3 ms·

I consider myself pretty tech oriented but I've never understood twitter, this is probably just my own stupidity but I've tried several times and it never makes

by kneel 10y ago

I consider myself pretty tech oriented but I've never understood twitter, this is probably just my own stupidity but I've tried several times and it never makes sense. I mostly just see replies to other conversations and I don't understand the context. Scrolling through the timeline I can't parse structure, it just seems chaotic. Barely anyone I know uses twitter. It just seems to be a way to follow celebrities and politicians, I don't really care what they have to say. I'm probably missing something here.

richardw 10y ago
> I'm probably missing something here. Definitely. I had the same opinion, couldn't really figure out why it had any value. At some point I created a politically-oriented (anonymous) profile to interact before one of our local elections. I followed enough of the people who used it well (media, some politicians, various individuals) to pick up the value in it. Killed that profile, created my own, still enjoy it. I don't follow too many people, I prune noise by either unfollowing or muting. I still don't care to be one of the chatteratii but it's great. Some journalists (usually serious ones), some startuppy people, some friends, some investors. I often read stuff long before it hits the news, I see what journalists say on a less-scripted platform. Find opinions you value, follow them. Use e.g. Tweetbot.
amalag 10y ago
That is true, the timeline is fragments of multiple conversations or popular statements. You are right that it is difficult to parse the feed, because your brain has to context switch between all the conversations. Whereas for instance a hacker news feed gives you exclusively top level headlines with a place to go for discussion.
- kneel 10y ago
  Oooohh that's why it's called twitter. Like a giant flock of birds all chirping to their immediate neighbor with slight variations on the same theme? Like a massive digital game of chinese whispers. I'm sticking to the tree branched nature of reddit/HN. The flock can go flap their wings all they want.
Mendenhall 10y ago
Its the best source for breaking news. If something is going on I can search a twitter hashtag and parse out the good stuff for myself. Scroll through quickly and find people on the spot who may be periscoping etc. Also because of the twitter culture/brevity In my personal experience people are more apt to reply. I have hired and been hired etc just through tweeting. I think there is a sort of casual atmosphere that can be used to get people to respond who otherwise never would. Just my 2 cents.

by kneel 10y ago

richardw 10y ago

> I'm probably missing something here. Definitely. I had the same opinion, couldn't really figure out why it had any value. At some point I created a politically-oriented (anonymous) profile to interact before one of our local elections. I followed enough of the people who used it well (media, some politicians, various individuals) to pick up the value in it. Killed that profile, created my own, still enjoy it. I don't follow too many people, I prune noise by either unfollowing or muting. I still don't care to be one of the chatteratii but it's great. Some journalists (usually serious ones), some startuppy people, some friends, some investors. I often read stuff long before it hits the news, I see what journalists say on a less-scripted platform. Find opinions you value, follow them. Use e.g. Tweetbot.

amalag 10y ago

That is true, the timeline is fragments of multiple conversations or popular statements. You are right that it is difficult to parse the feed, because your brain has to context switch between all the conversations. Whereas for instance a hacker news feed gives you exclusively top level headlines with a place to go for discussion.

kneel 10y ago
Oooohh that's why it's called twitter. Like a giant flock of birds all chirping to their immediate neighbor with slight variations on the same theme? Like a massive digital game of chinese whispers. I'm sticking to the tree branched nature of reddit/HN. The flock can go flap their wings all they want.

Mendenhall 10y ago

Its the best source for breaking news. If something is going on I can search a twitter hashtag and parse out the good stuff for myself. Scroll through quickly and find people on the spot who may be periscoping etc. Also because of the twitter culture/brevity In my personal experience people are more apt to reply. I have hired and been hired etc just through tweeting. I think there is a sort of casual atmosphere that can be used to get people to respond who otherwise never would. Just my 2 cents.