"Old Media" Exec On Twitter: "I understand how to wash dishes. I don't do it regularly."

It's refreshing to hear some honesty from the upper echelon of media types, even if that honest is of the sort that belittles Twitter. At Reuter's Global Media Summit, several prominent members of "old media" spoke about their reluctance to hop aboard the Twitter train, claiming that they didn't need to use it to understand it - and understand that it's not for them. Reuters reports that most of the "old media" leaders at the Summit were not interested in joining the digital generation. Maurice Levy is the CEO of advertising group Publicis, and he's not too keen on Twitter or it's big brother Facebook. He claims that although he is able to stay current with social media professionally, he doesn't see the need to engage with it by tweeting: "I understand how to wash dishes. I don't do it regularly." Several other prominent media figures at the summit agreed with this sentiment. Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, says that he won't be joining Twitter any time soon, as he has "enough to do answering your emails" as it is. And still others saw Twitter as too limited. Says Arnaud Nourry of Hachette: "I think communicating with text only with a very limited way of expression is not my style". He uses Facebook instead. Those that did use Twitter used it primarily as a means to broadcast company news - rather than tweet about their personal life - or to monitor keywords. The position of "old media" leaders isn't surprising to anyone with an eye on the stats coming out of social. It's clearly a younger person's game (but not exclusively!). However, the inability of Twitter to capture an older audience might not bode well for the network, as its currently younger audience grows older and possibly tires of the fast-pace stream of information coming at them amid increasing responsibilities in their work and personal life. It could become simply too cumbersome, as the exec who claims email is all he can handle believes. Still, in order to stay relevant in a digital world, these CEO need to at least recognize that their audience has embraced social. Whether or not they use it personally, it's important that they encourage a transition to social for their organizations, or else face becoming irrelevant in the very near future. (Image: mearicon via Shutterstock)

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"Old Media" Exec On Twitter: "I understand how to wash dishes. I don't do it regularly."

Lauren Dugan

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Lauren Dugan