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I didn't think Twitter was useful until a few months ago. I started using it and completely changed my mind. I see it like a buffet of interesting comments from
by diego 18y ago
I didn't think Twitter was useful until a few months ago. I started using it and completely changed my mind. I see it like a buffet of interesting comments from people I choose to follow. I get updates from people who are working on interesting stuff, going to conferences I care about, etc.
Unlike a social network, I don't need to be friends with someone to see what they post. I can stop following someone whenever and follow them again later. In short, it has the useful content of a social network without the spammy apps, useless profile information and dubious "friendships". It's a better version of irc.
- aheilbut 18y agoI also didn't get it at all at first, but am now quite addicted. Twitter feels a bit like a 24/7 cocktail party full of intelligent and interesting people, where you can chose who to listen to. I think they've also evolved (or perhaps resurrected) a cultural norm of openness where you can listen to and engage in conversations with anyone. I think that, along with the asynchrony and discoverability, is what makes it slightly magical. That being said, it has problems: - It can definitely be a waste of time. - There aren't good tools for filtering, prioritizing, and contextualizing the feed. - There's an excessive density of 'professional' social-media types who seem to spend all day twitterring about nothing but Twitter. - I don't understand the appeal of the IM-type clients at all. They look pretty, but I can't imagine anything worse than being constantly interrupted by windows popping up all over my screen with random, disconnected tweets.