Wednesday (1/6) on her Washington Post blog Classical Beat, Anne Midgette considers the ways in which classical music institutions use Twitter. “The question—the $64,000 question for all forms of so-called ‘new technology’—is what you put out there through this new medium. … For the most part, organizations are settling for using Twitter as a glorified bulletin board for PR notices: ‘Come see our performance on Sunday! Tickets going fast!’ Some, though, are developing personalities, from ‘Here’s what I did this morning’ to ‘Hear a recording of our recent concert.’ … But I think the Leipzig Gewandhaus has set some kind of new benchmark with its latest Tweet. It’s searching for a new director of its concert office and artistic planning. And it’s making this known over Twitter. This is actually a nice sign of institutional transparency—even, arguably, a sounder understanding of the Twitter audience than many groups seem to harbor. This ad tacitly presupposes that an internationally experienced classical-music business type with extensive connections in the field may be reading the Gewandhaus’s Tweets. At least it doesn’t fall into the trap of assuming that all Twitter users are 20 to 30 years old and card-carrying representatives of a hip generation.”
Posted January 8, 2010
