Talking Twitter
Image via CrunchBase
It is good to talk. Which is where Facebook and Twitter come in so handy, even if I am talking to myself all most of the time. Facebook, I have discussed before. I suck. Twitter, however, intrigues me.
That comments, opinions, thoughts, musings have to come in under 140 characters before they go out is indeed attractive. I admit that in the beginning my tweets read like a weather report but gradually, with the help of a smartphone and in the waiting hours at airports etc, , I began to see the attraction of the quick browse. However, unlike Facebook where friends are a known quantity and quality, the Follow situation with Twitter is a lucky dip of random hits and misses.
Who to follow? So many exciting possibilities! Signed up here, signed up there and yes, Stephen Fry is one of them, as is the delightfully entertaining Mrs Stephen Fry but, to all these monster people I am but a number in their competition for twitter domination (see @piersmorgan). I am humble enough to accept my place in their scheme. What I don’t understand however are the fluctuations in the number of people, let alone who some of these people are, who follow me. It’s up, it’s down, winsome, lose some.
That SellYourHouse21 and AtHomeFlooring think I am interesting enough to follow is flattering for the fleeting moment between opening and deleting the email announcement. As for the girls in tiny bikinis, twittering away in foreign languages . . . My most intriguing follow to date came from SomeOneForPalin1. This person can’t have read any of my blogs unless of course she was setting out on the task of proselytizing for the Palin. Why would she be wanting to follow me? Perhaps she thought, judging from my profile pic, I looked a little like the Palin. Wild, I know but waiters have asked me before ” and what would Sarah Palin like?” That was before I had my hair cut. That was why I had my hair cut. Twittiquette, however, compelled me to thank this person which I did, all the time looking forward to some interesting repartee. And just like that, she was back into the nowhere from whence she came.
My twittersphere sprang to life during one of the recent Republican presidential candidate debates in which I enjoyed the company of @billmaher, @michaelmoore and others. The fun we had together, a virtual party of almost . . . friends! Days later, I discovered in my @mentions, a hostile rebuke coming all the way from Arizona. Not only was I being taken to task for my feeble opinion but someone had picked up on it. Read it and replied! That this person is an afficionado of the Horror genre with special mention to Evil Dead, the Godfather of Gore and Jenna Jameson is all beside the point. Plus, isn’t Arizona one of those states with relaxed gun laws? I turned my back on the rebuke, not only was it political, it was politically stale, my heart and energy were flagging but, had I found the messages during the sleep heat of the debate, who knows where my twitter follow count might be now!
So I twitter on, enjoying the companionship of some wonderful blogging friends along with regular updates from the BBC, the New York Times, Grey Sky Thinking and others. 55 to be precise. All of whom combine to provide companionable short-talk, often with informative links.
Talking to myself, maybe, but with all this bite-size food for thought out there, who can resist?
Or is Twitter merely the place where the devil finds work for idle hands?
To tweet, or not to tweet? If not, why not? Tweet me!
Well Patti, I can’t Tweet you because I have maintained my Tweet resistance. I keep asking myself if I should join Tweetdom. My first problem is that I can’t say anything using so few characters. My second problem is trying to keep up with the deluge that comes through e-mail alone. I don’t mean spam, I mean e-mail that I am genuinely interested in reading. So, for the time being I will straddle the fence and enjoy being behind the times. I’ll read the tweets that you and others have in there sidebars and ask, “What’s that mean?”
Alan, think how much fun you and the Dribbling Pensioner would have tweeting each other whenever Arsenal are getting whipped! Not to forget the fun of tweeting you whenever your esteemed Gov sends me running from the room. You could be the Texas translator! Plus emails only come through when notified about someone following you. Think about it, you know you want to!
That whole scenario is scary on so many levels.
Nice post! For some reason, I just can’t wrap my head around twitter, and possibly it’s becasue I can’t express myself in 140 characters (or less)! PS. added you to my following-list.
Thank you HL! Hashtags and links are valuable scales of verbal economy plus the lovely part of it is that you don’t have to say much. Thanks for the follow, will do same!
I know exactly what you mean. Twitter does feel like speaking into the wind, sometimes. The occasional reply brings excitement, but it is short-lived. I continue to do it although it baffles me.
Coincidentally, I’m planning a twitter post, too. It has a little different angle though. Look for it. Maybe this week, if I get the time, which of course, is not likely. 🙂
Can’t wait to read your take on the tweet!
Isn’t it a hoot that we tweet about blogging, then blog about tweeting and put it all on Facebook! Or is that the other way around? 🙂
I haven’t got my act together on this one. I feel fully confident that by the time I finally join up, it will be yesterday’s news and people will have left it in droves in search of the next shiny new thing. Be rest assured, you will be one of the people to follow when I do join, nevertheless.
It took the London riots for me to get the full handle on the whole Twitter business. Sitting in NY at the time, I became aware of developing events in Clapham long before my good friend (who thought it was a simple case of exaggerated fuss and bother . . .) who lives there knew what was going on – she was shocked to discover the full extent of it the next day. Twitter that night became an almost personal sat nav / morse code into developing events. I think of it as a text messaging service for information and ideas and if ever you do sign on (don’t worry about the droves, they are such restless creatures!) love to see you there!
“Or is Twitter merely the place where the devil finds work for idle hands?”
Well, actually, Patti —
Reminds me of that slogan a while back for going to college:
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Those idle hands will indeed always find somewhere to make their mischief, from crank calls over the telephone to trolling the internet, and I am not sure they ever had minds to waste!
Lol!
I keep telling myself some day I will have something exciting to tweet about.
I’m hanging onto that dream.
*gently dabbing at one fake tear*
🙂
Until then, tweet dreams!
I have a twitter account, but I don’t tweet. My blog does, but I don’t. When I first signed up, I thought how awesome would it be to exchange meaningful and thought provoking tweets about life with ppl all over the planet! Hoozah!
However, what I actually exerienced was myself trolling through meaningless dribble and political poking from/about public figures in search for one, just one! meaningful tweet. Too much effort for that rare and elusive thought provoking tweet.
Yes, there is so much dribble and I have had to work my way through more than enough of it. Had I not moved from home in London where I had family and friends I doubt I should ever have bothered with Twitter. Travelling as much as I seem to be doing these days, twitter keeps me in a loop of sorts, plus, at airports etc I catch up with so many wonderful blogposts! I shall look for yours so that I may enjoy more of your stunning photos!
I like Twitter simply for the brevity. It can be a challenge. Although, I haven’t tweeted much over the summer.
I know how busy you have been over the summer . . . you keep writing!
I’ve been dead against Twitter since it started but recently someone tweeted one of my posts (despite my not having any sharing buttons in my posts) and I discovered that I felt quite flattered! Not only that but I saw someone’s tweets recently in which all they were doing was sharing links to other people’s websites – and some really good ones at that, so I am beginning to wonder now…
It’s a slippery slope… hmmmm.
I understand exactly what you mean Val. Working through the process however, and ignoring the dominating twitter tattle-tale, it does provide a nifty, short-hand link to so much more. Let me know if/when you sign up – my path on the slope remains a work in progress!
I have a tweeter too but now I’m slowly trying to use it mainly for friends I meet in Word press. Its a great way to post our recent work in WP. Great post! I wish I have the time to tweet but lately it has become a luxury for me, time wise. Have a blessed day my friend.
Yes, it is so good for sharing links and creating new avenues to explore. The brevity does force the point but that it leads to more is the point, don’t you think? All best to you and so grateful you find the time to write so well and to take those gorgeous photos!
now I’m following you on https://twitter.com/#!/xpat_here
Thank you FrizzText and now following you!