I’ve got a number of friends that would happily classify themselves as geeks. However, I rarely see this passion extend past the sci-fi, fantasty, or horror genre of geekdom. We’re talking movies, comics, games, etc. Not too much of it delves into the tech side of things.
Most of them having gaming consoles rather than a gaming PC. Most of them have regular phones instead of a smart phone. Many of them have jumped on Facebook, but almost none use Twitter – and that part is a bit of a shame.
Once you get past the garbled and uninformed hype put out but entities like CNN and actors like Oprah or Ashton, you get to see what this tiny, useful tool is all about.
140 characters of stuff you care about from people you are interested in beamed directly into your brain (or phone) is how I like to think of it. Say you like comics and want to know ASAP when an artist you particularly enjoy has something published. That’s something Twitter is good for.
I follow an inordinate amount of science-type people because they either publish or find the latest and greatest articles to read – and publish that in their twitter feed.
Twitter wins the battle over other social media concepts because it lacks the significant signal-to-noise ratio of things like Facebook and Myspace. You don’t have to worry about ‘friending’ people. You don’t have to worry about time-stealing games, stupid quizes, and the vast amount of malware (trojans, worms, viruses) that uses Facebook as a vector to get into your computer. Twitter is information distilled.
That’s why there’s been a rush by both Google and Microsoft to sign deals to aggregate the data streaming through the Twitter network and use it for their vast search engines. Twitter’s current rate of growth really does point to a service that will be able to reflect the pulse of the globe – in real time. That’s some serious sci-fi shit right there.
I encourage you to give it a spin. First, sign up for a twitter account here. Once you are signed-up you’ll want to find some people that are worth following. Think about writers, artists, or organizations that you would be interested in knowing what they are up to (you can follow me by clicking on the Follow Me button on the right hand side of this screen). Use Twitter’s search function to find out what those people’s twitter accounts are and click on the follow button.
If you have a texting plan, Twitter can send updates from those who you follow directly to your phone. If you have a smart phone I recommend Tweetdeck. It’s a good way to organize and keep track of tweets.
I was fairly skeptical of what kind of experience Twitter would provide. I’m honestly impressed after a few months of use. I’ve found articles I would have missed out on, and amusing insights on the people and organizations that I follow.
Give it a shot!
Tags: my Luddite friends, social networks, twitter
That lil’ bastard bird that FOLLOWS ME, not you, up and down the page is really bumming me out.
I understand Twitter’s uses. I’m surrounded by PhD chemists and journalists who discover and pass info back and forth through it. Quite useful in these terms. I get it. I do. But, I still despise it.
It’s the beginning of the end if you ask me. It’s just too much.