Some notes from a newbie Twitterer:
1. It is fun to twitter @ other people, but it's only fun for you and the person you're twittering @. To all third parties, it is boring
2. It adds one more link to the chain of things I do to avoid working (checking work e-mail, checking blog comments, checking home e-mail, checking Facebook, and now ... )
3. It is wrong to be obsessed with how many (= how few) Followers you have
4. One day Tinyurl will break, then we'll all be screwed
5. It keeps you from blogging
Bonus list: one thing that is wrong with the flamethrower in Killzone 2: once you have it, you try to beat every level with it. Because burning Helghast is even funner than shooting them.
Use private messages...
From Twitter:
Fun Stuff: friends, favorites, and stats!
There's more to Twitter than OFF and ON! Use the commands below to send private messages, mark updates as favorites, or even remind someone to update their Twitter page if you're wondering what they're doing.
@username + message
directs a twitter at another person, and causes your twitter to save in their "replies" tab.
Example: @meangrape I love that song too!
D username + message
sends a person a private message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive.
Example: d krissy want to pick a Jamba Juice for me while you're there?
WHOIS username
retrieves the profile information for any public user on Twitter.
Example: whois jack
GET username
retrieves the latest Twitter update posted by the person.
Example: get goldman
NUDGE username
reminds a friend to update by asking what they're doing on your behalf.
Example: nudge biz
FAV username
marks a person's last twitter as a favorite. (hint: reply to any update with FAV to mark it as a favorite if you're receiving it in real time)
Example: fav al3x
STATS
this command returns your number of followers, how many people you're following, and which words you're tracking.
INVITE phone number
will send an SMS invite to a friend's mobile phone.
Example: Invite 415 555 1212
dennitzio
Apr. 23, 2009 16:54:pm
at 16:54:pm
1. It is fun to twitter @ other people, but it's only fun for you and the person you're twittering @. To all third parties, it is boring
You only see that if you subscribe to both parties. So it is presumed that you care.
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2. It adds one more link to the chain of things I do to avoid working (checking work e-mail, checking blog comments, checking home e-mail, checking Facebook, and now ... )
Actually, it allows you to check up on people without going to those places.
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3. It is wrong to be obsessed with how many (= how few) Followers you have
It's OK, Lev. Your follower count will be filled with spammers shortly.
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4. One day Tinyurl will break, then we'll all be screwed
True dat.
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5. It keeps you from blogging
It IS blogging. Why doe that seem to escape people who blog?
Church
Apr. 23, 2009 20:47:pm
at 20:47:pm
1. Unless you're telling @oprah what to do.
2. I've been twittering for a couple of years and it hasn't noticeably undermined my productivity.
3. Agreed. I'd like to think I twitter the same way I did when I only had a handful of followers, but I'm not sure if that's true.
4. As will twitter.
5. Sometimes that's not a bad thing.
apelad
Apr. 24, 2009 02:23:am
at 02:23:am
There's a comparable list here...
http://scienceblogs.com/islandofdoubt/2009/04/why_twitter_is_evil.php
LeeJH
Apr. 24, 2009 09:12:am
at 09:12:am
@Church, point 1 isn't true. If I have a tweet with an @ in it anyone following me still sees it. But Lev's point I disagree with anyway, because with almost any twitter app (maybe even the webpage by now) you can easily navigate to the original tweet if it is a reply, or to the person's tweets if it isn't. Unless someone is twittering "@soandso yes" I don't think it's a big problem... people should be RT that stuff anyway for context.
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Re Point 3 I don't know if it's wrong or not to be concerned about follower numbers... For someone like me it'd be kind of pathetic, but if you are doing it for non-personal reasons then I guess it'd make sense.
Rorschach
Apr. 24, 2009 09:46:am
at 09:46:am
@Rorschach: Not if you lead the post with the @ symbol.
E.g., If I typed "@gaiusbaltar You are awesome!" then @leverus wouldn't see it, but you and I would.
Church
Apr. 24, 2009 12:04:pm
at 12:04:pm
@Church: Does it depend on the app? I'm looking at my Tweetie flow right now and I see plenty of tweets starting with @names that I don't follow.
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Sorry for jacking the thread...
Rorschach
Apr. 24, 2009 14:19:pm
at 14:19:pm
@Rorschach: Possibly. I use twitter and hahlo, myself.
Church
Apr. 24, 2009 19:45:pm
at 19:45:pm
@church I think people who have an aversion to Twitter is that it's a microblog and it tends to lack substance in a short sentence. While I myself haven't caught the twitter fire, my response to such critics is that there are plenty of blogs out there about nothing and lack substance. You can wax eloquent for hours and pages but produce nothing and in a short statement contain the meaning of the world and humanity. Well maybe that hour of crisis in your life anyway. So tweet away. It doesn't matter what forms of communication are out there, there is always someone who will abuse it or spout off ridiculous notions, whether its graffiti on a wall that “BSG is gay” and youtube videos of you love for Brittney spears people will be out there.
lostepic
Apr. 25, 2009 08:49:am
at 08:49:am
Well, I've got a tottaly different view. Check it out:
http://xfactorofinnovation2009.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/twitter-abuse-the-trend/
Hein
Oct. 7, 2009 12:30:pm
at 12:30:pm