Looking For The Usefulness in Twitter
By now most everyone’s probably heard about Twitter. Evan Williams, who started Blogger, and then Odeo, has moved on to his next project which is called Twitter. If you’ve been under a rock, it’s sort of instant messenger input meets blog-style publishing. I’m blurring the lines here on The Apple Blog just a bit, but since Twitter has some nice OS X support, I’m going for it.
I get stuck (and a migraine) when I try understanding how exactly Twitter can be useful. It seems so flippant toward the idea of publishing anything real and useful. At best, it’s a clever Away Status Message for your IM client, only one that the world can see rather than just your chat buddies. Maybe I’m just being close-minded, but I fail to see the point, and really can’t help but feel like it’s a goofy fad that’s soon to fade away.
I’m asking for your help here readers. Enlighten me as to why I should put my Twitter account to use. Have you come up with an idea that puts Twitter to an actually good use? I’d love to hear all the gory details – especially if it’s something that gets me to see the light and start using it myself. Or on the flip side, tell me that I’m not alone!!
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Can I really comment on posts before they’re posted? Awesome…
Anyways, I like twitter because people can see what I’m up to, where I am. It’s not a competitor to blogging, at least not for me.
You’re right, it is kind of like a glorified away message, but I like it. It may not be entirely useful, but it is fun.
Nick and Julian, for me, I see Twitter and IM in general to be a great way to take more effort to communicate less efficiently. On my personal blog in January, I wrote Why I Stopped Using IM and Won’t Use Twitter. When I see people at the office on IM, they aren’t communicating on a professional level, but are taking longer to say less. Twitter makes the need to post mundane updates in a way that makes MySpace look like the Wall Street Journal.
I travel a lot with my job and I’m in and out of the office all the time. I use twitter to keep my boss, my co-workers and my wife updated on where I am and what I’m doing.
This is totally one of those swing-and-a-miss moments.
I’ve been trying to figure out the same thing Nick. I’ve seen people talking about it, looked at it, and decided not to. Most of the stuff is just mundane worthless notes that don’t really matter.
Count me out on this. I suppose I’m just not important enough to use it. Seems very silly to me… and I can’t help but think it’s one of those things about our culture that, in the future, will seem embarrassing. Too much time on our hands… too much technology… too much information. Do you really need to know when I’ve stepped out to check the mail or walk the dog? Maybe if I run an errand? Where do we draw the line. Shall I inform you that I’ve gone to refill my coffee or taken a trip to the bathroom?
I’m totally with you, Nick. It’s a nice use of some OSX functionality and GUI-candy, but functionally — I can’t see it finding a way into my every day life.
If you’re time poor you probably don’t have time for Twitter, I know I don’t. But, I did find TwitterVision somewhat mesmerizing when it launched this morning…
http://twittermap.com/twittervision
Nick – I concur, it is entirely useless.
denny- you have it wrong, it isn’t that you aren’t important enough, it is that you aren’t self-important enough to broadcast that you are currently sitting on the toilet or that you had an egg and onion sandwich for lunch to your friends’ IM clients, email accounts and cell phones.
Twitter… hmmm
When I first saw the Twitter site and had a little explore, after seeing some of the “features” words like, vacuous, retarded, self-absorbed, mundane, useless, fad and the like streamed thru my brain at an alarming speed.
This is a horrible waste of time and even worse doesn’t deserve this hot-topic-status, as if the Zeitgeist is driven by vacuity, and fads… (erm… forget I said that)
Seriously though, turn your back on Twitter.