Order of Kilopi
The more I learn about this thing, the less it makes sense. What exactly does tweeting offer that youtubing, blogging, vlogging, texting, webchatting, forum posting, wikiing, social networking and good, old fashioned emailing don't?
Who actually has time to post a continuous stream of 140-character updates?
Order of Kilopi
it's purpose is to be the "thing" that people do.
you know, like posting on bulletin boards was 10 years ago, and going outside and actually doing things was before that...
Honored Member
A fourteen character subset will be available in April. Called 'Twit'.
Established Member
The purpose of twitter is to get you drunk with Levar Burton.
Established Member
Near as I can tell it's a combination of texting and blogging. Short messages like texting, a potential blog-like audience, but (I think) being able to have an idea who that audience is.Originally Posted by parallaxicality
Administrator
No, I can't.
The latest media craze. Just like other blockages, this too shall pass.
Established Member
I think that in particular it's meant to be a mix of texting and LiveJournal community type blogs. ie,
twitter : SMS :: LiveJournal : email
Or, in other words, it's text messaging with multicast capabilities.
Established Member
I like the Chuck Norris updates.
http://twitter.com/chucknorris_Chuck Norris can speak braille.
10:44 PM Feb 17th from twhirl
Established Member
OK, can someone please explain to me the purpose of Twitter?
Purpose? It needs a purpose?
It's new, therefore exciting. It has no purpose.
Banned
When Chuck Norris wanted to go around the world in 80 days, he kicked the world instead. They call it "rotation."
Established Member
aaah. Oooh. Mhhmhh.
Order of Kilopi
Chuck Norris doesn't like it when people claim he made the Earth spin, or ignited the Sun, or instigated some other cosmological event, because he's a creationist and such claims conflict with a literal reading of Genesis.
And no, that isn't a joke.
Order of Kilopi
My understanding is that twitter is just a way to give people updates of everything you're doing so that your friends know where you are, what you are doing etc at all times.
Which I find funny, as it's most popular among the "cyber crowd" who also tend to have a higher-than-median number of people who are afraid of "Big Brother" spying on them. And if it were true, they're sure making it easy for "Big Brother" by providing constant updates. :-P
Banned
Chuck Norris doesn't tell jokes. He never gets sick, either. Still, from time to time, he clears his throat. The last time he coughed, the dinosaurs gave way to mammals.
Established Member
Twitter is simply a way to Instant Message with a group of friends:
Hey, I'm hungry, anyone want to get some grub?
I'm in, Me Too, yeah, I could go for something, no thanks, count me in.
Cool, let's meet at El Carnivore in 20min.
Check, no good for me, I'll be there in 10, on my way, meat!
Order of Kilopi
I'm (still) researching Netbooks.
I stumbled on a forum on the topic of one that recently went on sale (so I googled for "inside knowledge").
I found a thread by a guy who claimed that his moaning (on Twitter) about something on his netbook (HP 1001TU) had been seen by HP staff, who'd then helped him fix the issue. (I didn't read enough to know if he'd tried getting support through the regular channels or if he had but hadn't got help.)
...so anyway, there's a use for Twitter. Getting "support".
Sigh.
(And I bet HP just loves having to keep an eye on yet another place where people can talk about their products.)
Get up, a get-get, get down.
Established Member
Its for the next generation of people whose attention spans are ev---ooh shiny thing!
Order of Kilopi
Twitter "poor man´s email"
Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks Twitter’s success is wonderful, but he’s not particularly impressed with the product’s usefulness. In fact, Schmidt deems Twitter and products of its ilk “poor man’s email systems,’ as he told the crowd at the Morgan Stanley Technology conference in San Francisco on Tuesday
Established Member
Twitter is apparently there for people who find email too slow and cumbersome. My culture is doomed.
Order of Kilopi
It seems to me, from what you guys are saying, that Twitter is absolutely useless unless you have a handbeld, wireless internet connection. And since I don't, that would explain my mystification.
Established Member
As I understand it, thought, you can "follow" people on Twitter. So your broadcast is not necessarily exclusive, unless you can restrict who can follow you. Which I assume is an option, but don't know for sure.
And, as with parallaxicality, I don't see any allure unless you have the portable wireless connection.
Order of Kilopi
That's how I take it. It's not necessarily a targeted communication, but more of a status posting.
Yes; it's an option.
Same here...
It does work great for the Korean Taco truck though.
You'll note that even in the article they mention that they need something worthwhile before twitter becomes a factor.
Established Member
There are Twitter clients for most smartphones, and in my opinion that's the platform where it becomes useful. If I had any friends who used Twitter, I'd probably have it on my phone - I'd be a much more convenient (and less expensive) way to check to see if anyone wants to meet me for a beer after work than composing a text message to everyone I know.
Bad Post-Doc
I just send mass e-mails. My friends are such compulsive e-mail checkers that it has the same effect. Anyway, the first I knew what Twitter was came from watching The Daily Show.
_____________________________________________
Gillian
"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"
"You can't erase icing."
"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"
Established Member
I guess I'm either paranoid or secretive... There's no way I want even my closest friends of family to know what I'm doing constantly. I see it as another step toward social control. The more everyone knows what everyone is doing, the more "connected" everyone becomes, and the more similar. The more similar everyone is (or the more predictable, perhaps), the easier it is to control them. In my opinion.
CJSF
"In the nightgown of the sullen moon, How the windows lean into the room, In the nightgown of the sullen moon."
-They Might Be Giants
Established Member
Just to clarify....
When you "Follow" someone on twitter it just means you are signed up to receive their tweets.
It does not mean you get real time GPS tracking on them.
You only see what they choose to tweet about.
Again, the best analogy I can think of is a broadcast instant message.
Order of Kilopi
Ditto.
Yeah, I know that. Still...
Established Member
I wasn't talking about GPS tracking - although I am sure that'll creep in as well at some point.
You don't need to know where everyone is to connect or control a population.
CJSF
"In the nightgown of the sullen moon, How the windows lean into the room, In the nightgown of the sullen moon."
-They Might Be Giants
Established Member
So your concern if, I read you correctly, is that twitter increases the sheeple factor in society? Making people more amiable to social control.
Like any tool, it depends on how you use it.
I would look at it from a different point of view, Twitter is instant communications at a grass roots level. Person to persons with no institutional control or oversight. That's freedom of expression. Twitter has already been used by many activist groups to help coordinate their protests making them more effective. It promotes the free and open exchange of ideas.
Established Member
Yes, I can see the flip side of it. It still makes me uneasy. In any case, I don't understand where some people have the TIME to use it. For me, personally, it's inconvenient and more troublesome than it's worth. The same with Plurk.
CJSF
"In the nightgown of the sullen moon, How the windows lean into the room, In the nightgown of the sullen moon."
-They Might Be Giants
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