6 ms·

I've never understood the appeal of Twitter and I think it would help if more "social media people" (and web app developers) could try to understand why. They a

by m0nty 16y ago

I've never understood the appeal of Twitter and I think it would help if more "social media people" (and web app developers) could try to understand why. They are obscure little techie tools that a huge percentage of the population will never use. When Leo says "I was shouting into a vast echo chamber" what he really should say is "I was shouting into a miniscule echo chamber". And nobody was really listening because it's not really a conversation, it's all about self-promotion and that tends to be a very one-sided activity. Buzz and Wave will never take off with the people I work with, or my friends, because we're all a bit old-fashioned and I doubt any one of us would sooner "tweet" a message than phone someone up and talk to them directly. Sure, I realise it's a one-to-many operation (unlike a phone-call) but honestly, what do I have that's worth actually broadcasting?

Tichy 16y ago
In what way would it help to understand why?
- m0nty 16y ago
  Because you'd actually end up writing web apps with real value rather than just the next killer "social media app"?
  - Tichy 16y ago
    What if Twitter actually has value even though you don't understand it?
Hagelin 16y ago
Isn’t Facebook pretty much the same thing, though? I’d say it’s taken off with quite a few people?
- joezydeco 16y ago
  And quite a few people, one generation from now, will look back and go "I wasted thousands of hours on that?" What will we have to show for Facebook other than a bunch of divorces and bad memories from resurfaced high school acquaintances? I guess another guilt-ridden billionaire charity fund but not much more.
muhfuhkuh 16y ago
"what do I have that's worth actually broadcasting?" It's an ego-driven medium. All of it: YouTube (when actually done for its intended purpose and not flagrant copyright flouting); facebook/myspace, foursquare, getglue. It's all about what you're doing and more recently _where_ you are when you're doing it. It's about the inherent need for self-fulfillment. Let's say you have great taste in music. Just by someone noticing your daily playlist, you have an admirer. That admirer might want to know more about you based on that superficial quality, and follow you on your social update tool of choice. It's a tool of communication, much like a phone (actually more like a partyline, but I digress). When it boils down to it, people need people, and as social creatures, we find every convenient avenue of acquiring and managing our social sphere as we can without expending too much energy. If we didn't care about any of that, hell, we wouldn't ever even comment in HN, right m0nty?
- m0nty 16y ago
  "we wouldn't ever even comment in HN, right m0nty?" I guessed someone would try to make that point :) You'll notice I rarely do comment here, and I don't on reddit, youtube, Digg, etc. At least here, there is something approaching a conversation. But, Golden Rule: if I have nothing to say, I don't.
  - heinel 16y ago
    But you do acknowledge that you are a user in those networks, correct? You check those sites, and by reading (even without active commenting) you are a participant. Some people project themselves, others observe, that was how social interactions had always been.
    - m0nty 16y ago
      > You check those sites My apologies if I was unclear: I don't check those sites. Also, this insight you have that people are basically social animals, that's not exactly a revelation. But I would contend, along with OP, that our natural sociability is not best served by social networking.
- 16y ago
marknutter 16y ago
> but honestly, what do I have that's worth actually broadcasting? Um.. how about your Hacker News comments?
- elblanco 16y ago
  Unfortunately, most of the HN comments < 140 characters are so content free as to basically violate the site's guidelines. (and yes, the above would fit into a tweet, but it would be so devoid of context as to be absolutely meaningless to people who weren't already reading this same thread)

by m0nty 16y ago

Tichy 16y ago

In what way would it help to understand why?

m0nty 16y ago
Because you'd actually end up writing web apps with real value rather than just the next killer "social media app"?
- Tichy 16y ago
  What if Twitter actually has value even though you don't understand it?

Hagelin 16y ago

Isn’t Facebook pretty much the same thing, though? I’d say it’s taken off with quite a few people?

joezydeco 16y ago
And quite a few people, one generation from now, will look back and go "I wasted thousands of hours on that?" What will we have to show for Facebook other than a bunch of divorces and bad memories from resurfaced high school acquaintances? I guess another guilt-ridden billionaire charity fund but not much more.

muhfuhkuh 16y ago

"what do I have that's worth actually broadcasting?" It's an ego-driven medium. All of it: YouTube (when actually done for its intended purpose and not flagrant copyright flouting); facebook/myspace, foursquare, getglue. It's all about what you're doing and more recently _where_ you are when you're doing it. It's about the inherent need for self-fulfillment. Let's say you have great taste in music. Just by someone noticing your daily playlist, you have an admirer. That admirer might want to know more about you based on that superficial quality, and follow you on your social update tool of choice. It's a tool of communication, much like a phone (actually more like a partyline, but I digress). When it boils down to it, people need people, and as social creatures, we find every convenient avenue of acquiring and managing our social sphere as we can without expending too much energy. If we didn't care about any of that, hell, we wouldn't ever even comment in HN, right m0nty?

m0nty 16y ago
"we wouldn't ever even comment in HN, right m0nty?" I guessed someone would try to make that point :) You'll notice I rarely do comment here, and I don't on reddit, youtube, Digg, etc. At least here, there is something approaching a conversation. But, Golden Rule: if I have nothing to say, I don't.
- heinel 16y ago
  But you do acknowledge that you are a user in those networks, correct? You check those sites, and by reading (even without active commenting) you are a participant. Some people project themselves, others observe, that was how social interactions had always been.
  - m0nty 16y ago
    > You check those sites My apologies if I was unclear: I don't check those sites. Also, this insight you have that people are basically social animals, that's not exactly a revelation. But I would contend, along with OP, that our natural sociability is not best served by social networking.
16y ago

marknutter 16y ago

> but honestly, what do I have that's worth actually broadcasting? Um.. how about your Hacker News comments?

elblanco 16y ago
Unfortunately, most of the HN comments < 140 characters are so content free as to basically violate the site's guidelines. (and yes, the above would fit into a tweet, but it would be so devoid of context as to be absolutely meaningless to people who weren't already reading this same thread)