A short while ago, I made a post explaining my trouble with Twitter: I typically only use it to alert my followers to new blog posts, but this hardly takes advantage of the service's potential. After all, those followers could just as easily subscribe to our RSS feed or check the site to find the new posts. Corporations are utilizing Twitter effectively for public relations, and the fascination of celebrity tweets have gone a Iong way in spurring Twitter's popularity. But ordinary people will need to find a lasting utility of Twitter for it to maintain its current growth and even for it to hang on to those who have already signed up. Otherwise, the service might fall victim to "Digital Tourists." In light of all this, I asked how you use Twitter, if at all. Here are some responses.
- I don't like that it's an implicit OK for people to forsake grammar and sentence structure. How do I know the difference between someone in a hurry and a complete idiot? Oversimplification, also. It combines the worst aspects of message boards and blog posts.
- I signed up for it thinking it was the next big thing, found out no one I knew was on it, and never signed on again. Also, I don't have a fancy phone and i hate texting.
- Twitter was extremely useful in connecting 3000 protesters to common instructions during a major protest i was part of. Otherwise, it's the most overhyped form of documenting time-wastage I've ever seen. It has potential, and I expect that potential to be mostly wasted.
- I got an account when I found out you could "follow" The New York Times, and I like the brief headline updates. My settings are private, and only people I know can follow me. As for my own "Tweets," I put up various links to articles or stuff I've written. I don't care to tell people what I'm doing every second of every day... like the little cartoon video said, if my friends can call me if they want to know how I am. I think with this digital age and the ease and accessibility of the Internet, we're getting more and more into people's (friends or not) personal lives, and I think it's quite unnecessary. I think Twitter will have its wave of popularity and then die down. At least I hope so.
As you can see, the responses have been fairly negative so far. Have you had a better experience with Twitter than these readers? I'd like to hear more uses -- both positive and negative -- that regular folks have found for the service.
-Jeff
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