To be or not to be

May 03, 2010 16:38

...on Twitter.
Your vote? I got an account several years ago but never used it. Should I start? Why/why not?

avoiding real work, query

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Comments 21

youngwilliam May 3 2010, 20:46:36 UTC
It all depends if you're into "microblogging".

Basically, you know the Status update-field on FaceBook (or any other itty-bitty text-message sized social networking infobit)? If you think you'll actually want to bother cranking those out on their own, and if you think folks would actually want to see/read them, then yes.

If you're the sort of person who feels that anything under 160 characters isn't really worth mentioning internetilly, then no.

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gravityslave May 3 2010, 20:50:10 UTC
It would be something
to post solely in haiku;
expressive, succinct.

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youngwilliam May 3 2010, 20:56:21 UTC
Alas, I'm not sure if Twitter supports carriage returns, so one would have to come up with some delimiter.

I whole-heartedly support the Haiku-Twitter notion, though!

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gravityslave May 3 2010, 21:05:08 UTC
Slashes are my friends
and those who read poetry
are used to their use.

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thehefner May 3 2010, 21:35:55 UTC
I still mostly find it useless, but if you join, I'll be happy to follow you!

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gravityslave May 4 2010, 15:01:23 UTC
I'd probably never have anything interesting to say, and if it were interesting it would also be undecipherable. :) I mainly want to follow Adam Savage and Amanda Palmer, but one day, when I'm a famous author...
::looks dreamily off into space::

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thehefner May 5 2010, 00:03:11 UTC
The only two Twitter accounts I follow that actively made me want to join Twitter in the first place are Roger Ebert's (http://twitter.com/ebertchicago) and AV CLUB regular commenter ZODIAC M0THERFUCKER (http://twitter.com/ZODIAC_MF), who is the only person I've ever known to turn all-caps shouting into a work of unintentional surrealist art. My favorite tweet? "HOLY SHIT ORANGES ARE A FUCKING HASSLE."

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gravityslave May 24 2010, 02:46:18 UTC
I started, er, tweeting! All in haiku!
wonko_the_sane at your service. (And you are? Never mind. I shall already have searched and possibly found by the time you read this.)

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katiefoolery May 4 2010, 03:24:48 UTC
Twitter's fun - it's sort of like the way you talk to people when you're concentrating on something else. I like being in contact with my friends in different states without the expectations of instant messaging or something. And I also love seeing the photos people post (and posting my own).

I'm here on Twitter. Let me know if you sign up so I can follow you. :)

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gravityslave May 4 2010, 15:05:57 UTC
I like the way you phrase that. You know, there are pro comments and con comments and two neutral comments... I'm thinking I might bite, but I have to time my Internet use so I don't go forgetting that I'm a mom.
I think it might help me practise being concise, which is something I need to improve upon in my writing (and conversation.)

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phillipalden May 4 2010, 05:16:19 UTC
I got an account and I never use it.

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gravityslave May 4 2010, 15:08:07 UTC
Yeah, see, this is what I'm thinking - I'll either never use it or spend too much time on it and miss life. At the same time, I want to follow certain other people (see above) and posting on twitter could potentially improve my writing style - counter-intuitive, I know, but possible.

Argh. I think I might try it. I can always quit if it doesn't work out. Hah! Like I haven't said that many times before. :)

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roaming May 4 2010, 07:30:57 UTC
Well, since you asked: :-)

I'm against it. It tends to encourage people to post their brain farts. "Yum, tacos for lunch." "Waiting for the bus." "Lost my earring." "Had a great bowel movement just now." Who cares?!?!?! It rots the brain. Useless info overload. Like too many fat free cookies: not as satisfying as one of The Real Thing.

Just because something exists and "everyone is doing it" doesn't mean it's worth the time.

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gravityslave May 4 2010, 15:14:29 UTC
Those are all excellent points. I wouldn't wind up doing those things, though, because I'm pretentious and a perfectionist and have a preferred aesthetic that doesn't involve discussions about poo (except with my seven-year-old, when necessary.)
I responded to other comments above about why I'm thinking about it and why it's a double-edged sword (you know, I never got that metaphor, because aren't all swords double-edged? I mean, I guess scimitars might not be, but you can't very well stab someone with something that's only sharp on one side, right?)

I think I might try it, and if I feel my soul being sucked out of my body (Facebook tugs at it, but to no avail) I'll quit.

I can't help but feel a bit frightened as I go forth into the insanity.

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roaming May 4 2010, 20:13:21 UTC
You will Become One With the Borg!

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gravityslave May 24 2010, 02:48:32 UTC
You have all been told
that resistance is futile,
and now it is proved.

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