Twitter – what do you think?

by clayboy on November 20, 2009 · 9 comments

I’m pondering whether there would be any real point to getting and using a Twitter account. So, those of you who do twitter – what’s the benefit? Those of you who’ve thought of it (or even tried it), and decided not to, what turned you off it?

I mean – I blog, I’m on Facebook and can do status updates there. Does Twitter give me anything else?

Tagged as: Blogging, Facebook, Twitter

{ 9 comments }

1 Justin Anthony Knapp November 20, 2009 at 23:17: Doug,

Someone once asked me what Twitter was and I told him it was like Facebook except minus groups, profiles, pictures, applications, e-mail, and networks.

Twitter at your own risk.

-JAK
2 ElShaddai Edwards November 21, 2009 at 02:56: For me, Twitter is like the opposite of a RSS feed. Info is constantly coming through and you can’t control when you interact with it – wait too long and it’s buried under a flood of new tweets. Whereas you can tag and read blog RSS feeds at your own leisure. Sure you can get buried, but the time frame is much longer.

I use Twitter to track subject matter experts on a few topics I’m interested in and thinking about throughout the day. RSS for topics that I am interested in, but want to absorb at my own pace. Facebook mostly for social interaction with people outside my day-to-day life, e.g. high school or college friends, friends from former jobs, and out-of-town family.

If you choose to publish via Twitter, just be conscious of whether you’re publishing the same content via Twitter, blog/RSS and Facebook. If I see the same stuff in triplicate, I’m likely to unsubscribe to most of it.
3 Gareth Hughes November 21, 2009 at 03:05: Don’t do it!
It’s a black hole.

Twitter is part mystery,
part addiction.
4 Tim Chesterton November 21, 2009 at 07:04: I did it for a day and then couldn’t see the point. I’m online too much already.
5 Erika Baker November 21, 2009 at 13:41: It’s too fleeting – I like to be able to think and engage properly. It’s like a conversation between people walking in opposite directions with no time to stop and really chat.
I stopped after a couple of weeks.
6 clayboy November 21, 2009 at 14:18: I may give it a whirl and see – clearly there are pros and cons
7 Sam Norton November 21, 2009 at 15:43: I’ve been using it for a few months – you _have_ to get a supplementary app to make it worthwhile (I use Tweetdeck) – but it isn’t worth spending much time on. I have it as a sort of background chatter when I’m at my desk, occasionally it’s useful, mostly it’s not.
8 David Ker November 23, 2009 at 17:05: Doug, it has the advantage of being an open network so you get to cross paths with a lot of people that you wouldn’t in Facebook or your blog. Also, whine about software or a webtool on Twitter and you quite often hear from a techie rep.
9 Stephen C. Carlson November 25, 2009 at 16:41: If you find yourself to be an obsessive Facebook status updating fiend (more than three times a day), then Twitter is for you.