Would the 'real' Tweet please stand up?

Though I signed up for a Twitter account back in 2010 while attending the annual Forrester Marketing forum, I only recently started to give it any attention -- ironically, just before the Ellen Selfie made its debut. Perhaps a bit 'late' to the game, I also think I benefit from jumping in with an existing notion of what social media 'is' and what I hope to gain from it so I can participate accordingly.

I have lots of great things to say about the tool, like its openness and 'real-time' spin that makes you feel like you're an active part of events around the world. However, the very thing that I believe makes Twitter an amazing platform for sharing ideas and encouraging global progress, is being undermined by what I call the 'fake' or 'canned' Tweet. If @BarackObama is going to tweet, it should be his thoughts and ideas (even if they are censored). What I don't appreciate seeing is tweet after canned tweet about signing up for healthcare. As a marketer, I'm often disappointed in the way that new digital innovations seem to get taken over by the marketing machine.

The real value in Twitter is to allow the everyday Joe to connect with TV personalities, business leaders and inspirational individuals right alongside their co-workers, friends and family members. A conversation should be two-way. Think about the conversation at your dinner table tonight if you had a list of canned tweets that you were programmed to say. Right after you ask your car-enthusiast significant other to pass the potatoes, he starts rambling off messages that had virtually no relevance to the current conversation:

Wife: "Honey can you please pass the Potatoes? Thanks. Hey, I was thinking of inviting the neighbours over for dinner this weekend, what do you think?
Husband: "If you need new winter tires, check hashtag MichelinXice tomorrow atCanadianTire has a sale." 
Wife: "Huh? Ok, but what about dinner - do you have any plans with your buddies on Sat night that I should know about?"
Husband: "Love the new hashtag RangeRoverEvoque atLandRoverUSA."

What I would love to see on Twitter is a way to identify the real personal-penned tweets from the canned marketing tweets -- similar to the checkmark verification for official account profiles. Sometimes it's easy to discern, but sometimes it isn't. Better yet, I challenge the big brands to give up more messaging control to their subject matter experts and personalities, who really drive readers to want to engage with them on a peer-to-peer level. In the world of social media, I believe it's quality over quantity of communications that will build respect and ensure the medium continues to be valuable to users.

Would the real Tweet please stand up?

(Note: The Obama account does use a -BO signature for his supposed personalized tweets, but they are few and far between the healthcare spam messages!)