Micek and Warren show you that illiteracy is no reason not to self publish. The power of their book lies is the profound points that it makes over and over again. This book has two earthshaking things to say. 1) People using Twitter knew minutes before the rest of the world that there had been a major earthquate in China. 2) You can outmaneuver the corporate world by starting conversations on Twitter and finishing them on the telephone (or some other medium).

These authors are well equipped to see both sides of a contradiction. For example, talk radio was an early tremor of the New Media Revolution, because it was “participatory.” On the other hand, radio is a controlled medium that silences the people. (p. 13) But Twitter takes us beyond both.

The authors bring the prosaic within reach. They tell us that Twitter is, “an unprecedented growth opportunity like never before in history.” Their insights have eluded many intelligent people. For example, corporations, including even “Internet industries” are fighting against the New Media Revolution, and “didn’t think about people participating.” And there’s proof. Upload speeds are not as fast as download speeds. (p. 15)

The authors unleash the power of unbounded creativity. Warren advertizes that he is a best-selling author, while Micek tells us she has run and sold several multi-million dollar companies. She understands that the new media are all about participation, because she has created a system that puts it on “auto pilot.” (p. 255)

Be prepared for the revolution. The authors make the hard-to-believe claim that they used Twitter to write the book. Once this book is resting on your bookshelf, you will believe. They say, “This book is as revolutionary as the social media revolution,” because it is full of Twitter posts that use “creative spelling,” like “e.e. cummings, the poet who rebelled against the rules.” They even provide a special interview with a man who single-handedly created a Twitter app that is, “definitely lacking a definitive usefulness.” (p. 110)

I don’t want to give too much away. That would be far too easy. But here are the top three resons (p. 100) for using Twitter: 1) To combat loneliness, 2) To kill boredom when you stand in lines, 3) To connect with people by mobile phone, without calling them. This same chapter serves to “demonstrate the power of Twitter” by calling itself 101 Reasons to Use Twitter, and offering fifteen reasons. This liberates Twitterers to provide the remaining 86. Revolutionary? Yes! They tell us that this, “is a new way of writing a chapter,” and tout the green benefit of saving paper. (p. 100) I’m looking forward to seeing how much paper they can save next time. This is one of the most eye-openingly obvious and painstakingly redundant books of our time. I believed that hype was, by definition, beyond the bounds of credibility. This book has proven my wrong, by stretching the bounds even farther.