Well, I get NASCAR to a degree, abhor opera, but texting in general makes no sense to me so texting what I am doing "right now" to a group of strangers is absolutely a waste of time.
Of course, mindless discussions here are completely ok!
I think the big thing now is following what celebs have to say. At least if you watch the news these days thats what seems to be the case. And that even more makes me not get it. I have no idea nor the inclination nor the time to tell people my thoughts many times a day or want to read the thoughts of others.
Who knows. Weird to me but lots of people must really enjoy it.
I don't quite get it, but some celeb postings make sense. I was just reading in the Iron Man 2 thread that Favreau tweets to give out a little information. "Finished filming for the week. We're halfway through now." That sort of thing can be of interest.
I really had my doubts about the usefulness of Twitter, but I tried it because some of my students encouraged it and because I could get some free software for my mom by tweeting. I've used it for a while and I still have some doubts about, but I can also see its usefulness.
I've found for some of my friends and students, it is a good way to keep up with them. For example, I had a friend who has had some health problems recently and he let his friends know through Twitter. It seems to be a more instantaneous form of communication than email, Facebook, etc. I also use it to follow and find useful information and news on the web---especially while I'm on the go. It is great for this purpose.
that is exactly why i asked the question. seems like everyday on the news someone is talking about tweeting. who cares what some celeb is thinking all day everyday?
the one time i found it interesting and useful was when the plane went down in the hudson. other than that and situations like that i don't see the appeal.
i value my privacy too much to be in always on communication with a bunch of people. so i see that tweeting is not for me.
as for the instant info on the web i thought that is why most people have mobile internet on their phone. i would be up frack's creek without a paddle if i didn't have my pocket pc phone with me.
Twitter helps me find more relevant or interesting information faster. Someone posts a link and brief description. If it is interesting or relevant, I click on the link and read it.
I'm not so sure it'll be just a fad. Sure, some of the uses we see in mass media might go away, but it has some great features. It's an excellent mass marketing and mass/group communications platform. It's an alternative to RSS feeds and allows for quick notifcations to target groups. The fact that the portal can be accessed via website, text message or email (and also phone-specific applications) makes it an invaluable communications tool.
It's no more a fad than email, text messaging, instant messaging or even the internet itself. It's just another communications tool that meets a need in ways that other platforms can't.
I'm just now figuring out FaceBook, forget about Twitter. Unfortunately, some Facebook users are simply regurgitating their Twitter comments to Facebook, which is tedious.
I can imagine a personal use of Twitter: if I had a circle of friends, flung about the country, who all used Twitter, it could be a fun way to keep in touch and keep up with what each other is doing. But I'm PT -- pre-tweet -- generation and my friends are equally foozled by Twitter.
I actually find Twitter much easier to maintain than MySpace and Facebook. It allows me to post quick tid-bits about my future television channel's progress in the most efficient manner possible. Regular long-winded updates are limited to my company's Web site, which happens to be driven by Wordpress.
Remember the facebook/myspace thread? I believe I commented in there about NEVER getting a facebook or Myspace page and somehow I managed to get talked into it by a group of friends. So I signed up to facebook, found some old friends, saw that they updated their pages three times a day and then I promptly deleted my account. I just do not have the time or energy to spend on updating an internet page for my friends to see what I have been doing. If you really want to know what I have been up to, call me or send an email.