What The Heck Is Twitter, Anyway?
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SpeakerTeacher
- sefeswick: Finally, lunch out with my wife and no talk of cancer!
sefeswick: Finally, lunch out with my wife and no talk of cancer! - 2 weeks ago
- sefeswick: Surviving Hodgkins Lymphoma, considering it a "teaching" cancer NOT a "killing" cancer. Any thoughts on the difference between the two?
sefeswick: Surviving Hodgkins Lymphoma, considering it a "teaching" cancer NOT a "killing" cancer. Any thoughts on the difference between the two? - 2 months ago
- sefeswick: Impatiently awaiting the grand reveal of Genesis Worldwide this weekend.
sefeswick: Impatiently awaiting the grand reveal of Genesis Worldwide this weekend. - 10 months ago
Twitter was developed with the vision of producing "stream-of-consciousness content". A "Twitter" is 140 characters or less, and the key feature of Twitter is the ability to subscribe to the Twitter-streams of people you know (or would like to know).
While it may seem difficult at first glance to understand why anyone would want access to a stream-of-consciousness feed from the brain of someone else, even someone they know and love dearly, there have been some interesting applications identified.
Reported on the Twitter blog recently was the use of Twitter to track the movements of tornados in real time.
Living in the Bay Area, we have noticed that we reach for our phones to Twitter the second we feel an earthquake. It looks like Anne Jackson has discovered that Twitter can play a helpful role during Tornados too.
"... even though they were hiding in closets and basements, they could know exactly where the tornado was because of Twitter."
Twitter integrates with mobile phones, so if you are using it purely by visiting the website, you may be missing some of the reasons why the avid users are so, well, avid.
Follow Or Be Followed
Misha
- malexandrov: Just nominated HubPages for Best Site for Publishers http://mashable.com/owa #openwebawards
malexandrov: Just nominated HubPages for Best Site for Publishers http://mashable.com/owa #openwebawards - 3 weeks ago
- malexandrov: @pinkpackrat the question is - how to deal with what you don't like? :)
malexandrov: @pinkpackrat the question is - how to deal with what you don't like? :) - 2 months ago
- malexandrov: @kenny_wordsmith Hi brother, congrats on your rain :)
malexandrov: @kenny_wordsmith Hi brother, congrats on your rain :) - 3 months ago
Twitter Neologisms (Twerds)
Like all in-groups, avid users of Twitter are developing their own jargon. Here is a partial list from a non-official source:
1. Tweet- A twitter message
2. Twoosh- a tweet that is exactly 140 characters
3. Twude- A guy on twitter. Twitter Dude.
4. Twerd- A word used mainly on twitter. Anything in this list.
5. Twat- Same in real world as on twitter.
6. Twarf- A single word tweet
7. Twerk- A jerk or asshole on twitter.
8. Tweetup- Meeting up offline with people from twitter.
9. Twup- Picking up someone via twitter. Also considered a Twup if done at a Tweetup.
10. Twugs- Various meaning depending on tweet. Either a thug on twitter, or reference to drug use on twitter.
Global Twits (I mean Twitterers)
Darkside
- startpoint: Just nominated HubPages for Best Site for Publishers http://mashable.com/owa #openwebawards
startpoint: Just nominated HubPages for Best Site for Publishers http://mashable.com/owa #openwebawards - 3 weeks ago
- startpoint: You just sold a domain name for $80,000... COOL! But it was Yahoo that bought it... OMG! http://bit.ly/omgyahoo
startpoint: You just sold a domain name for $80,000... COOL! But it was Yahoo that bought it... OMG! http://bit.ly/omgyahoo - 3 months ago
- startpoint: @kevinpollak Any chance you'll be in Australia this year or next to do stand-up or film shoot?
startpoint: @kevinpollak Any chance you'll be in Australia this year or next to do stand-up or film shoot? - 4 months ago
Not many statistics have been published on Twitter usage yet, with its existence as a separate entity barely a year long, but this chart appeared on the Twitter blog in February.
Twitter's traffic comes from SMS, Instant Message, Mobile Web, and API projects, as well as traditional (or a Twitteres refer to it, "old-fashioned") web traffic. 60% of Twitter's web traffic comes from outside the United States and this chart shows the top ten non-US sources.
This chart is just web traffic. It doesn't include any of the other popular ways that people use Twitter. The blog notes - Australia ranks 6th if we look at SMS usage. We'd get altogether different numbers if we looked at instant messaging, m.twitter.com, and API devices such as Twitterrific.
Waynet
- waynetully: Check out 'The Craft of Tattooing' by Erick Alayon #tattoo(Paperback - J... http://bit.ly/3FEv8E
waynetully: Check out 'The Craft of Tattooing' by Erick Alayon #tattoo(Paperback - J... http://bit.ly/3FEv8E - 5 hours ago
- waynetully: Credit Debt, #debt http://hubpages.com/t/e9cd4
waynetully: Credit Debt, #debt http://hubpages.com/t/e9cd4 - 10 hours ago
- waynetully: Debt Management Methods,#debt http://hubpages.com/t/e968e
waynetully: Debt Management Methods,#debt http://hubpages.com/t/e968e - 25 hours ago
You might think that such tiny bursts of information would be mostly noise, or occasionally perhaps news, but certainly not creative or interesting writing. Think again.
Twitter has already spawned two literary forms which celebrate the creative challenge of the 140 character limitation - the Twitter haiku, and the Twittory.
A Twitter Haiku
Seven score keystrokes
Life summarized for my friends
Instant messaging.
The Twittory
A Twittory is a piece of collaborative fiction, composed of 140 individual Twitters, each of 140 characters or less.
For example, a Twittory for middle-school students begins:
1. In the depths of New York City, on top of the Empire State Building, a creature rested. That creature was me.
2. As I feel my life slipping away from me, I can barely remember a time when I was happy. I remember my friends and family. Like a dream.
3. I feel like I'm totaly lost. It's like I'm in a scary movie. I can't even see because it's so foggy. What am I going to do? Where can I go?
4. Maybe I'll slowly creep away tonight, while the city sleeps, and make my way back to the depths of the ocean. A place I call home.
5. As I start down, I can still see movement in the city. So I creep lightly through dark alleys so nobody can see me. Suddenly,
6. I see a light turn on in a window. My eyes lock with a young woman holding a baby. She screams and I start to run.
You can follow the progress of this Twittory at twitter.com/manyvoices.
The Many Voices Twitter Feed
- manyvoices: , mom said with a tear. We walk over to the sandy beach, sit down, and watch the sun set over the rippling sea. Finally, a family again.
manyvoices: , mom said with a tear. We walk over to the sandy beach, sit down, and watch the sun set over the rippling sea. Finally, a family again. - 2 years ago
- manyvoices: Bob forced us to do it. I thought I could fix it later when we had time. But we have been trapped for 5 years. Thanks to you were reunited.
manyvoices: Bob forced us to do it. I thought I could fix it later when we had time. But we have been trapped for 5 years. Thanks to you were reunited. - 2 years ago
- manyvoices: The street we are on is filled with dark passages. We're well hidden. "STOP", I shout. "Why did you experiment on me in the first place?!?"
manyvoices: The street we are on is filled with dark passages. We're well hidden. "STOP", I shout. "Why did you experiment on me in the first place?!?" - 2 years ago
Attention Overload Disorder
Inspirepub
- inspirepub: URGENT: It's Late, But There's A Mega Bonus Inside - Cash-Smart Kids News http://aweber.com/b/1bn07
inspirepub: URGENT: It's Late, But There's A Mega Bonus Inside - Cash-Smart Kids News http://aweber.com/b/1bn07 - 8 months ago
- inspirepub: Cash Smart Kids News Dec 2008/Jan 2009 - Giving Back http://aweber.com/b/1t.NV
inspirepub: Cash Smart Kids News Dec 2008/Jan 2009 - Giving Back http://aweber.com/b/1t.NV - 9 months ago
- inspirepub: Cash-Smart Kids News Nov 2008 - The Competition Winners! http://aweber.com/b/WnhG
inspirepub: Cash-Smart Kids News Nov 2008 - The Competition Winners! http://aweber.com/b/WnhG - 12 months ago
Not All Beer And Skittles
Not all users are thrilled with the Twitter experience, however.
The Wall Street Journal wrote, "These social-networking services elicit mixed feelings in the technology-savvy people who have been their early adopters. Fans say they are a good way to keep in touch with busy friends. But some users are starting to feel 'too' connected, as they grapple with check-in messages at odd hours, higher cellphone bills and the need to tell acquaintances to stop announcing what they're having for dinner."
Jeff Jarvis, columnist for the Guardian, reckons this is just a teething problem.
When I first used the microblogging platform Twitter - which enables users to publish 140-character-long messages via the web and mobile phones - I thought it was silly. Or rather, the uses to which it was being put were silly: people announcing that they'd just woken up or what they'd had for breakfast. I couldn't have cared less. But then I should confess that when I first used blogs and podcasts, I didn't fully comprehend their impact either. So, when my son and webmaster told me I should take another stab at Twitter, I did. And I now see it is an important evolutionary step in the rise of blogging.
Jarvis sees Twitter as the platform on which breaking news can be rapidly dispersed, and which can allow a myriad of small pieces of information to be assembled quickly into a "real" news article. He cites political journalist Ana Marie Cox, who is using Twitter to make her signature brand of jibs and snipes in real time as she attends political functions.
Spin room has already started. Can hear the gentle murmur of BS already sloshing about in the hall ... McCain donor just announced he was footing the bar bill for the night. You can start calling him ‘ambassador' now ... Ron Paul compresses coal into diamonds in his mouth ... Mitt has so many things ‘in my bloodstream' (cars, Michigan, business) you could make a v powerful vaccine out of him ...
I guess there are still some teething times to go!
A Contrarian View
This is a fascinating blog post about the ability of Twitter to spread news faster than any other medium - news which is too small to be noticed by the mainstream media, but can be make-or-break for a given company or individual.
I can see the potential this has to become yet another avenue for bullying and intimidation in the hands of bored pubescents, but I can also see the blog author's point that certain types of action, particularly words spoken in haste or in malice, previously cloaked in anonymity, can now be in the full glare of public view within minutes of coming out of someone's mouth.
What if anything you ever said behind someone's back was broadcast instantly?
How would that change the way we behave?
Would it make us all politer? Or more devious?
Beyond Blogging
Paraglider
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Comments
Great Hub Inspirepub - I have heard of twitter but haven't got to it yet - I still struggle with the concept of facebook- I'm just an old dinosaur who likes my email :) . i now looking forward to checking out what Misha and Darkside had for their last meals!
LOL, Lissie! I don't know if that's what they Twitter. And Misha is on a hunger strike this weekend, I believe.
I tend to Twitter websites of interest, but I am not sure what good it does me, or the website, to do it.
Inspirehub, the very first time I heard of Twitter was late last night in the forum. My response was, "What the heck is twitter?". You've answered my question, but I'm with Lissie here - I don't really understand why anyone would want minute details about someone else's activities, and it seems too complicated for my antique brain.
It's obvious from this hub that you understand it very well, and I thank-you for explaining it in such a humorous fashion. I had to chuckle a couple of times.
Great writing!
My pleasure, Shirley. I don't really get the point, either. I am just waiting for someone who DOES see the point to swing by and enlighten us all in the comments section!
Good luck with that. =)
I was using twitter in the past, but i din't like it very much. It's good for some promotion, but for social relations i prefer others, like facebook or myspace. Nevertheless, you made a superb job with this hub.
I think Twitter can be interesting and fun for some people that like to keep track of their friends where abouts. Yesterday I did not know what Twitter was either, so thank you for giving us a good intro Inspirepub. My only concern about Twitter would be teenagers using this service if their parents do not have an unlimited text message plan because that could become pretty expensive.
Excellent Hub, thanks for sharing! Twitter can be very addictive if your not careful .
Oh, SweetiePie, that's a scary thought! My girls use so many texts as it is, and they have never HEARD of Twitter. And their friends will text them at 11 o'clock at night! We have had to make them plug their phones in to charge in the living room so they get some sleep.
Imagine if you were following people all over the world, and getting a text message each time ... shudder ...
I heard about college students having 400 dollars in text messages alone per month, so I am sure Twitter would not help lol. Thanks for sharing this hub with us though because now at least we know how to use it. I just hope no one writes anything too weird on their twitters, are the messages called twitters?
Tweets - unless they have exactly 140 characters, in which case they are a Twoosh.
No, I don't use the thing! I just read the dictionary half-way down the Hub ;)
Hi, Jenny!
This is an excellent hub. However, I don't think I will be using this service. The last thing I need is more notification than I already get from dozens of social networks I already have LOL. At least now I know what it is and to avoid it like the plague! Thanks for the explaination!
Bonnie
Well, you don't have to get the notifications - I haven't told it my phone number, so it leaves me alone. :)
Today I discovered there is an application to add your twitter updates to Facebook, which will let more people know about what you are doing on Twitter.
You can get an RSS feed of your Twitter stream, and put that anywhere RSS feeds are enabled - which is how I did the links above.
I get addicted to thatsite where you can see the globe spin every time someone tweets. It's mesmerizing! lol
tiff ;)
So, Tiff, have you found any productive business use for Twitter yet?
Oh Twitter. I tried to do this for a bit, but then I realized that I really did not want to know about what everyone was up to. I do like some of the storytelling that goes on there though and I was following the Zombie twitter feed for awhile. I do think there have been some really creative uses of the format.
I guess any new medium will inspire creative types to go great things. I'm still wondering whether there is any point in posting things there. My current thinking is that if Newsvine get difficult about me posting press releases (they already cut me off because I posted blog posts), then Twitter might be the place to build my list of news items on a particular topic into an RSS feed for my Hubs.
I was amazed at how many 3rd party apps are available for Twitter, hundreds of apps, I am compiling a list now. AND almost every Blogger has something on their Blog about Twitter. I purchased a ebook for $5, WASTE OF MONEY! Oh well live and learn especially since there is so much free stuff available now, one lady has an entire guide on the subject for free on her blog.
I hope you are going to put all this info on a Hub, then, MyGenie?
I have never used Twitter so this information is very helpful, thanks.
Glad to be of service ...
Awesome article! I really like "the twitter curve" chart - it drives home the point how much we all suffer from "attention deficit".
To balance things out though, Twitter can be a great research tool if used the right way.
Do tell .....?
Jenny
Another great Hub on a topic of interest to web users and social networking enthusiasts.
I don't twitter yet but I've heard a number of people extoling its virtues recently. I was talking to a guy called Ron Edwards, MD of a company called Ambient Performance, who was speaking on Web 2.0 and modern learning at a conference in London a couple of weeks ago. He was really enthusiastic about Twitter.
I struggle with the whole instant communication thing, including text messaging, but I can see it adds a new dimension to social networking.
Did he say what exactly the benefits of Twitter ARE, in his view?
I never heard of this before today. Sounds almost like stalking by consent. This was an interesting hub. Thanks for educating us!
LOL, interesting way to put it! It seems that Gen Y get nervous if they are not in constant contact with their friends ...
OK, I'll tell (the benefits of twittering.) But first, I must share that I'm really not a big fan of social networking. I resisted it for the last few years and only really got into this a couple of weeks ago.
I even wrote an article sharing my views and questioning the value of social networking on of my blogs. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to share it here. If you think so, let me know and I'll post another comment with a link to it.
Now, about this twitter thing. At first I thought it was a total waste of time. But I warmed up to it a little bit in the last week. Here is how I see it beneficial.
1) It seems like a fairly fast way to build a following. In my case I got to over 100 people in just a few days.
2) This following can be leveraged to test ideas. When you post a tweet and it starts a "heated" flow of responses, I know it's a topic that is of value to a lot of people and worth exploring.
If a tweet dies quietly, it also tells me clearly I missed the mark in terms of getting my audience engaged and interested.
3) Because many "big name gurus" got into twittering it's a good way to make valuable connections that wouldn't be easily possible otherwise.
Again, in my case, I was able to almost instantly connect with a half a dozen of people with whom I was trying to get together for months.
It seems that (at least for now) people are very responsive to twitter posts. So with some of those connections I went from a total stranger to being in a mastermind together in a matter of two or three days.
So as disruptive as twitter is (and I only check it a couple of times a day) I believe it does offer some very real benefit. But my bottom line advise on using it is this - make sure it's a good fit for your overall business building strategy before you become addicted to it ;-)
BTW, here is a really good short video talking about the benefit of twitter. It's from Sherman Hu - one of the leading experts on "Web 2.0" type stuff. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=29267977
I hope this helps everyone get another perspective on this tool.
Thanks for this, adamu - very interesting reading. And by all means, post a link to a relevant blog post in a comment. It's not considered "spamming" if it's clearly relevant material you're linking to.
I found out about Twitter from your article here and signed up under the name moneymagnet. I hope others on twitter will feel free to add me as well. I love Twitter. It forces you to stay in the "NOW" the only time in which we can enact change in our lives.
Jenny, do you ever sleep? How do you stay on the top of responding to all the posts, questions, comments - and still get something done?
Here is that article I mentioned earlier http://www.infoprofitinsider.com/2008/04/23/social
It's a new blog and I haven't yet figured out what I want it to be when "it grows up" ;-)
Wow, Jenny! This is really helpful - the hub and the conversation here. I too was wondering what the point of it was. I started using it a while back, but can't say that I "got it." Now at least I know what it is all about. Thanks for a great hub :)
Well, adamu, I am in Australia, so I sleep from 9am to 5pm EST.
Glad it helped you, Amy Jane.
I'm glad you wrote this one because I've asked myself that question many times. Good info!
Glad to be of service .... :)
I'm walking across the hall, I'm going to the bathroom, I'm putting toothpaste on my brush, I'm unscrewing the lid, I'm squeezing the tube,
zz zz zz zz
LOL deliver us all...lol
good hub
=)
Great Hub, as usual Jenny.
I personally use Twitter for sharing interesting article or blog posts I find. I hope to build a following of people who are interested in the same kind of content and create relationships with those people.
Of course, you have to be very careful it's not just a humongous time suck and I haven't gotten into it properly yet for that reason.
Oh this hub rocks. Is anyone on here really into twitter? I like tried it out for a week and ditched it because I didn't know anyone who has it. There is one girl at work who has it but allof her friends are really techy and have it so I felt like a loser in comparison.Now, I make fun of twitter to make myself feel better.:*(
I think any of these Web 2.0 platforms can be a huge time sink. Just look at how much time we all spend hanging about on HubPages!
I can't imagine being able to maintain a meaningful presence on more than a couple, especially with the effort it takes to build up "fans", "friends" and "followers" on any of them.
Hi Jenny,
Well looks like I'm the first to have updated this thread after reading your tweet.
Good to catch up again - haven't seen you around for ages. (But then again I havent been here much.
Cheers,
Eric G.
Finally I understand. I keep on reading about twitter but never had the idea what it's all about. Great hub!
Mark Bennett says:
2 years ago
I never saw the point of it, myself. And I can't imagine anything worse than getting a text message to say a friend of mine is sewing on a button, or something equally trivial! Nicely done Hub, though - I love a good graph.