Ever tried defining or demonstrating Twitter to somebody? Yup. Easy? Nope.
The effect has been defined as ambient intimacy, the social sixth sense, amongst others. I’ll take a quick turn at trying to define the essence and why I think it works.
Twitter Essence in 10 lines (in no particular order)
- A conversation to nobody, everybody and your connections all at once.
- Ultra-IM. Instant Messaging not on demand.
- Un-email. Email with no inbox, no envelope.
- URL tip-off junket.
- Lifelogging on a budget - a micro journal of events.
- Word playground for profound moments.
- Random thought wall for less profound moments, mindless moments even.
- Techie thermometer. Geek epiphany capturer.
- Modern office banter bouncer to a global audience. Head popping over the partition moments on steroids. The nothing moments that mean something over a period of time.
- Blogger in a bottle -on tap. What makes that Blogger tick?
Does that help? Or did I just confuse you some more?
You can find me on Twitter here.
Love it!!
Yes I think you have touched on the different essences of twitter quite nicely, 1, 6, & 9 probably sum it up.
Nice
Actually, I’d add “state machine for your friends” to the mix. It’s a great way to keep up with all the random goings-on in your friends’ lives.
I usually describe it as status broadcast, im-lite, microblogging, and location-awareness-lite.
The key thing is also that it only makes sense in the context of your friends or people you wish to follow… people who go and look at the public stream as their first introduction to Twitter usually roll their eyes and complain about how trivial it all is.
You know, Twitter is probably something different to each person.
Michael you seem to like the conversational aspect, Nigel you probably like it for communicating with friends.
Andy I like the “lite” description especially with all the discussion around new media snacking!
I am definitely a complainer–I may even be THE complainer.
Been spending the last several weeks trying to get into Twitter and its just not taking. I don’t really have the type of friends that are interested in communicating with me in this manner and so I haven’t recommended a single one join.
I follow a few people and that’s enjoyable enough. Some are friends and others co-workers. I’ve even added a few random people because I was curious about a single tweet. I have even garnered followers for obvious and unknown reasons alike. However, I am still below whatever threshold is required to be enthusiastic about the app.
For me transposing a thought into words and words into text is a bit of a sacred pursuit. Once a thought has been recorded in public it’s part of the world, part of how I am judged, part of who I am to others. This is not to suggest that my thoughts possess innate value on their own or even of any value to others in or out of my brain, but they possess value to me.
When I tweeted that I was crossing the Red River into Texas several weeks ago I felt like a dumbass for doing so because no one cared. I hesitate to contribute when I am not increasing the value or expanding the understanding.
If I could add an eleventh to your excellent list it would simply be:
11. I am.
Hey Douglas, I am sure you are not the first person who doesn’t click with Twitter. We all have different styles of communicating. I personally really like the “lite” aspect of it and the way I am able to have mirco-conversations.
About crossing the Red River into Texas thing…I am so geographically displaced from you that I would have felt like the dumb@@@ because I don’t quite know what that means (sorry). But it sounds cool. Just because nobody responds doesn’t mean they don’t care or think it sounds interesting
Expanding understanding and increasing value…well, every person has a story to tell made up of a lot of little stories. Crossing the red river is part of yours (I certainly can’t cross the red river, at least not right now) so don’t hesitate to tell us your story. It’s how we get to know you! The more (of yourself) you put into it the more you get out of it…
I like a “a story of little stories”.