140 characters only go so far. Nabeel and Batman reminded me of that this morning.
I particularly notice this when people share startup lessons. Let’s be honest, a lot of “startup lessons” being shared are common sense and known to anyone with any experience (that is true with this blog too, don’t get me wrong). However, that doesn’t mean that the reminders, and the process of rethinking, resurfacing and reshaping lessons and priorities isn’t important and useful.
The trouble with Twitter is interesting nuggets get boiled down to the point of banality, like:
“Make products people will love”
Really? That is just… a frikken shocking concept and about as useful as “Don’t spend all your money on sock puppets.”
Now compare that to Nabeel Hyatt’s post on two comic book designers discussing why the “why” behind their characters was most important. Or Mark Suster’s remembrances of pitching VCs.
Said in 140 characters, the messages in those posts would have been pretty damn banal. Surrounded by context, story, and flow, they become interesting and fun which in turn has a greater chance of imparting meaning and triggering the process of interpretation and personalization.
Over the last few years, I have come to love the flow and sharing that happens on Twitter, but long live long form!