Hello there, friends. This post is going to be about Twitter and its (mis)uses, so if you’re anti-Twit, you may want to look away now.
So. I am on Twitter. I am a very, shall we say, casual Tweeter. I log on a couple of times a week, I stay for an hour or so, and then I’m off. I am aware that this is not How You Tweet Big Time and Create an Army of Followers. For me, that’s fine. I have a very limited amount of time for social networking, I can think of better ways to procrastinate (making my delighted way through the collected works of Hilary Mantel springs to mind), and – I think this is the key – I don’t have a smartphone.
My cellphone is older than my firstborn child. Put differently: it’s so old that I have to text using the number pad. Yes, I press “1” seven times, just to get an exclamation point. So to use Twitter, I have to be sitting in front of my (only slightly less ancient) laptop. And I am not one of the gifted few who can Tweet and write fiction at the same time, so when I sit down to work, I only log on to Twitter when I’m stuck.
I do enjoy Twitter, when it’s good. I follow some fascinating and funny people. I have terrific conversations, from time to time. I’ve found a couple of new favourite blogs and news sites because of Twitter links. But when Twitter is bad, it’s like a collection of the most boring and self-regarding pub-ranters in the universe, mounted on soapboxes, braying through megaphones about their special interests. And increasingly, I find myself wondering, “What am I doing here?”
So, I’m turning to you, dear readers, for advice: how do you use Twitter? Do you love it (or at least really, really like it)? What’s the best thing you’ve found about Twitter? What one thing you avoid doing on or about Twitter? Any other words of wisdom?
Thank you!
Khai says
I used to have a little utility that aggregated all my twitter/FB/etc feeds into one stock ticker like stream. I rather liked it as some of my friends post really interesting links and articles about things I’d never have discovered on my own. For some reason my tool died and I never replaced it. I don’t really miss it.
shel says
My usage is similar to yours. I check it when convenient. I like how I can @ authors/people directly. For short messages/feedback it seems like a good option over email.
Shann says
is there an estimated release date for the fourth book? I’ve been dying to read it for this past year! 🙂
Ying says
Thanks for your insights, Khai and shel. I wonder who all these power-Tweeters are? And Shann, there isn’t, I’m afraid. I’m still writing it, so it will be at least a year. Sorry for the bad news.