Twitter and Me
Originally posted at nora at inkstain.
I’ve been using a lot of Twitter lately, and I’ve also been spending a lot of time trying to explain Twitter to people. Here’s the basic explanation of what you can do with Twitter:
Post whatever you want as long as it’s under 140 characters.
To which people reply with “why”. What can you say in 140 characters?
Here are some of the things I say:
Twitter creates a dialogue between people as well. A lot of my Twitter feed is me bantering with my dad about things. People find it amusing. It’s also been a good way to get to know people I admire- mainly comic artists and pod casters- which is always fun.
Also, it’s how I found out that UNM had a position for a student on their web team. I am much happier at my new job than at my old job.
A problem with Twitter is that there are things that you cannot say in 140 characters. Here is a list of things that usually take more than 140 characters:
Luckily, mediums like this already exist:
So even if you use Twitter, you still have the option of publishing things that you cannot say in 140 characters in other mediums. You cannot, however, make poetic comments about the weather or banter about the dead cow you saw on the Rail Runner today in those other mediums, so I’m gonna keep using Twitter.
Further reading:
I’ve been using a lot of Twitter lately, and I’ve also been spending a lot of time trying to explain Twitter to people. Here’s the basic explanation of what you can do with Twitter:
Post whatever you want as long as it’s under 140 characters.
To which people reply with “why”. What can you say in 140 characters?
Here are some of the things I say:
- happy new year. if you’re reading this: drink some fucking water. you’ll thank me tomorrow.
- The wind outside is literally howling and the sunlight peaking out from the clouds makes the fluttering leaves sparkle a bit. #NMWeather
- Snow-covered trees in the foregroud of my window seem to make headlights flicker and tremble as cars drive past, grabbing my attention.
Twitter creates a dialogue between people as well. A lot of my Twitter feed is me bantering with my dad about things. People find it amusing. It’s also been a good way to get to know people I admire- mainly comic artists and pod casters- which is always fun.
Also, it’s how I found out that UNM had a position for a student on their web team. I am much happier at my new job than at my old job.
A problem with Twitter is that there are things that you cannot say in 140 characters. Here is a list of things that usually take more than 140 characters:
- Short stories
- Newspaper articles
- Blog entries
- Love letters
- Novels
- Scholarly essays
Luckily, mediums like this already exist:
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Blogs
- Books
- Journals
So even if you use Twitter, you still have the option of publishing things that you cannot say in 140 characters in other mediums. You cannot, however, make poetic comments about the weather or banter about the dead cow you saw on the Rail Runner today in those other mediums, so I’m gonna keep using Twitter.
Further reading:
- Hey, Twitter Fans, What Are You Doing? (ABQJournal, Leslie Linthicum)
- Somebody just doesn’t get Twitter (NMFBIHOP)
- I’m So Totally, Digitally Close To You (New York Times, Clive Thompson)