March
2007
Twitter. Why the hype?
Twitter launched over a year ago and has over 50,000 subscribers. I’ve signed up, tried it and discarded it along with dozens of other “web 2.0″ ideas that have sprung up in the last few years. To me, it didn’t provide any value that I didn’t already derive from IM, email, SMS and Dodgeball. I don’t have many connections on Dodgeball, but continue to check in on a semi-frquent basis because it has proved useful to know where hot spots for the night are.
Twitter on the other hand, is not only used for communicating your location, but all aspects of your life. People are broadcasting messages about their lunch, their mood and maybe even what they’re wearing today. If you’re like me, you’d find this annoying pretty fast. With Dodgeball, sometimes the flood of messages are too much those times I decide to stay in. I can’t even imagine adding an influx of updates from people telling me they’re eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
For some reason, Twitter just won’t go away. It’s being covered by tons of blogs, made a splash at SXSW this year and is gaining more public attention from the likes of Business Week and the Wall Street Journal. It’s even getting continual coverage by well-known bloggers like Scoble and Leo Laporte. I consider myself in touch with the pulse of tech trends and have a good track record predicting the ultimate success of new startups, but in this case, I must be out to lunch. I’m left here empty handed and asking myself “Why the hype?”.
Any of you tried Twitter? Still using it? Find it annoying? Useful? Do tell, cuz I’d sure like to know what I’m missing.
I’m pretty tired of Twitter myself. It’s more of a show-off app.
I’m a heavy dodgeball user because somehow we hit critical mass in my social circle (8-10 regular users, plus lurkers) and most of them all live within a mile or two of each other.
danah boyd’s thoughts on Twitter are worth a read. I’m signed up, but can’t imagine what I’d use it for. If dodgeball gets yanked, maybe we would have to switch?
No idea why Twitter is getting so much attention. In other news I had a BP & J for dinner
huh. I’ve never heard of either. I don’t really get it… if I send out a group text message, I just tack on a few friends from my address book. I don’t see how this saves you time and engery? Maybe I’m missing something?
the idea of twitter and twitter-like web 2.0 features is definitely more appealing to people who are… well… younger than the aol era… who don’t know better… who “friend” request everyone and their mothers… who get upset when they get dropped from a TOP FRIENDS list… who are into themselves 24-7… and care about every detail, movement, and breath of their group of friends AND enemies… who want to be updated constantly and be in-the-know because not knowing equates with being an outsider… who yearn for attention in any shape, way, or form… who want to be the america’s next top model… the next american idol… the next SOMETHING…
it’s somewhat sickening to think how the internet has transformed the psyche of teens across the globe… but i really have no room to talk… i’m a social network whore myself
p.s. danah boyd’s research is definitely an excellent source to understanding the relationships and trends between social networks and its users…
I like twitter because you can use it for sending free SMS. There is a little PHP script available for enabling a web form to send SMS to your mobile. But actually this is the only reason for me to use it.