Nobody Twitters
Nobody uses Twitter.
That isn't completely true, of course. But it's close to true. A year ago there was a facebook revolution. Everyone joined facebook. The few that didn't considered it an act of rebellion. I will not join Twitter and I'm not receiving any email invites to join either. Why is this? Well, I already sent a blast to my email list inviting them to join facebook. Two years ago I let them all know I had a blog. I'm not spamming them with a new social networking site every 12 months. If I did, my friends list could be expected to lose a few members! So even if I decided I wanted to tweet (which I wouldn't) I wouldn't have the audacity to ask people to sign up to read 'em. I expect others feel the same way. They don't see the merit in a redundant social networking tool so soon - and neither do I - particularly one whose sole claim to fame is that it limits you to brevity and asks you to communicate the mundane to the disinterested.
Yet there is this full court press in public about the wonders of Twitter. I don't know why. It reminds me of Second Life. I've read lots of media stories about Second Life and even watched a CSI:NY episode involving it. But nobody is tooling around in Second Life. Nobody I know and nobody you know. I've know a few with a crystal meth like World of Warcraft addiction though. Looking for people living a Second Life? They're all in Azeroth.
So what's behind this wishful thinking on behalf of the media? No idea.
One thing I can tell you though: Please feel free to ignore the Twittering sound on your TV until it tweet tweet tweets away for good. Your facebook friends will thank you.
4 comments:
A few comments. I twitter (www.twitter.com/mercerch/), you don't need to sign up to follow them, you could embed them into your website so it becomes a one stop shop.
It is a great little tool for quick messages to many people.
Guess I'm a nobody. :p I use Twitter all the time and have been put on the trail of some great industry related news/deals/blogs because of it. I also think it's got potential for bands.
Do you still agree with this statement? Now that Oprah and Austen cock face is using it?
I can't. Twitter has grown in popularity since I wrote this. More people are on it for sure - even more people that I know.
I joined it actually (though sent out no invites to get anyone else to), in contradiction of my own statement, because it wasn't fair to judge it without experiencing it. I also realised that my problem was more with the marketing than the service.
That having been said, I still don't see a lot of value for myself in actually tweeting much. Sharing links with people is fine, and as another link finder it's fine. I follow pitchfork media, for example.
Interestingly I think the celebrity twittering - which is one of the most fun parts - will die off quickly. Companies will tend to use it more, a microblogosphere will undoubtedly remain in some form forever, and the groups of friends that use it as an ad hoc chatroom will use it until they drop off one by one. But the sheer effort needed to keep tweeting, plus the resistance many people have to it as a concept altogether, will cause it to have an up and then down growth curve. That's my guess.
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