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| Hearsay: |
Apparently Twitter is the way to go—so much so, it’s becoming it’s own form of writing. Sigh. You can tell you’ve been around too long when new techs like this pop up and you just can’t bear to get involved. Dude, you think, I’m already blogging my fucking arse off. ANOTHER time sucker? I can’t do it. I just can’t. But there’s always someone new-to-everything in line behind you, ready to steal your readers with a pared down version of what you’re doing. Sheesh. I feel like a newspaper. So out of date and verbose.
Twitter has quickly become the preeminent way to go about “micro-blogging,” sending short real-time comments to the world (if it’s looking) and especially to anyone who signs up as a follower.
When the service was introduced in 2006, it was ridiculed as the latest narcissistic way to waste time online.
Last year, minds began to change. Twitterers tapped out tweets during the earthquake in China while the ground was still shaking and live during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. One of the first pictures of the airliner downed in the Hudson River last month, picked up by major newspapers and magazines, was “tweeted” by a 23-year-old tourist with an iPhone who happened to be aboard a ferry sent to the rescue. Suddenly, Twitter has become a venue for “citizen journalism,” a way to learn what’s happening sometimes even before news organizations themselves could find out.
“News no longer breaks, it tweets,” blogged Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley-based technology forecaster, last November during the Mumbai attacks. “If newspapers are the first draft of history, then blogs are the scratch pad. And in front of blogs are tweets,” he added in a phone interview last week.
Twitter is a classic example of the “law of unintended consequences,” says Matthew Fraser, who tracks the world of online social networking. At first, he says, people shared the “micro-banalities of life” such as “I’m at McDonald’s having a Big Mac.”
But Twitter now has “morphed” into something with real value and utility, says Mr. Fraser, coauthor of “Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work, and World.”
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February 16th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I’ve tried a little bit of everything – I even offer do the occasional facebook update (”Remi is wondering if the toilet water really does spin the other way in Australia” or something equally urgent) – but I have no interest in twitter. But then again, I don’t text, either. For some reason, being in minute by minute contact with everyone just seems kind of pointless. I mean, I was going to do something cool today but by the time I texted and tweeted it to the world, I just couldn’t be bothered to actually do it.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Twitter may be more limited in context than blogging or Facebook “notes” by its 140-character limit-per-post format, but it does have an interesting potential, particularly for news-gathering/pushing. It’s already sort of eclipsed the Facebook status-update, because whereas Facebook is mostly visible within Facebook, you can put a Twitter feed just about anywhere, or send/receive them on your cellphone (via SMS).
The last part, alas, is something we cannot experience in Canada due to the monopoly on our cellphone network.
February 16th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Remi: If you want to see some of the great things that can be done with Twitter, start following @thenfb (link in my name). They keep the public informed of all the latest updates, as well as asking fellow Tweeters about the types of changes we’d like to see to the NFB website, etc. They’re fostering a genuine sense of community, and that’s something I don’t think many people would say of the NFB in the past.
February 16th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I joined Twitter this morning after complaining. I’m still wary of it, though. I did it to read Stephen Fry, frankly. Someone took the “bookninja” login though, a couple years ago and hasn’t used it since, which is partly why I’ve always joined new initiatives like this, just to get my name nailed down in case I need it for the future. That’s how I got trapped into facebook. Sigh. I suppose it can be used as Matt S suggests, to create a good community, but isn’t that what we’ve already got here?
February 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Yes, it’s definitely a time sucker if you permit yourself to get pulled in too deep, as with any of these “social” thingies, I suppose. But you’re in control. Having a secret handle should permit you to lurk in the shadows and decide whether you want to start interacting.
Many bloggers end up blogging less once they’re on Twitter. They get their outlet for (briefly) commenting and linking in a more time efficient manner, but get the added benefit of immediate interaction with those who are following them. Much more of a rapid response than blog comments. It feels more like real communication, despite (or because of?) the character limit.
The blog is then saved for commentary that needs to be long by necessity, and Twitter in turn helps drive traffic to the blog (if you have followers who want to follow). Since you have a ready-made audience, George, it will probably work well for you if you let it. Put some strict limits on your Tweeting time, and you’re soul should remain intact.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Make that *your in that last sentence.
Forgot to mention, if you haven’t, you set up an RSS feed for “Bookninja” (or whatever) at Twitter Search to see what others are saying. Look at all these nice Tweeters who honor you:
[see link above]
February 16th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
So, George, do you mean you’re also owned by pulbicly-held media conglomerates who demand from you steady top-line growth, double-digit profit margins and industry accolades while cutting out every cost item (heating for your home, breakfast, all liquids other than tap water, spare pencils) that they possibly can?
February 17th, 2009 at 1:53 am
i signed up and was asked if i meant “foodninja…the mobile vegetarian who is a master of stealth”
February 17th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Quite frankly, all this “social” community and networking takes up too much time, not to mention that I wonder if it ultimately createsa false sense of community. I also really don’t care what billions of people are doing at ANY given moment. So what?