Common Craft Blog
@ My Twitter Friends: Please Twitter Responsibly
By leelefever on February 14, 2007 - 12:53pm
I dig Twitter, really I do. It's a time suck and guilty pleasure at the same time. However, I think Twitter people need to realize a couple of things:
Point 1. Twitter is not for conversation in the way an IM is for conversation. When you "reply" to a twitter update, usually in the form of "@ friendname: message" you are spamming your friends with worthless crap (I have been guilty of this too, btw).
I can't think of anything more vacuous than getting an update that says:
@Carl: good point!
Who the F is Carl?
Please note that Twitter *can* be used for 1:1 conversation, it's called Direct Text or Personal Message. This is from the Twitter Lingo Support Page:
Direct Text: Send Twitter Friends Personal Messages
Sometimes a Twitter inspires a private reply. You can send your Twitter friends personal text messages. Click "message" from their profile page on the web, or reply to a Twitter message directly from your phone. From the phone, don't forget to designate the user name, or the message will post to the public timeline! The formula for Direct Text is: D + user name + your message.
Example: D Jade I want to see Borat too; when are you going, and where?
Have a question? Send it to all your friends as a Twitter update.
Want to reply to someone? Use a personal message.
Point 2: People use phones for Twitter too. I have enjoyed Twitter the most on my mobile phone, but I had to turn it off. I can deal with chatter as long as it's not a bunch of disjointed conversations. I really want to use the phone, but it's not worth it until we come to agreement about a sustainable way to use Twitter. If you're using IM to send updates, remember that some people are using phones and IM is a different format with different rules.
All this being said, I still want to be your Twitter friend. Add me?
@ My Twitter Friends: Please Twitter Responsibly
I still don't understand twitter. Can you explain it to me like I'm a 5 year old?
@ My Twitter Friends: Please Twitter Responsibly
Good point Duncan. I think this is a good chance to do a Technology in Plain English post. I won't go into it here, but watch for something coming soon on this site- I might even do it on video.
The first time I really understood it was a small thing I saw in Wired Magazine. It was someone describing getting a membership and adding Evan Williams to their "friend" list, which means that when Ev posts a short update to Twitter, it came to him in IM, a text message or the web site (his choice).
Soon after subscribing the updates started coming in from Evan, it went like this...
Update from Ev: Heading south in a van
he thought "where's Ev going?"
Update from Ev: Eating a vegan burrito
he thought "is Ev vegan?"
He described being hooked on the idea that he got these little updates from someone else's life - someone he doesn't even know personally.
It's like micro-blogging where people who add themselves to your friends list, they get notified when you send an update. It can be super-lame, but it's also fun when used responsibly.
I hope this helps enough for now... If you get a membership, let me know...
@ My Twitter Friends: Please Twitter Responsibly
Lee:
I'm going to have to disagree. I like seeing the @ Person twitters.
I can go to Twitter.com and see what the first message was - there's fascinating relationship stuff.
I too have turned off the cell messaging and watch it via Google Talk or Twitterific.
But I don't think we can legislate how people use Twitter. They do what they do.
@ My Twitter Friends: Please Twitter Responsibly
Hey Howard,
Thanks for the comment. I agree that Twitter is the kind of thing that shouldn't be legislated and I don't mean to sound dogmatic about the "rules" so much as make sure that people know the options.
It's going to be interesting to see what twitter becomes - and as you point out, people will do with it what they want. From my perspective though, it just not good at managing discussions. When I see the @person, it seems like a hack that makes discussion possible where discussion were not meant to be.
"I like seeing the @ Person
"I like seeing the @ Person twitters.
I can go to Twitter.com and see what the first message was - there's fascinating relationship stuff."
I agree. I've found some really interesting people that way.
Also, the direct messaging doesn't work with many clients and I'll often have a message that's been sitting there for a while.