Twitterless
I got an e-mail update from Twitter this morning, which I signed up for at some random point. I don’t understand Twitter.
I have tried to limit the social networking sites I’m on and focus on ones that could potential be career-related–Facebook, LinkedIn. I hear GoodReads is fun but I just can’t imagine myself having time to upload all the books I own.
I gave up on Myspace forever ago, and linger around on Friendster just to see what old friends are up to. Honestly, I mostly like it b/c people generally leave one another alone there.
So, what gives with Twitter? I don’t get it, and I’m hoping a more ‘net savvy blogger like Leah can fill me in on the attraction. As far as I can tell, it updates people on what I am doing. Which would not be terribly interesting. Hey! I am working! Hey! I am still working! Hey! I am taking a nap! Hey! I just went for a walk! Guh?
Am I missing the point entirely?
(and this entry confirms that my life is not terribly interesting–since the concert Saturday night, I managed to nap a lot, bake chocolate chip cookies, and run errands.)
ETA: On a related note, I am on the cusp of Gen X and Gen Y according to this quiz. I say I should bump my score a little since I use acronyms like “ETA” and I don’t mean expected time of arrival…
Cookies????????
i do not get twitter and will not sign up for it. i have enough problems understanding the necessity of facebook (not really a neccesity) and the annoyance that is myspace. though i DO enjoy the music updates on myspace. that’s all i use it for.
Get back to work, hippie.
Sizz–since even NPR is calling Facebook the newer, more mature and more professional MySpace, I thought it might be worthwhile (since career networking is pretty key to my job!). But so far, all I get out of it is annoying requests to join the Zombie application!
P–grrrr…you are *thees close* to being banned…
I signed up for Twitter, too, but I just don’t get the purpose of it so I don’t use it.
I’ve also received several invites to GoodReads, but I’m not signing up. I already run a book review blog (http://kapgar.typepad.com/fwdt). Why share my stuff with someone else?
17 out of 24 points on Penelope Trunk’s quiz - well into Gen Y territory. Not bad, I suppose, for somebody born during the Reagan administration (I say this while pondering proxy wars and eating my dinner vegetables - a heaping helping of ketchup, of course!).
“ETA” - Eicosatetraenoic acid? The Spanish terrorist group? The Swedish hardcore punk band? Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency? OOOHH, “edited to add”… ;P
I’m not a MySpace fan either. It has *atrocious* page design. Spam like crazy. A haven for teenagers and those who think like teenagers. But like AIM and Hotmail, it caters to the lowest common denominator, and so I can re-connect with the widest number of people there (social networks generally having a roughly-exponential growth rate, after all - at least in the short term (longer term, the popular “Bass” model is more complex)).
I may have to try Facebook instead…
Yeah… well… because of Twitter I’ve gained a new circle of tech friends in Chicago that I would have never met. And, um, got to spend a day with Hugh MacLeod from GapingVoid. He twittered that he was stuck in chicago, I replied with a whine about him not calling him, an hour later he’d gotten my number and called. All through the power of twitter.
I’ve also built personal relationships with colleagues in other cities. It acts as a virtual water cooler and I’d also say I’m closer to my chicago colleagues because of it.
I wanted to hate it, but actually find it quite useful.
Hmmm… I don’t get it either, even after Leah’s rave for it!
(private message… I send you a mail… But I think I don’t have the right address !)
Other than the benefits, you have a 140 character limit on any tweet. Some people are calling it micro-bologging. People tweet about different things, mine are usually during my commute. Nothing exciting there.
Some people tweet links to new blog posts, make requests for information (did this the other day, trying to find an italian beef) or …
It is another way of building loose relationships via the internet or deepening relationships you already have. It acts as phatic communication.
I guess there isn’t a point, but it has been fun. Like I said before, I was really quite anti-twitter, but it has been super fun and I’ve met more people in person than I have in 3.5 years blogging.
Get back to work, ALL of you hippies.
Actually, here’s the best description of Twitter and its value that I’ve seen:
http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/07/27/whatTwitterIs.html