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[Citizen87645]

Damn, we all sound so old.

Where's Dana Carvey and his Grumpy Old Man costume?

 

[DavidJ]

Interesting article from Harvard Business blog discussing twitter with some research:

New Twitter Research: Men Follow Men and Nobody Tweets - Conversation Starter - HarvardBusiness.org

Of course, I found out about this because I follow HarvardBiz on Twitter.

 

[drobbins]

I don't get twitter either and I am getting sick of all the news and weather asking for "tweets". I don't think I could "twitter" - Just doesn't sound like a manly activity. I agree though, I think the hype is just a fad.

 

[nolesrule]

Just because everyone else updates their pages 3 times a day doesn't mean you have to. I have some friends that update it several times a day, others who just have an account to keep tabs on friends but either update infrequently or not at all. It's not an all or nothing thing.

Twitter is just a microblog/mass communication tool.

 

[Holadem]

I love this assessment of Twitter from my favorite political blogger:

"...the only purpose I can discern is that it provides a format for expressing thoughts that are too inconsequential to merit a stand-alone article or post. For precisely that reason, it is unsurprising that Twitter has become a huge hit among our media stars, for whom triviality is a guiding principle."



In the interest of fairness, I should point out that he has embraced the service.

I am happy with facebook and have no need for Twitter yet.

--
H

 

[juda]

All of this twitting crap is all over the place, just a group of people who share links and network woo

 

[Dave Poehlman]

YouTube - Twouble with Twitters: SuperNews!

 

[Clinton McClure]

Sounds dirty. "Put that thing away and stop twittering! You'll go blind!"

I heard about it when it came out but I have more important things to do...like bitch about it on Home Theater Forum.

 

[Stephen Orr]

As an educator, I use Twitter as a networking and collaboration tool. Very useful for sharing links and resources with a large number of people at the same time, and get (sometimes) instant feedback.

 

[DavidJ]

I could see that. The thing I don't understand about this thread is that despite several people pointing out the different ways Twitter is being used, it seems those comments are largely ignored so that Twitter can be dismissed as nothing but inane word vomit.

I'd have no interest in it if all it consisted of is people telling us "I'm sitting in front of the computer in my socks and underwear, eating a bowl of Rice Krispies." Trust me there is plenty of that, but it is easy to avoid.

Before joining Twitter, I had this very discussion with a friend of mine. He reluctantly blogs for his job, but it is essentially always with a point. His point is "I'm not that interesting. Why would I care if 'someone is walking across campus to get coffee?'" I agreed wholeheartedly.

And that part of my opinion has not changed, but that is not all that Twitter is.

Jack and Suzy Welch on why they tweet:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...rss_topStories

 

[Lucia Duran]

I'm sure twitter can be very useful to some people for sending out info or networking, but do you think most people use it for random crap like " just had sushi it was good" or do you think its more about the networking?

 

[BrianW]

You're assuming that those who have decided that Twitter is not for them have also decided that it has no use to anybody whatsoever. This is far from the case. I think that everyone who has commented in this thread is fully capable of recognizing legitimate, useful applications of microblogging.

I wouldn't find it useful to have a bicarbonic pneumatic head splitter in my toolbox -- and, going for the laughs, I may even make an off-hand comment about its potential use -- but that doesn't mean that I think it has no use for anybody. I think everyone who has contributed to this thread is smarter than that, and I wouldn't presume to think that they can't conceive of productive ways to use Twitter.

 

[Holadem]

I've been here long enough to know that it's not a bad assumption.

--
H

 

[DavidJ]

I think the numbers probably skew more toward random crap, but I also think that is changing a bit as more people think about how to use it. Our city has just started Tweeting and they are using it to promote events and accomplishments---the summer farmers' market opens Saturday morning, kids festival coming up, etc. Most of the time, I'm not going to "follow" a Twitter user who uses it that way. The exception being people that I already interact with in other ways where I'm more likely to care about their "random crap."

 

[Clinton McClure]

Some of my friends actually do twitter and, while it can have it's conceivable uses, the random innate drivel that comes across it is like having your phone taking a shit in your pocket every couple minutes. It's basically extended text messaging or IMing. Follow me while I twitter around town.

Man, I wish George Carlin were still alive for this one.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I just do not see the need for me to be that connected. Call me a Luddite but I don't even do MySpace or Facebook.

 

[MarkHastings]

Man, you guys do sound old.

I don't use twitter and I can't think of how it would fit into my lifestyle, but there's no need to act like you're above it.

From what I've seen with Twitter (and Facebook) users, is the fascination of a sense of popularity. These people feel that users are interested (and most are) in what they are posting. I think that's why so many people post mundane stuff rather than anything exciting.

I mean, if you're going to be doing something mundane (like waiting for your takeout pizza), you might as well be doing something interesting like posting about it to make you feel like your life is "on display"; like your a rock star or something.

In this world of Reality TV and attention grabbers, Twitter is a way of making people feel like their lives are part of something bigger. Since they can't be on a Reality Show, this is the closest thing.

I think that's why a lot of people just "don't get it". Some people are private and others like to feel like their stuff is important to someone else.

It's really no big deal and nothing to get worked up over.

 

[Citizen87645]

 

[Kevin Hewell]

LOL


Now that is sad.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Cameron, for some reason, I can't see that image you posted when I download it. Microsoft refuses to see it. It downloads but refuses to recognize it.

I really want to send that to a friend of mine.