Eh!....Don't know why I am on Twitter at this time, but I am definitely there, on Twitter that is!
https://twitter.com/#!/paoloindublin2
If the Goddess... AKA...Oprah! can work minor miracles on Twitter, well, why can't I?
When Oprah Winfrey’s made her first on-air tweet back in April 2009, the traffic to Twitter jumped 43 percent, according to Hitwise, a Web tracker. And Ryan Block, former editor in chief of Engadget, estimated that more than a million new users joined after Ms. Winfrey called attention to the microblogging service.
For those of you (like me) who don't understand what the 'Twitter' fuss is all about, Twitter is much more than the collective musings of the tech-savvy elite. Twitter’s search page, search.twitter.com. (Today, Earth Day is big.) Using the search box, you can enter any terms to see what people are saying about a topic right at that moment — a real-time view into the Internet’s hive mind that Google simply can’t provide.
Twitter is also a self-propagating recommendation engine. By carefully selecting which users and companies to follow, you can tailor a stream of steadily refreshed news that appeals to you, much better than any Google algorithm could. There are tools to help you minimize the noise, like TweetDeck and Nambu.
You can also sneak a peek at the random snippets of the live conversations happening near your current location. Most third-party Twitter clients, like Twinkle and Tweetie, offer the ability to check the most recent updates from nearby Twitter users.
Even the high-profile and celebrity accounts have their own merit. Granted, a large majority of them are self-serving marketing ploys maintained by handlers and publicists. But still, you get a level of access granted that is hard to find elsewhere.
They say that once you get sucked in, it becomes tricky to remember when to turn it off.
Some 'Good' things about Twitter
- Simplicity. You sign up, start Tweeting, and the ball’s rolling within minutes.
- It’s a brilliant way of breaking news.
- Celebrities talk like “real” people without agents/producers/editors getting in the way. And the best Tweeting stars actually interact with their audience. ...ask Courtney Love.
- Immediacy.
- 140-character limit makes you think more about what you’re saying (montemplar)
- Anyone can do it.
- Twitter allows people to fire-off inane day-to-day stuff that (hopefully) keeps other channels of communication (email, SMS, blogs) tidier.
- Variety of ways to access: PC, mobile, multiple apps and widgets. (montemplar)
- You can stamp personality and bespoke design on profile pages, yet they retain a simple, consistent structure.
- Trend spotting. Services such as TwitScoop make it easy to spot what’s going on right now.
- It’s free.
- In a world of Flash, Java, Ajax and other attention-hogging wibbles, it’s refreshingly clean.
- The API – inspired decision to distribute freely has created a million and one different apps, widgets and plug-ins. TweetDeck being our current favourite.
- No need for niceities. You cut straight to the point.
- We’re irrationally pleased when someone we like/respect starts following us.
- We know what our readers think of us, thanks to TweetDeck search.
- You’re not constantly bombarded with ads, as with other free services.
- That said, it’s an amazingly powerful, well-targeted sales channel.
- The man who founded it is called Biz Stone.
Some of the 'Bad' things about Twitter
- It panders to our short attention spans.
- Anyone can do it.
- 140 chr limit makes us all spk like teenagers. FFS. (Yes, you know what I mean...if you have teenagers!)
- It’s another bloody thing to keep up-to-date.(Like we need any more of this tech-no-social-interaction-crap in our lives!)
- Presentation. It looks shite!
- The number of companies that suddenly start following you after you mention their products. teeth whitening, cold remedies, condoms, bad breath....tweet any of these and you will see what I mean!
- Reliability. Poor!
- Media bandwagon. Sky News has now got a Twitter Correspondent....says it all!
- Fake celeb profiles. btw...I am Bill Clinton!
- It’s not (yet) sustainable. Trillions of users, no clear way to make money from them.
- It’s hard to maintain a professional image. (if that is what you are aiming for!)
- It’s horribly addictive.
- Conversations are desperately difficult to follow.(thats if you have the will power to follow some of the shite that some people tweet!)
- Spambots.
- We can’t ignore it. Like a sullen puppy, it craves attention
- “New Media” consultants are being paid thousands of pounds per hour to bandy about terms like Twitterverse to gormless corporate morons who are desperate to go Web 2.0. Someone pass the shovel.
