4 ms·

Twitter as a concept really only has a single novel idea: being able to (sometimes) directly speak to people that you would normally never have the status or pr

Twitter as a concept really only has a single novel idea: being able to (sometimes) directly speak to people that you would normally never have the status or prestige to contact (the president, a CEO, senators, customer support for a company that has terrible phone lines, etc) If the world just got better about actually letting you talk to the people you want/need to (like a senator actually reading letters from his/her constituents, or a company actually providing quality customer service), twitter would become rapidly obsolete. And for good reason. Social media fills a niche that otherwise lays unfilled. But while something like facebook can act as a "town square", twitter literally just fills in for the laziness of other platforms.

zimpenfish 4y ago
> Twitter as a concept really only has a single novel idea: being able to (sometimes) directly speak to people that you would normally never have the status or prestige to contact What? I've been on Twitter a long time and this is just nonsense. It's about being able to speak to people. > customer support for a company that has terrible phone lines How is this "never have the status or prestige"? It's "don't have the time or energy to sit on hold for hours" at best.
vinay427 4y ago
> like a senator actually reading letters from his/her constituents In the US, at least, I think it’s fairly well-known that politicians or their staff will often read (and handle relevant actionable items) in letters from their constituents. Things like expressing opposition to some legislation or requesting their soft power for some bureaucratic situation (e.g. expediting a passport application) are quite standard. Especially if your constituency isn’t too large *, there’s often an individual response when necessary even if it’s through a staffer. * Smaller than a million people or so? US Representatives and state/local legislators are a better choice in many cases.

zimpenfish 4y ago

> Twitter as a concept really only has a single novel idea: being able to (sometimes) directly speak to people that you would normally never have the status or prestige to contact What? I've been on Twitter a long time and this is just nonsense. It's about being able to speak to people. > customer support for a company that has terrible phone lines How is this "never have the status or prestige"? It's "don't have the time or energy to sit on hold for hours" at best.

vinay427 4y ago

> like a senator actually reading letters from his/her constituents In the US, at least, I think it’s fairly well-known that politicians or their staff will often read (and handle relevant actionable items) in letters from their constituents. Things like expressing opposition to some legislation or requesting their soft power for some bureaucratic situation (e.g. expediting a passport application) are quite standard. Especially if your constituency isn’t too large *, there’s often an individual response when necessary even if it’s through a staffer. * Smaller than a million people or so? US Representatives and state/local legislators are a better choice in many cases.