Twitter, explain it to me

[Eddie Dane]

I thought it was an ego-tripping tool for people with a really, really short attention span.

But apparently I have to change my mind, for two reasons.

One of my best (and most intelligent) friends is absolutely raving about it.
He's a computer programmer and is following the Tweets of some of the top dogs in the field. He claims it certainly gives him an edge in his line of work.

I read some blogs in my field and they are useful, but I cannot imagine that there is enough "meat" on 140-character messages to convey any kind of meaningful communication philosophy or strategy.

I work in marketing and social media are the hottest thing. Every brand is now on failbook and twatter.
I've tried to look at Fashion (where I do most of my work) tweets, but it just looks like an endless stream of useless crap.

Shoe-brand X:

• We've got a new shoe collection out!
• Hey, check out our great shoes!
• Boy, we've made some nice shoes
• Go to our website and look at our shoes
• next year we will be making more shoes

Who would subscribe to this kind of "information".

Does anybody here find Twitter useful? If so, tell me the secret, cause I must be doing it wrong.

 

[WildCat]

There's no explanation for something so stupid.

 

[richardm]

I believe Twitter is the first popular technical development that I don't see the point of.

I suppose this means I'm finally getting old

 

[noreligion]

140-character massages

You mean an orgy?

 

[Eddie Dane]

You mean an orgy?

oops, thanks for pointing that out.
I just had an image of 140 Thai girls saying 'happy ending, sir?' in perfect synchronization.

Thanks for that.

 

[Cleon]

Twitter can be a number of things to a number of people.

I signed up for it before TAM - 6, I think it was - to keep in contact with the other folks going so I knew where people were hanging out.

(Making snide comments during some of the more obnoxious presentations was kind of fun, too. )

For some, it's a way to advertise something; services, goods, music, blog postings, what have you. For me - and many other people - it's a great way to stay in regular contact with friends all over the world. I think of it like a slow-moving chatroom, really.

 

[commandlinegamer]

It's not really about advertising, but if in the 1890s. you'd wanted to request reinforcements for the siege at Mafeking, Twitter would have been your friend.

 

[pgwenthold]

I thought it was an ego-tripping tool

What do you mean by "ego trip"? Do you mean something like, "People who think they are so important that other people care about their mundane thoughts and activities"? Is that what we are talking about?

He's a computer programmer and is following the Tweets of some of the top dogs in the field. He claims it certainly gives him an edge in his line of work.

Note the bolded part, and re-read what I said above. For the "top-dogs" in the field, people actually DO care about their mundane thoughts and activities.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think it depends on the use.

The BA's Twitter feed is very good; he's still got the blog which has more information, but then there's times when he tweets about a launch or something far more timely. Richard Wiseman uses it too and passes along good links. Neil DeGrasse Tyson uses it too, though more infrequent than the BA and pretty much says the same stuff about astronomy news as the BA. But he also updates on when he's doing a new Nova Science News or has little interesting things to say. And NASA uses it which is nice for updates.

Wil Wheaton is funny and tosses out links to odd, funny stuff. The MST3k/RiffTrax guys have funny tweets, too. (Crap) My Dad Says goes from hilarious to amusing. Same with God_Damn_Batman and RealChadVader (the latter if you're a fan of his videos). Perhaps there are more in this vein but I haven't tried to search them out; they were just passed along to me.

And if you're a fan of a celebrity, their tweets can be interesting. I started to follow Drew Carey and he's tweeted a bunch from South Africa at the Cup. Roger Ebert tweets a LOT, probably due to his condition. But you can tell he enjoys Twitter, and finds some interesting stuff on the web. (He caused traffic to skyrocket after tweeting about a site that had pictures of traffic cops in North Korea -- they're all women and very pretty.)

I used to think it was a bunch of crap myself, too, but then I started following people I found interesting and it passes the time a bit. If someone's having trouble conveying info in the character limit, they should just use tinyurl. And getting back to the use... I could see how news in computer programming might be a bit more timely than fashion. I can't say I use it in any professional fashion but more as entertainment, and for that it's not bad. I've "tweeted" all of about three times, usually trying to be funny in response to a joke posted. I can't see the point in tweeting that you're going to buy some bananas.

 

[plumjam]

From what I've seen of it it's the perfect vehicle for superficial look-at-me egomaniacs and their bored-at-work hangers-on.

 

[KingMerv00]

I thought it was an ego-tripping tool for people with a really, really short attention span.

There's no explanation for something so stupid.

From what I've seen of it it's the perfect vehicle for superficial look-at-me egomaniacs and their bored-at-work hangers-on.

Twitter's primary purpose is to give people like yourselves a chance to feel superior. Why do people get so upset over what other people do? If people enjoy using it, who gives a crap?

(For the record, I've used twitter maybe a dozen times in 2 years.)

 

[Oliver]

I believe Twitter is the first popular technical development that I don't see the point of.

I suppose this means I'm finally getting old

I have the same problem, I don't see a point in Twitter at all. Sure, it would be cool so read whenever a Celebrity has to poop [RIGHT NOW!1OMG1!!] or if a friend of mine is going to phone me in 3 minutes, but it simply does not matter at all what Twitter-Messages tell you - especially since there are 3 Trillion other ways to get the same information without Twitter...

 

[Mister Earl]

Twitter *was* a pretty effective tool for the Iranian protestors when the government had their media crackdown. So that's one good thing going for it.

 

[Oliver]

Twitter *was* a pretty effective tool for the Iranian protestors when the government had their media crackdown. So that's one good thing going for it.

Uh, no. During a real Media crackdown, Twitter/Internet would not work.

 

[johnny karate]

Twitter's primary purpose is to give people like yourselves a chance to feel superior. Why do people get so upset over what other people do? If people enjoy using it, who gives a crap?

I don't think that anyone is actually upset as opposed to expressing an opinion. Personally, I checked out of the whole social networking scene after giving Facebook a whirl and being inundated with status updates tantamount to "I am doing something completely uninteresting right now. Please pay attention to me" by random people with whom I went to high school.

I don't care if the girl I sat behind in World History is at this moment buying a new pair of sandals for her trip to Cancun, and I think people who think other people would care about such mundane details of their lives are a tad self-involved. But welcome to the new social culture, where there are no boundaries, and being made to feel special no longer requires actually being special.

 

[volatile]

Twitter is a platform. If you follow inane people, you will see inane tweets. If, however, you follow interesting, amusing, well-informed or well-connected people, you will get interesting, amusing, well-informed tweets and links to things you're likely to find interesting that those interesting, amusing and well-informed people have chosen to share.

There are lots of inane people on Twitter, but the system is such that you never, ever have to even know they exist. Find the interesting people who are interested in the same things you are, and find yourself with a regular feed of interesting content. I've lost count of the number of great blogs, writers and artists I've discovered through twitter, and the number of great articles, websites and other web-content which I would never have seen without it.

I really don't see what's not "to get".

 

[volatile]

With fashion, there's not much point following brands really.

There is point in following people whose style you like, who will link to products, news and articles which might have passed you by. If you tweet about the products, news and articles you think others might like, bingo - you're part of the solution, not part of the problem.

 

[Skeptic Guy]

I think it depends on the use.

The BA's Twitter feed is very good; he's still got the blog which has more information, but then there's times when he tweets about a launch or something far more timely. Richard Wiseman uses it too and passes along good links. Neil DeGrasse Tyson uses it too, though more infrequent than the BA and pretty much says the same stuff about astronomy news as the BA. But he also updates on when he's doing a new Nova Science News or has little interesting things to say. And NASA uses it which is nice for updates.

Wil Wheaton is funny and tosses out links to odd, funny stuff. The MST3k/RiffTrax guys have funny tweets, too. (Crap) My Dad Says goes from hilarious to amusing. Same with God_Damn_Batman and RealChadVader (the latter if you're a fan of his videos). Perhaps there are more in this vein but I haven't tried to search them out; they were just passed along to me.

And if you're a fan of a celebrity, their tweets can be interesting. I started to follow Drew Carey and he's tweeted a bunch from South Africa at the Cup. Roger Ebert tweets a LOT, probably due to his condition. But you can tell he enjoys Twitter, and finds some interesting stuff on the web. (He caused traffic to skyrocket after tweeting about a site that had pictures of traffic cops in North Korea -- they're all women and very pretty.)

I used to think it was a bunch of crap myself, too, but then I started following people I found interesting and it passes the time a bit. If someone's having trouble conveying info in the character limit, they should just use tinyurl. And getting back to the use... I could see how news in computer programming might be a bit more timely than fashion. I can't say I use it in any professional fashion but more as entertainment, and for that it's not bad. I've "tweeted" all of about three times, usually trying to be funny in response to a joke posted. I can't see the point in tweeting that you're going to buy some bananas.

When I read the OP, I immediately thought of the BA and his Tweets, which I get through FB. I have to say that the only reason I like BA's Tweets is because they "usually" point back to his blog at Discovery, or to other people's blogs or astronomical pictures. The Tweets, unto themselves, are pretty meaningless, IMO.

I think there may be a value to someone with a blog or some other Internet presence they would like to advertise, but it is very rare that anyone has anything of value to say in 140 characters, especially after you subtract the "@" and "#" signs. I think Facebook is much more interesting given you can write more.

But that's my opinion and I have no problem with those that participate in Twitter more actively.

I'd be interested in Drew Carry, and the others you mentioned, but more so if they pointed to something they wrote.

 

[Oliver]

There is point in following people whose style you like, who will link to products, news and articles which might have passed you by. If you tweet about the products, news and articles you think others might like, bingo - you're part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Well, isn't there a point in getting a life as an alternative to Twitter as well?

 

[DDWW]

But I aways thought of "Texting" the same way. Seems like a backwards move from either just talking to a person, or waiting for the appropriate time to talk to a person.

But then again I am really old.

DD (or feel really old) WW