> But joe average shop owner in nebraska will be much more likely to sign his shop up for the Bike Index if he knows a shop in NYC that he follows on twitter has.

That is so wrong on so many levels but hugely comical!

'joe average shop owner in nebraska' is condescending, patronising or something not exactly respectful.

'joe average shop owner in nebraska' is actually working too hard for a living to be on Twitter. He works a long week and that is a six day week with a late night opening. Every morning is early for him. He stands on hard concrete floors when he is not rushed off his feet. He certainly is not following even his own arse on Twitter.

'joe average shop owner in nebraska' would not be following a trendy NYC bikeshop on Twitter, hanging on their every tweet.

Even if he was then do you think that the trendy NYC bike shop would mention Bike Index on Twitter and 'joe average shop owner in nebraska' would notice that tweet and go about some religious conversion to the Bike Index cult?