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Keller @ Large: Quality Of Communication Matters, Not Quantity

BOSTON (CBS) - In business, money talks and just about everything else walks.

So after racking up disappointing revenues at Twitter, the CEO is taking a walk, without a severance package, it says here!

Not to worry – I have a hunch he won't miss a meal.

But his abrupt departure is a cue to take a look at Twitter, and what it's pros and cons tell us about the digital obsession that's consuming us.

Apparently, the outgoing CEO did a great job attracting the curious to check out Twitter.

One problem – according to a top company investor and critic, a billion of them tried Twitter and then fled. Even many of those who've kept their accounts open never use them. And not enough customers using the free service are buying stuff from its advertisers.

When you have lots of folks looking at your product but too few sticking around to use it, you've got a problem. And I think Twitter's problem is it's a migraine headache in the making.

There is too much content coming at you too fast without editing. Even focused users struggle to screen out content they don't want.

And I can't imagine many of us really want to be swamped by the tsunami of kooks and trolls who flood Twitter with their sewage.

Twitter does offer some useful tools. You can block people from following you, and you can mute someone so you will never have to read anything they have to say or even know they exist.

Couldn't we all make use of those buttons elsewhere.

Twitter still has huge potential as a communication tool. But the moral of their story so far seems to be: it's not the quantity of the communication that matters, it's the quality.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.

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