Fudd in hot pursuit of Bugs Bunny. “Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m twack-ing a wabbit! Huhuhuhuhu…” LOL

Most birds chirp and tweet, the later being the term used to describe a micro-post (140 characters or less) by anyone on twitter. These chirps and tweets are melodious sounds that are pleasing to the ear. Ducks, by comparison, quack which to anyone but a duck hunter is not a melodious or pleasing sound. A “Quack” is also a derogatory term used to describe a doctor of ill repute or perhaps a shyster. The word “Quack” is rather abrasive and obnoxious, which is in keeping with the previous comment. The term “TWACK” is also rather abrupt and harsh, when you say it. Try it out. It also sounds similar to “whack,” which is to hit or strike something with a resounding blow.

This gets to the real meaning of the term. Twitter is a great utility for communicating (one to many) short bursts of information. The content on Twitter ranges from the typical “what I am doing right now,” to quasi chatting. As with all communications mediums there are those people who choose to throw a blatant sales pitch at everyone in the hopes of attracting an ignorant few with their message. Chris Brogan referred to this as marketing with a Bull Horn. As I alluded to above, this is abrasive and obnoxious and it also flies directly in the face of what Social Media is all about.

TWACKING then, is the equivalent to Twitter SPAMMING, and is the quickest way to become un-followed, or UF’d, by pretty much everyone. The bottom line is, nobody wants to hear your sales pitch without getting to know you first. Chris had a more colorful description of this when he said (and I paraphrase), “don’t try to stick your tongue in my mouth when we haven’t even shaken hands yet.” You get the point!