Twitter Down.
They have a big banner up saying "down for maintenance" with promise of some new features being put into production.
This was the first time I was totally locked out of Twitter when I wanted to be on, so it made me think of what Twitter is all about, and why I like it.
When you first try Twitter, it is confusing in that it isn't structured like so many other Internet destinations we visit. At first it is like listening to the thoughts of 1000's of people. It is all mixed together with no way to sort it out.
Then as you figure out how to be a "follower" and also be "followed", you find that you can tap into a more personal understanding of the people that interest you. Instead of a carefully thought out statement, you get the real-moment-in-time happenings of the other participants. And those "real time" statements is what makes it fun. It is different than a traditional chat application in that your statements are added to what everyone sees on a global scale.
And from that stew, you are able to seek out those that interest you. Your "happenings" also attract interest from others. You are a follower, and you are followed, all at the same time.
I'm always amazed at how well everyone is behaved in their comments. Even though you can proactively ignore offensive individuals, you rarely have the need to do so. Because Twitter is new, it isn't filled with sex, profanity, or spam. The beauty of it is that everything is "opt-in", you choose who you want to follow. If you wanted, you could "follow" no-one, but still leave your daily trail for others to follow you.
Why do people use Twitter? I'm not a social expert, but to me it is all about the real-time aspect of it and how quickly ad-hoc conversations can form. Also tied into this is the allure that so many other people have access to what you are saying.
I'm sure a lot of the Twitter junkies are having a conniption about it being down for a while. Guess what, you can always email, skype, jaiku, etc., etc., etc. Twitter is cool but I think it is over hyped like so many other new things. The people that have the "influence" are the internet celebrities that have the name recognition. Those are the ones with the most "followers", same problem as "friends" in FB. I look at some of entries from the Twitter heavy-weights, no big deal, no different than the rest of us. Many of the heavy-weights use their pull to drag people over to their commercial ventures by embedding links in all their entries.
Hopefully the "big deal" for Twitter doesn't turn into a followers competition. Who can get the most followers somehow equates to how important you are. I've found some good stuff from "unknowns" and I don't want to use Twitter as just another means to drive traffic to my personal blog site, or commercial venture. Over time that of course will be a big part of what Twitter will become, just another 140 character "ad". Oh well, by then something else better will hopefully come along.
To me what I like about Twitter is that I've discovered some people that live in my local area doing some of the things I like to do. That's value.
They have a big banner up saying "down for maintenance" with promise of some new features being put into production.
This was the first time I was totally locked out of Twitter when I wanted to be on, so it made me think of what Twitter is all about, and why I like it.
When you first try Twitter, it is confusing in that it isn't structured like so many other Internet destinations we visit. At first it is like listening to the thoughts of 1000's of people. It is all mixed together with no way to sort it out.
Then as you figure out how to be a "follower" and also be "followed", you find that you can tap into a more personal understanding of the people that interest you. Instead of a carefully thought out statement, you get the real-moment-in-time happenings of the other participants. And those "real time" statements is what makes it fun. It is different than a traditional chat application in that your statements are added to what everyone sees on a global scale.
And from that stew, you are able to seek out those that interest you. Your "happenings" also attract interest from others. You are a follower, and you are followed, all at the same time.
I'm always amazed at how well everyone is behaved in their comments. Even though you can proactively ignore offensive individuals, you rarely have the need to do so. Because Twitter is new, it isn't filled with sex, profanity, or spam. The beauty of it is that everything is "opt-in", you choose who you want to follow. If you wanted, you could "follow" no-one, but still leave your daily trail for others to follow you.
Why do people use Twitter? I'm not a social expert, but to me it is all about the real-time aspect of it and how quickly ad-hoc conversations can form. Also tied into this is the allure that so many other people have access to what you are saying.
I'm sure a lot of the Twitter junkies are having a conniption about it being down for a while. Guess what, you can always email, skype, jaiku, etc., etc., etc. Twitter is cool but I think it is over hyped like so many other new things. The people that have the "influence" are the internet celebrities that have the name recognition. Those are the ones with the most "followers", same problem as "friends" in FB. I look at some of entries from the Twitter heavy-weights, no big deal, no different than the rest of us. Many of the heavy-weights use their pull to drag people over to their commercial ventures by embedding links in all their entries.
Hopefully the "big deal" for Twitter doesn't turn into a followers competition. Who can get the most followers somehow equates to how important you are. I've found some good stuff from "unknowns" and I don't want to use Twitter as just another means to drive traffic to my personal blog site, or commercial venture. Over time that of course will be a big part of what Twitter will become, just another 140 character "ad". Oh well, by then something else better will hopefully come along.
To me what I like about Twitter is that I've discovered some people that live in my local area doing some of the things I like to do. That's value.
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