Tweeting His Way to the Top

Here’s a fun little story about a boy with a dream, a dream that annoyed the bejesus out of people, and how being annoying can ultimately be deemed a redeeming trait.

On his blog, BusinessZone.co.uk editor Dan Martin explains how 17-year-old James Cunningham’s program to measure "Twifficiency" turned a lot of chirping heads. The term quickly began trending, but once users’ Twifficiency results were then communicated via Twitter without permission, the program became real annoying real fast. But fortunately, it appears the experience will be a net positive for the youngster and the Tweeting universe:

Not so long ago, such a service would only have reached the eyes and ears of a very niche group of IT fans but in the modern of world of social media, James has discovered that when launching anything – even something you don’t intend to be a commercial business – you’ve got to be prepared for the feedback – both positive and negative – and test and test again.

James’ service was so talked about it became one of the most tweeted phrases on Twitter:

James has started to respond to angry users and look into correcting the problem but one particular tweet from him reflects how the business world has changed:

Believe me James, the most unexpected of things do catch on nowadays and while in reality no real harm has been done, the young entrepreneur’s Twifficiency experience should serve as a lesson to all that new business news doesn’t travel fast in the 21st century; it travels very fast. 

But most telling is one response Martin received via Twitter:  "To be fair Dan, I am considering giving him a job, 17 and can do something adults who are paid a hell of a lot more can’t ;-)"