It seems like twitter is everywhere these days. Every time I turn on the news, they are talking about twitter. After being asked several times by friends and family, what all the fuss over twitter is, I finally decided to write this short explanation of what twitter is and what it isn't.
twitter is a place for anybody to put up useful information they think like-minded individuals would appreciate. It is not a place to put status updates because do you honestly care that your niece is eating cheerios right now? twitter is very much like the wall posts on Facebook except not as personal.
On Facebook, you have friends who have to be approved before you can see their posts and they see yours. This works great for personal relationships where you can see if someone had a bad day or got a horrible haircut. Then you can comment on these posts and have discussions amongst your social circle.
That is not twitter.
twitter is like the friends news feed from Facebook except for non-personal relationships. Curious what's going on behind the scenes of your favorite tv show? Follow their twitter. Want to know what's going on up to the minute with your favorite sports team? Follow their twitter. Want to know about the latest items on sale at Amazon.com? Follow their twitter.
The problem with twitter is that most people join up and post the same way they post on Facebook. I know because I was guilty of this assumption when I first joined too. There is a difference between micro-blogging (twitter and Facebook) and status updates (Facebook).
The next issue everyone has is the inability to comment on specific twitter posts. I'd say this is probably twitter's greatest feature (or lack there of). Remember that twitter is to follow the thoughts and news of individuals we do not have personal relationships with. These short posts do not need to be defaced with the opinions of hundreds of people bringing down the original weight of the post. For real content that should be discussed, then a regular blog posting is still the best way to go.
Facebook and twitter are very different beasts that aim to bring information about people you care about to your attention. Facebook has copied the non-personal news items with the ability to become a "fan" of a person, place, or thing and follow their posts but personally I like the separation. I check Facebook to see what my friends and family are up to and I check twitter to see what is new in the world outside that social circle.
If there is some interest in actually learning twitter, I'll follow up with a post about how the somewhat confusing syntax of twitter works.
