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Why do you Twitter?
I was looking at the amount of Twitter updates that I’ve published thus far and I was astounded to see the numbers (currently 1,061). There’s no question that the service has become a huge means of online communication almost second I would say to emails. I’ve mentioned the service to a few friends who are not necessarily as enthusiastic about the web as I am I guess which leads me to think that while the service may not be for everyone, it’s certainly gaining popularity for what it’s worth.
I failed to catch notice on the existence of Twitter until several months after it’s inception and when I did, I thought the whole idea was flawed. The gist of it: inform people of “what you’re doing?” in a short and concise manner. My personal reaction to this was, why not just text or called them for this?
That would be the solution but what I eventually learned and ultimately fascinated me about the service, as an avid blogger, was being able to extend random personal thoughts about topics that you wouldn’t normally blog about not just to people you know personally but to the online community as well. Coincidently, I came across a blog entry entitled “Why Twitter Matters” which conveys exactly what I feel about the service and the state of it:
By following people on Twitter and other microblogging platforms like Facebook, I’ve gotten to know people at a much deeper level than if I was just to read someone’s blog or socialize at a conference.
Short updates allow me to know a person’s favorite sports teams, restaurants, weekend activities, family adventures and the like. And by weaving together the pieces of someone’s life in this manner, I’m able to know them on a much deeper level. It’s actually quite rewarding on many humanistic levels.
I’ve concluded that I Twitter for all the reasons mentioned above and as much as I blog, I don’t see my interest in Twittering fading away any time soon unless I get an email one day that I’ve exceeded my total amounts of Twitters for the service.
