vlbrown

Interesting that the question "What do you find that you like about Twitter?" is being answered here as "it's intrusive, you shouldn't use it." This isn't about "personal preferences". It's "Why __should__ I care about Twitter."

I think "it's a giant intrusion into my life" was getting emotional. :)

> Taking example something like blogs: it has instant appeal in a lot of people, because basically it is an online diary.

If you think back 8 or 10 years, a lot of people didn't understand blogs. They were dismissed as being the online diaries of a bunch of self-centered 20-somethings and teenagers. Who would want to read that What were they good for?

I think Twitter (microblogging) is in the same place blogs were, and where the web itself was in 1994 and 1995. We're still determining what can be used for and how it can be used. Already, the Twitter community has changed the rules. Twitter isn't what Obvious originally thought it would be two years ago. Keep in mind, Twitter began in March 2006.

In fact, according to twitterlocal.net, there are roughly as many twitterers in New York City as San Francisco (on May 6 it was almost even). More in London UK than Los Angeles, CA. Almost as many in Wash. DC as LA. And Tokyo is the Twiteringest city by 3 to 1.

Twitter is stories, vignettes, small slices of people lives.

Twitter is a 24-hour come-as-you-are blockparty. People come and go, talk and listen. Some of them already know each other, many of them don't.

Twitter is lifestreaming, 140 characters at a time.

Twitter is quick updates, questions, answers. Twitter is "I've got a 2-hour layover at SFO. Anyone want to grab coffee?"

Twitter is microblogging. Twitter is nanoblogging!

Twitter is writing practice. How much can you say in such a small space?

Twitter is a tool. Use it (or don't use it). As you use it more, you may come to see its value to you. If you don't, that's alright too.

Make new friends. :)

So, you saw one person use Twitter in a certain way, thought that way was silly, drew a generalization to the entire service, and you decided you knew everything abut it?

Someone uses the telephone to do telemarketing to try to sell you carpet and from that you understand what the telephone is "for"?

IM/IRC/email/blog are all different - from each other and from Twitter. As is the telephone. Or SMS. Or...

Some of us find that, as we use Twitter, we make new friends.

Not all of my friends need to be people I see (physically) just as not all of the people, I see (physically) are my friends.

But again, if You don't care what I am doing, that whatever possessed you to "follow" me? You only follow the people you WANT to follow. You only read what you WANT to read. You turn on SMS (or IM) notifications at YOUR preference. The only way Twitter can be a "big giant intrusion" into your life is if YOU turn that on!

It's like saying, 99% of the stuff on television is crap but failing to realize that you control the tv and you don't have to watch that stuff!

And... not only do yu decide if updates come to your phone, you do that on a per-person basis. So you'll only see what that friend is doing If You Want To. That's about as non-intrusive as it gets. It's entirely under YOUR control.

Actually, there are many people in Twitter from Boston. Also the UK, Japan (so many that they've started Twitter Japan), New York, Kansas, Louisiana, and more. Twitter is the web. It's way beyond "California".