Thursday, 12 April 2007
Twittering About Twitter
The ubiquitous twitter about Twitter finally roused Crabby Old Lady from her knitting to check out what all the – well, twitter is about. Have you discovered Twitter yet? Do you Twitter? Do you even know what Twitter is?
It goes something like this:
- Sign up for a free account at the Twitter website
- Configure a few other details and you can Twitter from their website, text message a Twitter by phone, by instant message or from your computer desktop. You can even put a badge on your blog to Twitter from.
- Begin Twittering. Tell the world or just your approved friends what you are doing at this moment and the next and the next.
Here’s the catch - or the attraction - depending on your point of view: each message is limited to 140 characters. Which is about how long this paragraph is.
This restriction leads to such Twitter messages as these:
“Off skateboarding”“investigating scoring disputes in fantasy baseball”
“Woke up at 2AM and couldn't sleep until 4! Now I'm groggy- I hate jet lag!”
“Had a wonderful array of sushi last night. I am addicted lately.”
“watching my NetFlix rentals”
“In a great mood :-)”
“Meeting”
“Trying twitter @ home”
“I can't listen to my fav podcasts at work!!! New office, new rules - no headphones.”
“eating frozen waffles”
Are you brain dead yet? Ready to click off to something that actually engages your mind? Crabby thinks you should see a few more to get the full flavor of Twitter.
“back from the post office”“watering my bonsais”
“so far so good”
coffee... I'm lov”in' it!”
“i left my cd's at home! oh no! what will i do w/o musical entertainment!?!?”
“going home”
That the folks behind Twitter urge users to place a Twitter badge on their MySpace pages tells Crabby something about who this “service” is aimed at. But a quick trip around the blogosphere also tells her that apparent grownups are twittering their every move. Even an elder or two - who should have better things to do with their time left on earth.
When Crabby Old Lady left the corporate work world, she was ecstatic to also leave behind instant messaging with its constant interruptions of such messages as “r u ready 4 meeting this pm? c u then”. At least there were one or two words of substance, a reminder even, in the IM. Twitter, on the other hand, has gone as far as humanly possible into the realm of entirely empty communication.
Crabby don't need no stinkin' Twitter any more than she needs IM and text messaging.
The Web world is all atwitter about Twitter, but Crabby's short stay in Twitterland has left her feeling like she’s had too many cups of coffee. She’s all jumpy, agitated and twittery.
For more fulsome communication, some substance to feed the mind, a thought or two to chew on, stop by The Elder Storytelling Place. The first week of stories there is the antithesis of Twitter.
Posted by Crabby Old Lady at 06:06 AM | Permalink | Email this post
Comments
At fp's suggestion I tried Twitter for a couple of months. Found it consumed a lot of time but fulfilled no need that I had. Finally fizzled out on it...
As you suggested, it seems to be geared to the teen crowd with MySpace addiction...
Posted by: Winston on Apr 12, 2007 7:56:47 AM
"Don't need no stinkin' twitter" neither!
That works.
Posted by: notdotdot on Apr 12, 2007 8:45:06 AM
I also saw it and felt the same way-- who cares what I am doing that often and why would I care about others instant by instant.
On IM, that I like. I have some good friends, even some rt friends but who are long distance to talk on the phone-- and instrument I am not overly fond of anyway, and being able to sit down in the evening and discuss the latest news development or how someone else is doing, that I enjoy but I only have people who are friends on my IM list, don't chit chat with strangers there because it again didn't appeal to me. With instant messagingin, you basically are writing your words but in a real conversation. It can even have several involved at once. I realize it's not everyone's thing but for me it's a communication tool that I like and when you add a webcam which I and several of my friends have, it is as close, to sitting in a kitchen drinking coffee and discussing our lives, as we can get.
Posted by: Rain on Apr 12, 2007 10:13:58 AM
Love that word 'twittering'. It is so-o-o accurate. But I have to say like other genres of speech and literature, it has a place. Twittering is okay in real life but even at that the listener has to at the very least a participant/observer of the action. I can stand to watch someone water their bonsai in real life by being part of the action. But on the net? Not good. As bad as watching, I mean listening, to water colors being blended on a television with no picture. When I want to twitter I invite my companions to walk my dogs with me, tour my garden, rummage through an old box of collectables. 'Twittering' doesn't sound like an action-oriented pasttime but it definitely is.
Obviously, as you explained, this genre was not meant for and will never be meant for internet communication. I'm certainly with you on that!
Posted by: Roberta S on Apr 12, 2007 11:50:47 AM
You know, the whole POINT of computers and email to me is being able to do what you like when you like and not be bothered by other people. Things like IM bug the heck out of me. Just because I'm online doesn't mean I want to talk to someone right now - if they send me an email I'll get back at my convenience.
It's rather like the whole telephone thing and answering machines. If I'm there, and it's convenient, I'll answer the phone. If I'm not, I'll call you back later if you leave a message.
And as for the borg who run around constantly on their phones, or twittering, or whatever, just don't get me started. I'm so SICK of these people....
Posted by: donna on Apr 12, 2007 12:54:32 PM
At first I thought it had something to do with twitterpated...which I first heard as a child in the Disney Bambi movie. Actually I would have to be totally in love with someone to want to hear all that twitter from them.
Posted by: Tabor on Apr 12, 2007 1:31:30 PM
I had never heard of Twitter before yesterday and now I read two different post about it in two days. Does this mean Twitter is reaching critical mass and is about to explode? I don't get the appeal of this. Talk about "non-communication" communication. As Ronni points out, what can you really say in message that is limited to 140 characters? Except maybe "I'm bored, entertain me."
Posted by: la peregrina on Apr 12, 2007 3:04:58 PM
I agree Twitter isn't for me. But if you subscribe only to certain people's Twitter stream, you can eliminate the noise and just keep track of that individual. Here's an interesting article about the potential for a Twittering presidential candidate.
Posted by: Virginia on Apr 12, 2007 3:22:18 PM
Maybe I just don't get it, but it sounds boring to me. Rather than increase communication, it seems like it might actually thwart it???
To each his/her own, I guess.
Posted by: Cindy on Apr 12, 2007 8:09:58 PM
I joined months ago and "twittered" about 10 minutes away ... but is all seemed a little boring.
Posted by: kim on Apr 13, 2007 12:28:13 PM
I would create "twitter-free" button... except that it ends up advertising something I'd rather not... not that I don't mind saying I don't like, don't see the point of, have no use for.... but it uses their name, hence create a potential link... any ideas?
Posted by: Steve Sherlock on Apr 13, 2007 12:57:30 PM
I agree totally! There is just so much we need to know about each other and need to tell that could possibly interest anyone. That sounds inane.
Posted by: Joy D on Apr 13, 2007 7:26:44 PM
Whoa! Twitter has value beyond dim witted presence announcements. Layered among the cybertouchy-feely "here I am, acknowledge me" pathos are some clear announcements of interesting things, links to other places on the web like blog entries only shorter. There's also a good bit of humor. Gary Turner announced a site called "muttr," Twitter for dogs.
All that said, it isn't worth continuous monitoring or continuous updating, but it is a nice place for serendipity and a smile.
Posted by: Frank Paynter on Apr 13, 2007 11:16:19 PM
Oh gee, who wants to spend their time reading mundane comments about what somebody else is doing every minute of the time, much less who would want to take the time to record it? There are people I care about, but I sure don't need a minute by minute account of what they're doing.
If, as Frank suggests, there are some worthwhile announcements to be made, why not limit it to just those announcements -- so we don't have to sort through all the other stuff? Who on earth has the time?
Posted by: Joared on Apr 14, 2007 3:59:26 AM
I tried twitter for a couple of days and just didn't see the point. I must be getting old ;)
And I don't think you really want to know that I am currently sitting on my couch in Bénerville, Normandy, typing away ;)
Posted by: Claude on Apr 17, 2007 3:36:17 AM
I think if you use the twitter site as a tool instead of a place to tell everything you are doing in real time, it can be both useful and fun.
Right now I'm learning more about it, and I can tell you it is really fun!
Just saying. :-)
Posted by: E. Sheppard on Jun 3, 2009 10:52:59 PM
