Thursday, July 30, 2009

On being a twit

So if the service is "twitter", and the practice of posting messages is called "tweeting" and the messages themselves are called "tweets", does that make the poster a "twit"? Enquiring minds want to know. This mind in particular.

Because I am trying to figure out if this has a place in my life. A friend started using twitter and sent me an email invitation. I don't get to see this friend too often, so I figured, what the hell, maybe a good way to keep in touch, get to know each other better, why not? I signed up, followed him, found a few other folks I knew, and followed them also. I didn't put up any info other than a first name, but I quickly found myself followed also, not just by friends and blog readers, but by random strangers. I'm not sure what the point of that is.

In fact, so far, from a personal standpoint, I'm not really sure what/how/why twitter is used. I mean, after a past history of working for a couple of local non-profits I can easily see how twitter can be used by a business. But for personal use? I just cannot image that the minutiae of my life or the random blips in my brain could be that interesting. From a voyeuristic perspective I can see how it could be quite the fine and wonderful time suck. But hey, I already have Ravelry, YouTube, and healthy list of blogs that eat up my online time.

So...if you tweet, I'd really like to know what you get out of it, why you do it. And why should I?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you.. I have no idea what the big attraction is. I tried a couple tweets and was bored with it in minutes....

mia

Ellen Bloom said...

Yes, I'm a Twit. I've tweeted for a few months now. I must say, at first I thought it was kinda' stupid too. Who cares if Missy is eating oatmeal for dinner! Now, I use Twitter to keep up to date on trending current events (entertainment news, obits, etc), where the food trucks are going to be (like Kogi) and what's happening NOW in my neighborhood. I could definitely live WITHOUT Twitter, but now I've become accustomed to having it around.

Lisa said...

No tweeting for me (though I may qualify for twit status in other areas). I waste too much time plugged in already.

Wool Enough said...

Total strangers read your tweets? That's a little spooky.

Twitter is a "social networking" thing whose value has eluded me thus far. I hope some Twits can shed a bit of light.

Logan said...

Ehh...I signed up for twitter and used it for a little while. Eddie Izzard's tweets are kind of funny. But then random people and I think robots started following my twitter and it got a little too creepy. I don't go on there anymore.

Sheepish Annie said...

I like Twitter. Sometimes I think of things that won't fit on the blog, but just need to be said. Other times I become so completely convinced that the entire world is waiting with bated breath to see how I am doing that I feel I must tweet lest lives be ruined.

It's really all about egocentrism. Something I'm sort of good at. ;)

On a more "adult" note, I sometimes like to put things up for a reason. Like the days I get sent home from school early due to storms. My parents like to know I'm home safe and it's quicker than calling or emailing.

Pat said...

I don't twitter but then I live in the bronze age of technology- I have a cell phone but it only makes phone calls which I really thought was all it needed to do. Facebook and blogging already eat up too much of my time.

Michelle said...

I'd think it'd make us all twats, but what do I know? I've been using twitter for a while, it's a nice way to stay connected in the knitting community.

D said...

To paraphrase a famous politician . . .

"I am not a twat!"