This being said, I still find Twitter odd. Looking at it objectively, its a fucking weird concept. The guy behind it explains it like this. Wikipedia says it's a social network and micro-blogging service. My friend Andy says it's dumb. The question "What is Twitter?" returns about 239,000 results on Google, including www.whatistwitter.com. I see twitter more like these guys, people "shouting into the darkness" in a desperate bid for relevance.
Twitter feeds the ego like Taco Bell's 79¢ 89¢ 99¢ Why Pay More™! Value Menu – filling, but harmful in the long run. The little rush you get each time you're @ replied or RTed is akin to that of applause. Adding to the inflated sense of importance are celebrities who everyone follows in a conscious or subconscious effort to establish a "relationship" with these figures.
This being said, there is a positive side to twitter. Its nice to see what my friends (the real ones that I actually talk to in real life) are up to during the day. We share links to articles and websites we think others will enjoy, ask questions, and share the funny moments others might have missed. Instead of "you had to be there" it's "yeah, I saw that on Twitter". You get out of Twitter what you put into it, and those users that do nothing but post "eating breakfast" soon lose interest in the service.
I'm positive that nearly everyone who will read this is a Twitter user. Feel free to adopt or borrow anything I've said when talking to the nontweeting masses. In the off chance you aren't on Twitter, or still haven't found value in it, I suggest finding a group of friends, an existing one, and join together. As founder Evan Williams says, Twitter is one way, asymmetrical, it's up to you, the user, to make something social out of it.
Twitter feeds the ego like Taco Bell's 79¢ 89¢ 99¢ Why Pay More™! Value Menu – filling, but harmful in the long run. The little rush you get each time you're @ replied or RTed is akin to that of applause. Adding to the inflated sense of importance are celebrities who everyone follows in a conscious or subconscious effort to establish a "relationship" with these figures.
This being said, there is a positive side to twitter. Its nice to see what my friends (the real ones that I actually talk to in real life) are up to during the day. We share links to articles and websites we think others will enjoy, ask questions, and share the funny moments others might have missed. Instead of "you had to be there" it's "yeah, I saw that on Twitter". You get out of Twitter what you put into it, and those users that do nothing but post "eating breakfast" soon lose interest in the service.
I'm positive that nearly everyone who will read this is a Twitter user. Feel free to adopt or borrow anything I've said when talking to the nontweeting masses. In the off chance you aren't on Twitter, or still haven't found value in it, I suggest finding a group of friends, an existing one, and join together. As founder Evan Williams says, Twitter is one way, asymmetrical, it's up to you, the user, to make something social out of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment