16 ms·

Despite what many comments here might suggest, Twitter is a microblogging site. You do not have to consume other tweets in order to contribute your own tweets t

Despite what many comments here might suggest, Twitter is a microblogging site. You do not have to consume other tweets in order to contribute your own tweets to Twitter. That’s why you can follow 0 people and still tweet. That’s why I love this idea. Imagine writing a blog but everyone suggesting to you that you have to consume other people’s blogs in order to contribute your own. Twitter can be toxic. But it can be great. If you are not in a mental space to consume the doom scroll, this is a good way to post your thoughts while protecting your mental health. I’ve been tweeting from the command line for a few weeks now but will probably switch to this.

linuz90 6y ago
Wow I couldn't have said it better. This is exactly what we're trying to achieve with Typefully, thanks for expressing it so nicely.
- e1g 6y ago
  Unfortunately the author cannot read your thanks, see upvotes, engage in a conversation, or learn from others’ input. They use a write-only client to access this community.
  - Shared404 6y ago
    That would be funny, but there is a difference between Twitter and HN. In this case, the author wants to use twitter as a microblog -- the use case it was designed for. If they don't want to read other input on their twitter, why would they? Meanwhile HN is explicitly designed as a community with a focus on curiosity, exploration, and discussion... none of which your comment provides.
    - e1g 6y ago
      Twitter has features to Share, Like, Subscribe, Explore via Hashtags. Twitter does not have a feature to "Edit". I'm unclear how we can look at these core strategic choices and decide it's designed not as a community, but as a blogging engine.
      - Shared404 6y ago
        The point is not that twitter cannot be used as a community, but that it has been a microblogging platform as long as it has existed. In addition, each of the features you listed can be quite useful for discovery in a blogging type situation. For external sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging > However, by 2006 and 2007, the term microblog was used more widely for services provided by established sites like Tumblr and Twitter. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twitter https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twitter > Twitter, online microblogging service for distributing short messages among groups of recipients via personal computer or mobile telephone. Regardless, another client that treats the microblogging side of twitter as it's sole focus is not unreasonable. Much like reddit.com being better suited to memes and images and old.reddit.com is better suited to discussion, different clients can have different focuses, which is a Good Thing.
        e1g 6y ago
        Twitter, true to its name, is a bunch of little birdies chirping all around one big tree. Mostly noise, worth it for the occasional song. Like most chit-chatter at most parties. I could show up to a party, get on a soapbox, do my monologue, then leave. But I won't make any friends or impact that way, even if these parties is where the audience is. Even the "Stoic & Enlightened" accounts like Naval regularly engage with the birdies around them.
        Shared404 6y ago
        > Mostly noise. Like most chit-chatter at most parties. I could show up to the party, get on a soapbox, do my monologue, then leave. But I won't make any friends or impact that way, even if these parties is where the audience is. Good point. However, making friends/impact is not what everyone wants from twitter. Some people just want a place to put their thoughts out, and don't really care what anyone else is doing. Edit: I'd like to apologize for being overly aggressive in my first comment. That was uncalled for. This chain clearly has started a discussion, for which I thank you.
  - etxm 6y ago
    When we were texting our tweets to Twitter a decade ago they didn’t respond with 200 random retweets.
  - jhunter1016 6y ago
    Hacker News would actually be the opposite if I was going to go single-sided with it. I don’t normally participate in the conversations but I love reading them. This conversation though just happened to touch on something I’ve been experimenting with so I was compelled to comment. That said, give me the read only client for HN (I know this exist already) :)
ericsoderstrom 6y ago
> Imagine writing a blog but everyone suggesting to you that you have to consume other people’s blogs in order to contribute your own It would be pretty weird to write a blog, but never read others. Especially if you avoided reading blogs because you thought it was bad for your mental health. Why make more of a bad thing?
- austhrow743 6y ago
  People want different things. This reads to me like why date if you’re not gay and also your own type.
  - ericsoderstrom 6y ago
    I think it's more like an oncologist who avoids smoking for health reasons being on the board of a cigarette company.
- rootsudo 6y ago
  Because it makes people feel good. Twitter is toxic, yet people enjoy that echo-chamber.

linuz90 6y ago

Wow I couldn't have said it better. This is exactly what we're trying to achieve with Typefully, thanks for expressing it so nicely.

e1g 6y ago
Unfortunately the author cannot read your thanks, see upvotes, engage in a conversation, or learn from others’ input. They use a write-only client to access this community.
- Shared404 6y ago
  That would be funny, but there is a difference between Twitter and HN. In this case, the author wants to use twitter as a microblog -- the use case it was designed for. If they don't want to read other input on their twitter, why would they? Meanwhile HN is explicitly designed as a community with a focus on curiosity, exploration, and discussion... none of which your comment provides.
  - e1g 6y ago
    Twitter has features to Share, Like, Subscribe, Explore via Hashtags. Twitter does not have a feature to "Edit". I'm unclear how we can look at these core strategic choices and decide it's designed not as a community, but as a blogging engine.
    - Shared404 6y ago
      The point is not that twitter cannot be used as a community, but that it has been a microblogging platform as long as it has existed. In addition, each of the features you listed can be quite useful for discovery in a blogging type situation. For external sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microblogging > However, by 2006 and 2007, the term microblog was used more widely for services provided by established sites like Tumblr and Twitter. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twitter https://www.britannica.com/topic/Twitter > Twitter, online microblogging service for distributing short messages among groups of recipients via personal computer or mobile telephone. Regardless, another client that treats the microblogging side of twitter as it's sole focus is not unreasonable. Much like reddit.com being better suited to memes and images and old.reddit.com is better suited to discussion, different clients can have different focuses, which is a Good Thing.
      - e1g 6y ago
        Twitter, true to its name, is a bunch of little birdies chirping all around one big tree. Mostly noise, worth it for the occasional song. Like most chit-chatter at most parties. I could show up to a party, get on a soapbox, do my monologue, then leave. But I won't make any friends or impact that way, even if these parties is where the audience is. Even the "Stoic & Enlightened" accounts like Naval regularly engage with the birdies around them.
        Shared404 6y ago
        > Mostly noise. Like most chit-chatter at most parties. I could show up to the party, get on a soapbox, do my monologue, then leave. But I won't make any friends or impact that way, even if these parties is where the audience is. Good point. However, making friends/impact is not what everyone wants from twitter. Some people just want a place to put their thoughts out, and don't really care what anyone else is doing. Edit: I'd like to apologize for being overly aggressive in my first comment. That was uncalled for. This chain clearly has started a discussion, for which I thank you.
- etxm 6y ago
  When we were texting our tweets to Twitter a decade ago they didn’t respond with 200 random retweets.
- jhunter1016 6y ago
  Hacker News would actually be the opposite if I was going to go single-sided with it. I don’t normally participate in the conversations but I love reading them. This conversation though just happened to touch on something I’ve been experimenting with so I was compelled to comment. That said, give me the read only client for HN (I know this exist already) :)

ericsoderstrom 6y ago

> Imagine writing a blog but everyone suggesting to you that you have to consume other people’s blogs in order to contribute your own It would be pretty weird to write a blog, but never read others. Especially if you avoided reading blogs because you thought it was bad for your mental health. Why make more of a bad thing?

austhrow743 6y ago
People want different things. This reads to me like why date if you’re not gay and also your own type.
- ericsoderstrom 6y ago
  I think it's more like an oncologist who avoids smoking for health reasons being on the board of a cigarette company.
rootsudo 6y ago
Because it makes people feel good. Twitter is toxic, yet people enjoy that echo-chamber.