Hmmm…if I'm not mistaken, I think Doonesbury doth mocketh twitter. Infidel!
Are you on twitter? If so, how 'bout leave your best pitch or explanation for it in comments. Not on twitter? In comments, tell me why or ask questions. I'd love for both sides to weigh in!
Don't even know what twitter is? Well, now… bless…your…heart…😉
HT: Carol, She Lives, who heard it first from @webmaster_ref
I’m on Twitter, but I don’t actually go on it very often. I find it SOOO frustrating. The cliques. The self-promotion. Nobody responding to my questions or comments. It’s just like high school all over again, and who needs that? I think there’s something I’m not getting about the whole thing.
Besides, who really cares what I’m doing at all hours of the day?
I am on twitter but not sure why…I still am not sold on this.
sandy toe
I LOVE TWITTER! Through Twitter I have won amazing concert tickets, I learned about Blissfully Domestic (and have therefore met a lot of amazing peeps and have had the best time), I have a resource when I’m STUCK and can’t figure something out… and if comedy is your thing? HOly cow are there some funny people out there.
I’ve been on it for a month or so, and am undecided. Sometimes (like today), I totally dig it. Other days (and particularly when I’m describing it to my husband), it comes off as being stupid. Like who really cares that I don’t like BBQ potato chips, but I keep eating them? I’m pretty sure even my own mother could do without that little tidbit of my life. 🙂
On the other hand…I think if more of my real life friends were on it, it would be more fun and meaningful.
Twitter for me can be a time-sucker 🙂 So I have to be careful. I’m usually caught up answering WordPress questions (hope Typepad doesn’t kick me outta here for mentioning WP!), but I have met and followed lots of cool people.
I have since stopped using a feedreader to read my blogs, and just catch links to blog posts as they come around. If my friends recommend it, I’ll come read it. Well, that’s certain friends. There are some who are mainly self-promotional but if that’s all I feel they are, I stop following them.
Also, I have the prefs setup that if I’m following you and you respond to someone I’m not following – it doesn’t clutter my stream. I think that helps with a lot of distractions. If a couple of people I am following though are in conversation, I can drop in on them 🙂
Shelly – sounds like you just need to find the right people to follow. What kinds of questions were you asking that no one answered?
I love twitter. It’s surprising to me how well I’ve gotten to know some people – people I now call friends. I never would have met them just through my blog.
And as far as I can tell no one really cares about celeb tweets – that’s just not what it’s about. (~ahem~ except @wilw!) 😉
I love Twitter. Of course, much of it is trivial or boring, but some of it is great. Follow jimray or amyjane if you want to see Twitter where it is concise and hilarious.
Twitter is absolutely fascinating! Definitely a time-sucker for me too. If I find someone interesting then I follow them and jump on in to the conversations. There are those that I think use Twitter for selfish reasons so they may or may not respond. If I ask a direct question and they don’t respond…Bye-Bye! I twitter to meet people and help where I can – not to deal with cliques. It’s supposed to be handy and fun!! 😉
I second everything that Lisa B said.
Sometimes twitter makes me feel like an idiot. Jo, I twittered that I ate too much garlic the other day, and you know what? Several people responded to that.
It makes me wonder if what we’re really wanting is the response. I admit that even with blogs, the immediate response / acknowledgement is very hard to turn down.
Too funny!! I twitter and do not know why. I do like getting quick news updates and I like the time t time chat aspect with bloggy friends, but I don’t get the whole quest for followers…uh, I update about random stuff, so I don’t want people to follow me just because they want me to follow them to learn more about their carpet cleaning business. Also though I don’t really get following people who don’t follow me…not that I want a lot of followers, but it feels like onesided conversation…makes me lonely…Of course, I don’t care if NYT follows me, in fact, I rather they wouldn’t…but as far as other mom bloggers go, I usually just follow the ones I “know”
I’m still trying to figure it out myself. . . I have many questions but am starting to see the benefit. It was especially fun this weekend when we got snow for the first time in a decade – I figured out how to get a column for all of the discussions about it, which made it all the more exciting. . .
But in general, my jury is still out until I figure out a few more basics.
I’m a big fan of twitter. I have found lot of interesting people to follow and really get a sense of community just from watching the twitter stream. I tend to think of the stuff I put out on twitter as “DVD extras” where someone might get a closer glimpse into my life.
I agree with Shelly W – Twitter feels too much like a bad high school experience. Kind of like a party I have not been invited to.
I don’t mean to sound like sour grapes. I love Facebook. That’s really where I connect with my friends IRL and in Bloggsville.
I guess I just don’t get the point of Twitter.
Great topic!
Have to admit I’m a Twitter fan. While it can definitely be a time-sucker (I’m guilty of getting caught for too long)I have found it to be a great opportunity to connect with new and old friends, as well as a chance to increase my site traffic (up 100% in the last month) I have encountered new and amazing opportunities as well as met some fantastic people.
I lovelovelove Twitter, although like others I find it can be a huge time sink.
I’ve found some great new friends there, and yes, there is some silly, self-indulgent chatter. But hello? What is a blog?
On the other hand, since I often say whatever it is I have to say in my 140 character limit, I rarely have anything to say on my blog anymore. That’s the downside for me. (I’m sure I’m the only one having that problem, heh.)
I adore Twitter. My husband and I flirt constantly on there.
I have no idea why it would feel like high school to anyone. Either you comment or you don’t. Someone answers you or they don’t. Seriously, it’s not like because someone doesn’t respond they don’t “like” you. Maybe you shouldn’t take things so personally? But then again, I don’t give a rat’s bum if someone likes me or not. 😉
I love twitter. It’s like being at a cocktail party where everybody is fabulous and friendly. Unlike my blog comments, I get diversity and can join in conversations about science, politics, faith and nonsense. I see links to current events and little known gems. For me it is all about connecting and broadening my world.
Ugh, Shelly…I hear ya. Early on, I felt much the way you did and “set it
down” for a while. Eventually, I managed to figure out how I could “use’
it. Sometimes I binge in bunches, sometimes I’m off & on through out the
day, sometimes it bores me to tears. BUT…it has opened doors to people
and opportunity and at times I’m stunned by people’s kindness. The other
side of that? LOL, sometimes I ask a question and it’s like a tree falling
in the forest–does anyone even “hear” (or more likely, care enough to
respond). I’ve learned not to take it personally because sometimes I see a
question, but I’m multi-tasking and don’t reply…forgetting how it might
feel if NO ONE responds. Believe me, we’ve all been ignored ;)…it’s part
of it, I guess.
ALL THAT BEING SAID…it might not be for everyone, and that’s just fine, ya
know?
Sandy toe, it took me a while to figure out how to “do twitter”…and I
think it takes a little tenacity to a) learn it, and b) determine how you
can serve it and it can serve you. There are so many other things to “do”
online, it’s just fine if this doesn’t suit everyone. 🙂
I think if you’re able to figure out what YOU want out of Twitter and then find the right combination of people to follow and be followed by, you’re golden. Sometimes it feels like there are “experts” out there who want to make it fit into a specific box by defining “proper use” and “Twittiquette.”
I’m kinda all about lettin’ Twitter be ALL that it can be to as many people as can and will use it and find it helpful or fun or whatever. For me it’s an outlet for all the little conversations I have in my head (Which is what my blog was supposed to do! I guess I still have even more surplus head conversations that need outletting?!) (Scary.)
I love it. And I hate it. That’s a lethal combination and a guarantee that I will be Twittering for a long, long time.
(Sorry about dinner bein’ late AGAIN, hon. This time I wasn’t Twittering. I was commenting ABOUT Twittering.)
Interesting discussion, Robin.
I love twitter. It’s a socially acceptable way of talking to yourself. It’s a fun way to find out what everyone’s talking about, reading or doing each day. I find links that are very helpful or very humorous or very touching. I get to know what my friends are doing throughout the day when we are too busy to email or call. It’s great, but requires organization and self discipline. Twitter is very powerful. There is no marketing better than word of mouth.
Thanks for chiming in, Jo. Trying to explain it at first DOES sound insane!
But…twitter people “get” twitter people. It’s definitely an odd
phenomena, that’s for sure!
Twitter CAN be a huge time-sucker; but, believe it or not, I don’t “miss” it
when I’m not able to tweet. I think for me it’s probably a good idea not to
get a Blackberry ’cause if I was able to tweet that easily, I probably
would. I do find I follow links to posts more “here” than I’m getting to
those in my reader. Which means I MISS my friends who don’t tweet, but they
have NO idea :/. Hate that.
Sarah, I’d probably say I have a love/hate affection with twitter. 🙂 It
HAS been a very good thing at times, but it can take away from writing. I
know I tweet more than comment/read blogs; not sure I like that trend, so
I’m slowly shifting gears :). You’re right, though…there are some
HILARIOUS comedians on twitter!! 🙂
Your comment made me smile :). It IS a strange thing to have gotten to know
people 140 characters at a time…but I understand what you’re saying. I
think it’s funny I’m following Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher! ha!
I don’t follow either, but now I’m curious @ your recs… Am I following
you??? I don’t recognize your “real” name, lol 🙂
Good points, Jenny. People–sometimes several at a time–have answered
questions for me or given me links that were helpful. Sometimes I don’t get
answers, but I figure that goes with the territory. When/IF it’s not fun,
I’d just walk away. OR…if it becomes too “important”? That’s a good time
to say “bye-bye”!
Amber…it’s odd the things people respond to en masse. Garlic breath? Now
THAT’S funny. I dunno…you think it’s a matter of people needing people?
And this is “easier” than picking up the phone? It becomes a “friendship”
based on OUR terms?
Oh, dear…I’m starting to get serious with the
questions…………………..
You’re kind of all over the place, lol, aren’t you? But I totally followed
your thinking. I have no idea how I’m over 1,000 followers now. That’s
just weird to me! And I did it! I don’t feel obligated to follow anyone
back; I’ve probably lost followers that way, and that’s okay with me. The
only time I’ve noticed “numbers” is when I hit 500 then again at 1,000. I
guess I like round, fat numbers, huh? I’m quicker to block people now, too.
Rachel, I’d say it takes a few months to settle into a rhythm. Maybe some
people figured it out more quickly, but for a while, I just shook my head
and felt awkward.
Alli, well now–Succinctly put and well so. Something we all can relate to!
And yes, because of Twitter I came to see the comments that broke your heart. Do understand what she means about feeling like it’s a high school click – just don’t follow those people…hee hee 🙂
Carol, I’ve sometimes explained twitter as a FB status. As I’ve said, at
times (early on) I’ve felt the same way, but determined what “place” twitter
would have in my online life. Once I established that, I didn’t care if I
“missed out” on something (or what sounded like a party I wasn’t invited
to).
Sometimes, Danielle, a retweet by a friend has generated more traffic than a
marginal stumble! LOL, there’s a whole new vocabulary to deal with, huh??
🙂
Lisa, something tells me you are NOT the only person falling into that trap.
Recently, I’ve realized how much I missed writing because I was up to other
stuff. Trying to rectify that these days…especially visiting my friends’
blogs!
LOL. I love you, Michelle. BTW, what’s your hubby’s twitter name? I’ve
missed out on your elicit behavior!! My hubby follows me, but he’s vewy
quiet. I think the whole “feeling left out” is because people tried to join
a conversation and didn’t feel welcome. I’m sure “no one” means to ignore
anyone…it just happens. Problem is, when you’re not being heard, it could
easily feel personal (though, again, I don’t think it is!).
Ohhh, Joie–you just reminded me: sometimes I read things on twitter I
don’t see elsewhere for DAYS! It’s faster than the news…and since I
follow “Breaking News”, I really hear things quickly!
Megan, you’ve hit lots of nails on their heads. Must be hammer time, lol.
The thing is…twitter DOES serve different purposes for different people!
There are purely personal uses, purely professional uses and smart use by
companies who want to develop relationship with their customers/clients.
Perhaps the confusion can occur when twitterers don’t understand the
differences? Or when those type relationships overlap?
What you’ve said and how you’ve said it makes a lot of sense…or at least,
resonates with m o i :). Thanks for chimin’, sugah :).
YIKES! I am LOVING this conversation (& getting worn out replying, lol)
(the only good thing about Tad having to work late 🙁 ). In fact, I like
your comment so much, I’m going to tweet it! You’ll see it in a few,
Valerie, lol. You’ve spoken pearls, here, my dear :).
Jen, perhaps you’ve just demonstrated the POWER of a “good” tweet. Or
marginal one that got your attention ;). Thanks for popping in & offering
your two cents!
I think Twitter needs to be taken for what it is — a party of information. I mean, it really works just like that. At every party you have friends who have been friends forever, new friends, acquaintances who bore you to tears yet you still talk to them and people who are out only for themselves.
If you look at it as establishing stronger connections with people you are ALREADY connected with and building connections with people you would LIKE to be connected to, I think it works. And by “connections” I really mean friendships.
Some days it bores me and other days I get awesome information and resources from it. I would hate to think people felt ignored or hurt by lack of response, though. Not cool. I think too if you are following 1,000 people it is hard to keep track of every single tweet. That may account for some of the lack of response. I only follow 80 people and don’t have time to reply to everything!!
Overall I like Twitter but some days I like to unplug from it. Last week I barely tweeted at all. And this week I can tell I am in a tweet-ish mood!! :))
I have mixed feelings about Twitter.
On one hand, the cliques are real and some people can get obnoxious by going overboard with the promotions. We do have control over who we follow though and if someone if really getting crazy with the promotions you can unfollow them. I also think it’s important to remember that some people aren’t as good at using Twitter as others. I won’t tell you how long it took me to notice the “@replies” button. I cringe to think how many people I inadvertently ignored.
On the other hand, I have formed friendships with many people that I wouldn’t have met without Twitter and I do think most people try to use restraint when it comes to self-promotion.
I just try to remember to take a step back when it starts to irk me. I go through phases of Twittering several times a day to only Twittering once a week or so. On the whole I think it’s a good thing if you are careful to remain detached.
Great question, Robin! 🙂
Excellent question Robin!
I agree with all of the above. :o) There are definitely some cliques, and there is also a lot of great information. I have discovered some neat people and great blogs thru Twitter.
I have very few friends IRL, and we live in a fairly rural area, so it is nice to feel some “real-time” connection to the outside world. On the other hand, I’m not a writer or speaker, not even a terribly consistent blogger … just your average Christian homeschooling mom … so I often feel quite out of my league!
when i first tried twitter a couple mo ago, i didn’t get it. and i followed some people that all they did was self promotion–ugh! got rid of them when i came back to it. now i enjoy it, tho i have a couple problems with it: being on the west coast (sort of) by the time i get on it seem slike the conversations are already going full strength. and i haven’t really gotton any answers to my questions i have put out there. what i have found works for me is using twitter to follow politics and links i want to visit that aren’t in my regular repetoire.
i dont’ tweet much yet, but i follow and read alot of people. not sure why people are following me. i have blocked alot of people already.
good discussion. and robin, i follow you! and i can’t believe that you comment to all your commenters!!! maybe that is what i’m doing wrong on my blog.
I thought you deleted my comment, I was about to send you an email to apologize and ask if I was too negative then I saw a little “see more comments” link! LOL
Phil is @philpendergrass He’s quite suggestive. For example, I follow Stephen King’s son and last night Joe said something about spending all day organizing everything in his life and nothing should go wrong–and I said “Can you come do mine?”
Phil replies, “I’ll come do yours.”
LOL! I can’t help but laugh like a schoolgirl when he flirts like that!
I signed up for twitter out of peer pressure. Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer is my accountability partner to make sure I stick with it.(: Speaking of Shannon, she sent me your way and I’m glad to be here! I was at Blissdom but we didn’t get to officially meet.
I do like the 140 characters or less because it’s quicker than e-mail. But a lot of the time I don’t have a clue what to say. “Sitting in a cubicle…still sitting in a cubicle” isn’t that exciting.
Confession: The “followers” part also takes me back to Junior High a bit. All of a sudden those insecurities come roaring back like I’m still the kid with braces and bad perm. I may need some Twitter therapy.
Overall, I think it’s just about finding the “sweet spot” where it works for you.
I’ve just started doing Twitter, but I’m not sure about it yet. It takes up a lot of time and is overwhelming so far. But lots of great people say they love it, so I’m giving it a try!
I really like it. I have learned to follow only my favorites and not hundreds, because I’d never keep up!
I love Twitter too. It’s funny though-I had to be shamed into it at BlogHer last summer! I was really sucked into it in the fall, but now I only go on a few times a week-usually as I’m reading posts. I have very few ‘real’ friends there, only blog friends. I touch base with my ‘real’ friends (mostly from hs, college, and family) on FB. But I guess that follows since I’m kinda anonymous on my blog! It keeps it simple for me though.
I haven’t read carefully all of the comments here, but for me the key to Twitter is to not take it all very seriously! I completely, utterly do not care how many followers I have. Who cares? How on earth does that impact my real life?
Secondly, I use Twitter. I do not let Twitter use me. I’ll pop on to indulge in fast, easy self-promotion and post a new blog post; I use it to share with others what I just read and found interesting; if I have something random to say, I’ll open it up really quickly and share (like yesterday, I tweeted that I was trying to get some reading done at lunch and was interrupted by discovering my toddler had pooped on the carpet again. my husband gets tired of these phone calls. on twitter, i have a captive audience!).
I love catching my friends’ blog links and article hook-ups on there. But I do NOT let it control my time or my day. I engage in it when it works for me. I could not open Tweet Deck for a week and it would have no ill effect on my life. If I follow someone and they don’t follow-back, who cares? Good for them for being an effective user of Twitter.
I don’t know. I guess I just think people get WAY TOO WORKED UP over Twitter. It’s really, really not that big of a deal.
p.s. My comment posted as Chris above (long, complicated story) but I’m Holley. Sorry about that! (:
N i c e, Michelle…when twitter binds a marriage :). And, nope, the ONLY
comments I delete are spammish ones. You will never have to apologize for
anything you write here (barring gratuitous profanity, which I can’t see you
writing, lol). Not lovin’ the way TP doesn’t list all the comments
automatically, but I’m GLAD you discovered the “see more” note :).
Hey Holley 😉 Thanks for the name clarification (I used to be able to edit
comments in TP, not sure if I can now, I don’t see a way to do that via
email replies…). I “saw” you at BlissDom, but hate we didn’t have a
chance to chat :/. There are as many people I didn’t meet as those I did!
My only regret :). Anyways…you’re right. Finding a “twitter sweet spot”
makes it work for YOU. I think there’s this period of time where it’s plain
awkward & confusing…and then you figure out how it’s gonna work for you.
Or you walk away. There are PLENTY of other things that occupy your online
time, lol. (I’ll have to thank Shannon for sending you my way! Love that
girlieQ!)
Read the comment thread, Mary. I think there’s some wisdom in the
collective counsel. Make sure it serves you and doesn’t just suck time or
defeat you. Be willing to walk away from it if not. Watch from the
sidelines, get a feel for it…and then make a decision. LOL, not that I’m
the boss of you ;).
Kimberly…that’s probably a VERY wise decision. I’ve given up trying to
keep up…I just read a few pages when I’ve been quiet and that’s enough :).
Sounds like you’ve got a good handle on it. Cause goodness knows, if you
don’t? It can make you crazy! 😉
I now have a crush on you, Megan. Tell it like it is, babeee! 🙂 xo
Am as pleased with Twitter as I am with Facebook. I unfollow or de-friend or block the boring or annoying ones: “I’m at Starbucks, drinking a latte” or “Make $50k each month working at home.” Hmmmm, I wonder if I can make that much?
That Doonesbury had me howling when I saw it yesterday!
I think I’m finally finding a balance, I think. 😉
It CAN be a huge distraction, especially if I keep Tweetdeck open constantly, but lately I’ve been working on multi-tasking less while online and setting specific goals for blocks of time. This morning I sat down for a while to just spend time on Facebook and Tweet “in the background” while playing with the Friend Finder Tool and sending my mom some flair. When I got on after lunch I worked on a blog post and caught up on email. Tonight’s goal is to work in Photoshop and work on blog design. Working like this, I’m starting to feel like I don’t waste as much time on Twitter.
I don’t twitter. I tweet occasionally when I’m bird watching. snort.
Now see … I clicked through via your Twitter post. So, you are indeed bein’ seen, my friend! 🙂
What a great response to an inventive post, Robin!
There have certainly been times I felt invisible. AND, Twitter is most certainly a black hole of online rabbit trails!
However, Twitter has granted me the opportunity to build a smart-network of rural business developers! (And there is basically no other way we would have met aside from banging keys and tweet-meetin’!)
And where else could a star-gazing gardener, social entrepreneur who adores horses discover so many new friends!?
I love Twitter, because, well, I’m just nosy like that about other people’s lives. 😉
I saw this come thru yesterday & faved so I could read today. Yesterday was just one of those days I chose to stay away from twitter. I think that is important to know.. we CAN step away from the twitter! I relate to so many of these responses. There are so many aspects of twitter that have been awesome, links to resources, quick touching of bases w/friends & meeting new ones. Twitter brings so much w/it; Fun, connections, resources, but it also comes w/sucking you into places you JUST DONT NEED TO GO! HA! But seriously, twitter can influence where my thoughts go, effects my focus, even can ‘jar’ the direction & decisions I am facing based on some tweets that come through. Does that sound crazy?
Im writing a book of a comment here so I guess its obvious I have a love/hate rela w/twitter right now.
Finding the balance is what it is all about.
…can tell I am still finding it.
Hmmm, $50k/month? I m u s t be doin’ something WRONG! 🙂