Last Updated on: 15th August 2013, 11:42 am
Lately, I’ve had a ton of people asking me if I was on Twitter. I’m not, so I say no. I cannot figure out the purpose of Twitter unless you’re using it to link to something where you can read more information. Randy Cassingham wrote abig article about how Twitter can be useful, so I know it’s not all bad. I guess I just haven’t mastered the art of being super succinct, like 140-character succinct.
Personally, I figure I have a blog where I can write for as long as I want. Why would I want to handcuff myself to 140 characters? I mean, short posts work sometimes, but sometimes something has to be longer, and why not have the freedom to write whichever style of post I want?
Plus, hhalf the time, I read a tweet, and I’m left asking for more. I saw a tweet the other day that said “walking two dogs, one well-socialized, the other not.” Well, what’s going on? What did the unsocialized dog do? Tell me more! I need more input!
Then there is the issue of context. You cannot give context in a tweet, so if you write something that can be taken two ways, you can wind up in a whole heap of trouble. Don’t believe me? Just ask Thordora. She tweeted something to the effect of “Is it a crime to want to smother my daughter?” And that’s all she could write. She only has 140 characters. People looked at that, and wondered hmmm it could be a joke or it could be something worth worrying about…so somebody told Twitter, who contacted the authorities, and…knock knock knock, there were cops at her door.
If she could have written a whole blog post with context, people would have realized it was a joke and wouldn’t have done that. but it was a tweet, so people were left wondering what it could have meant, and I don’t blame the chick for doing what she did. I’d rather have overreacted and found out the kid was ok than sat back and done nothing and then read the news today, oh boy.
I was conversing with Bernard Maldonado about the new Solona tool, and he even asked me if I was on Twitter. I keep hearing his words reverberating through my head. “Twitter is fun!” Hmmm. Will I try it? I don’t know. I will say this, though. I’m more likely to try Twitter than Facebook no matter how many people sing Facebook’s praises.
