That's not twitter's fault that's just lazy journalism.
Also text messages are 140 characters too, do they also get your ire?
Sorry but it's here and the 140 characters is its strength, because, if as you say, it's full of people waffling on into the void, at least I only have to read 140 characters of their bile instead of multiple paragraphs like you'd get elsewhere.
For those that have something to say, 140 characters means they really have to think about what they're saying and if necessary refine it to just the crucial knub of the matter without any of the waffle which makes each post a concise nugget of information if used right by people who truely get what it is for.
You can't blame it for the minority that misuse it, otherwise no new technology would ever be adopted!
No, there's a smug self superiority about Twitter in the same way that the smug idiot at the party will get out his old Nokia 3210 and wave it around saying "this is the only mobile phone I need! None of this apps nonsense, just a simple phone!" (hiding the fact he plays snake on it...) just to make a point of being "unique" and feeling superior he isn't falling victim to sheep logic, etc.
I'm not accusing anyone in this thread of being like that btw, I'm just saying there's an anti-twitter backlash grabbing onto examples of those misusing the service as if that was all it does.
You can present an argument about anything if you just present the bad stuff and hide the good stuff!
There's a lot more good out there, promise!
i would be interested to hear examples of how Twitter is useful for anything that isn't already available via other means.
i would be interested to hear examples of how Twitter is useful for anything that isn't already available via other means.
Well I have been saved from being abandoned at a train station after the last train home was cancelled by London Midland (tweeted them, they got me a taxi, station wasn't manned either so it's not like I could complain there)
Without that I probably would've been wandering around in an area I didn't know looking for a taxi that would've cost me a fortune to get home.
Great customer service from the London Midland twitter account, if a train is delayed or cancelled I can usually read about it on twitter before any other media and also tweet the people using the account as to exactly why and what my options are for getting home.
Despite their popularity they respond to everyone who tweets them and I imagine that's due to the fact Twitter messages are so short they can get through them all quickly enough before they're overwhelmed.
And during the Summer riots of 2011 I was working for a radio station and we used it to interact and give our followers the latest information about where the riots were happening (They were being reported as happening in our area when we had people on the scene we'd tweeted who were confirming there was nothing going on...). Since it was quite late at night we weren't actually able to use the radio station itself for this so Twitter certainly helped in this instance.
This is just 2 off the top of my head, not to mention all the pleasant conversations I've had with people I wouldn't have met otherwise, etc.
I understand why you're being all Stuart Lee about it, I see annoying people on it all the time but I don't follow it and block people who turn out that way after initially looking interesting.
But there are a lot of people out there who are doing it right, otherwise it would've collapsed in on itself now if it was just a celebrity stalking or blogging place, people get bored of seeing their "heroes" be normal people anyway so usually don't bother with them after their initial curiosity.
(I admit I Googled for the most unusual and dramatic one I could find. But I do find Twitter useful for following things I'm in, especially as some of their events can be at very short notice )
i would be interested to hear examples of how Twitter is useful for anything that isn't already available via other means.
Twitter was universally regarded as being by far the best way (and possibly only way) of staying up to date with the riots as they were happening. It's also been an enormous help travel-wise during the snow as you can just search for your train route and see if other users have mentioned problems. For actual knowledge, Twitter's nothing special, but for infrastructure and day-to-day problems, it's invaluable - which, actually, is what almost everyone I know uses it for.
I use twitter to keep regularly updated with the situation in Mali through links to media sources and various independent tweeters. I used twitter to follow the Arab Spring, particularly interesting and useful to see the comments from those present (particularly evident in the Egyptian Tahrir square demonstations).
As a tennis fan I use twitter to get immediate news updates, results, and to have far more interesting conversations about the sport than I ever have had on forums.
Twitter is also becoming a great tool for satire and parody, with some very witty mock and spoof accounts.
All these comments about how twitter is for narcissists and full of people tweeting about their food are clearly lazy regurgitation of lines people have read in other forms of media, with no real thought or investigation of their own into the positive uses of the format. Of course there are people who use twitter for that (and hey, why shouldn't they, if that's what they want?) but if you don't want to read it, you just don't follow that person.
Still, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be as quick to judge people who go on the internet to talk to strangers about a television programme featuring a time-travelling alien.
Comments
i would be interested to hear examples of how Twitter is useful for anything that isn't already available via other means.
Well I have been saved from being abandoned at a train station after the last train home was cancelled by London Midland (tweeted them, they got me a taxi, station wasn't manned either so it's not like I could complain there)
Without that I probably would've been wandering around in an area I didn't know looking for a taxi that would've cost me a fortune to get home.
Great customer service from the London Midland twitter account, if a train is delayed or cancelled I can usually read about it on twitter before any other media and also tweet the people using the account as to exactly why and what my options are for getting home.
Despite their popularity they respond to everyone who tweets them and I imagine that's due to the fact Twitter messages are so short they can get through them all quickly enough before they're overwhelmed.
And during the Summer riots of 2011 I was working for a radio station and we used it to interact and give our followers the latest information about where the riots were happening (They were being reported as happening in our area when we had people on the scene we'd tweeted who were confirming there was nothing going on...). Since it was quite late at night we weren't actually able to use the radio station itself for this so Twitter certainly helped in this instance.
This is just 2 off the top of my head, not to mention all the pleasant conversations I've had with people I wouldn't have met otherwise, etc.
I understand why you're being all Stuart Lee about it, I see annoying people on it all the time but I don't follow it and block people who turn out that way after initially looking interesting.
But there are a lot of people out there who are doing it right, otherwise it would've collapsed in on itself now if it was just a celebrity stalking or blogging place, people get bored of seeing their "heroes" be normal people anyway so usually don't bother with them after their initial curiosity.
Twitter: Better than you think.
(I admit I Googled for the most unusual and dramatic one I could find. But I do find Twitter useful for following things I'm in, especially as some of their events can be at very short notice
Twitter was universally regarded as being by far the best way (and possibly only way) of staying up to date with the riots as they were happening. It's also been an enormous help travel-wise during the snow as you can just search for your train route and see if other users have mentioned problems. For actual knowledge, Twitter's nothing special, but for infrastructure and day-to-day problems, it's invaluable - which, actually, is what almost everyone I know uses it for.
As a tennis fan I use twitter to get immediate news updates, results, and to have far more interesting conversations about the sport than I ever have had on forums.
Twitter is also becoming a great tool for satire and parody, with some very witty mock and spoof accounts.
All these comments about how twitter is for narcissists and full of people tweeting about their food are clearly lazy regurgitation of lines people have read in other forms of media, with no real thought or investigation of their own into the positive uses of the format. Of course there are people who use twitter for that (and hey, why shouldn't they, if that's what they want?) but if you don't want to read it, you just don't follow that person.
Still, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be as quick to judge people who go on the internet to talk to strangers about a television programme featuring a time-travelling alien.