Feb08
15
Twitter: Am I Missing The Point?
Try as I might, I have not been able to get into Twitter. And I believe I should be trying simply because of the significant impact the app has had on the social Web community in the last few months. Most headlines have been dominated either by the explosions of Facebook or Twitter. Facebook I had no problem getting into (as my wife knows better than most), but Twitter is eluding me.
Here’s why: I think that for me to gain the most benefit out of Twitter I need to be online, uninterrupted, 90% of my day. And the problem is that I’m simply not. The nature of my work and my life means that my Web time, although significant when bunched together, is sporadic and often made up of short bursts of time between meetings, on the road, at home before and after supper, etc.
Twitter demands my attention, and I have no spare attention. Am I right or have I missed the point entirely?
[...] Mike Stopforth wrote an interesting post today on Twitter: Am I Missing The Point?Here’s a quick excerpt Try as I might, I have not been able to get into Twitter. And I believe I should be trying simply because of the significant impact the app has had on the social Web community in the last few months. Most headlines have been dominated either by the explosions of Facebook or Twitter. Facebook I had no problem getting into (as my wife knows better than most), but Twitter is eluding me. Here’s why: I think that for me to gain the most benefit out of Twitter I need to be online, uninterrupted, 90 [...]
Hey Mike. It is hard to ‘get’ twitter some days but I’ve found it gets better when I am following people that I know and need to communicate with and they are following me. That way I can send out a quick question and get a quick repsonse for example. I’m not so into the boring daily reports like: ‘Just made coffee, too mcuh sugar.’
May I suggest that you try Snitter which is a desktop app for Twitter and see if it improves your interaction with Twitter. It’s what I use so I can just hit a quick message as it comes to me and read some others if I feel like it
Hi Mike, I’ve got to agree.
it becomes a bit difficult.
In between checking FB, reading blogs, business presentations and keeping clients / family / dogs / friends happy (not in that order
I also think FB has a wider appeal and is better understood by ‘everyman’ who doesn’t necessarily embrace new media / tech developments but who embraces social media for what it is.
Although the wider possibilities Twitter offers are as yet untapped, I feel that an application that just incorporates ’status updates’ may not be fully understood by a wider market…time will tell I guess.
I’m with you on this one.
Agree completely on this one, and with Melissa’s point of FB being better understood and appealing to ‘everyman.’
Came across something called Continuous Partial Attention, which is quite relevant to your post Mike. Very intersting:
http://continuouspartialattention.jot.com/WikiHome
[...] have been on twitter have nearly sent a 1000 messages and made some great contacts. I ran across a blog by Mike Stopforth claiming he doesn’t get the point of twitter. He proclaims that twitter demands too much of [...]
I really love the concept of Twitter.. but I don’t love Twitter, yet. Mike, you’re right that Twitter works best when you’re constantly online. They’ve obviously tried to address this by adding SMS. A brilliant move but flawed implementation.
For us SAfricans, it’s rad to have free incoming text messages. The problem comes when I want to respond or update my Twitter status. I don’t want to pay R1.50+ a pop for an SMS to the UK. This alone I might be able to live with, but I’ve also found the notification system to be erratic. Sometimes I get Twitter SMSs for a few days and then they disappear until I re-verify my cell number. Kinda annoying.
So ja, totally get the concept but really just get hung up on the details. It’s all in the details….
@Melissa - yeah I certainly see the potential, but haven’t quite discovered how to leverage it for myself yet. Like I said, could just be me.
@Andrew - thanks. More content for preso’s
@Chris Dawson - stop being a cheapskate student
@Jon - I’ve tried using Twitterific (the Mac equivalent) but am not quite getting it there either
I love Twitter - the mobility issue is taken care by using Opera Mini (I don’t use the SMS feature at all,
although it’s great to receive direct messages if need be).
The trick is not to limit yourself to people that you know in real life, feel free to explore the
public timeline and follow people that have the same interests as you (takes some time, one has
to go to their profile, scan through tweets and also check their featured web link).
All in all, well worth it!
Marina S Martin is super….
First encountered Marina Martin on twitter, then came across another awesome resource of hers, Sufficient Thrust. Been in a bit of a funk as of late but a short chat with Marina Martin added new perspectives to things. Thank you Marina Martin You …
[...] of all, I didn’t get the point of twitter (yet), and apparently, I am not alone. Beside the inability of myself to grasp the value of twitter, the [...]