Not buying the Twitter hype. Not yet, anyway.
“amandita @girlonetrack This should brighten your day @mikecane put you in his list of Top Writers to follow on Twitter. http://bit.ly/qXvT”
But WHY? Let’s take a look:
After doing a 16 hour day, seeing @stephenfry saying ‘w00t! *does stupid dance*’ has finally put a much-needed smile on my face.
ED> GREAT. SHE’S HAPPY.
Holding up a big Do Not Disturb sign to the Internet. Seriously, I mean it. Back online later if anyone needs me.
ED> UH OH, SHE’S UNHAPPY
What I meant to say was – at 12 Noon register here http://twinterval.eventbrit… for tickets to Twinterval: first batch released today!
ED> SHE’S PITCHING A PARTY
RT @twinterval: You’ll be able to RSVP for Twinterval via Event Brite when we release the link for first batch of tickets at 12 Noon today!
ED> SHE’S STILL PITCHING A PARTY
Well, that four hour sleep was lots of fun.
ED> I HAVE NO IDEA WHY SHE WANTS ME TO KNOW THIS.
Everyone else reads this http://is.gd/9F0Q and laughs. I read it and notice the word “be” missing from the 6th para. What is wrong with me?
ED> HMM. MAYBE YOUR ABILITY TO ONLY THINK IN 140 CHARACTERS MEANS YOU SEE THE TREES AND NOT THE WOOD? BUT YOU’RE A WRITER, SO.. MAYBE IT JUST MEANS YOU’RE A GOOD WRITER WITH ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
David Walliams: yes. Little Britain: not so much.
ED> GIRLONETRACK HAZ OPINION. WOOT. DOES LITTLE DANCE.
Gosh, thanks, all. I do love crowd-sourcing ideas… #TeaCampLondon seems a good bet & allows for/ might inspire other regional Tea Camps
ED> SHE’S INVITING SOME FRIENDS FOR TEA. QUICK. TELL EVERYONE. IT’S A WORLD CHANGING MIND BLOWING IDEA. THIS WOMAN IS A CHUFFING GENIUS!
Bugger, there’s already a ‘Teacamp’ http://www.govhack.com/TeaCamp but it’s not really a “camp” per se, is it? Thoughts/suggestions?
ED> THINKS: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! SUGGESTS: NOTHING.
Really excited by everyone’s enthusiasm for a #TeaCamp. Teacamp.com now procured, event likely to be in Feb. ‘09. Watch this space!
ED> GIRLONETRACK HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO.
TeaCamp# it is then. With biscuits homemade or otherwise of course. Bring tea (leaves, bags) and an empty bladder! More news in early ‘09!
ED> GREAT SO THERE’S A TEA PARTY AT SOME TIME NEXT YEAR. THAT’S FREAKIN’ AWESOME NEWS!! MAN OH MAN! I CAN’T WAIT!! OH.. I HAVE TO BEING MY OWN TEA? WHAT KIND OF A CRAPPY TEA PARTY IS THAT?
(I know this is in reverse chronological order, but the point still stands.)
I don’t mean any offence by this post, and an idle browse through the realm of the world of the Twit (eg http://twitter.com/ed_dowding) will show that there’s not very much that actually needs to be said, but
we’re damned if that’s going to stop us from saying it.
Perhaps the question should not be “What are you doing?” but “What’s worth sharing that’s going to make your world a better place?”, or perhaps there could be a 10 minute embargoes which tweet you back saying “Ten minutes ago you posted ‘David Walliams: yes. Little Britain: not so much.’ Are you sure this is worth interrupting someone to say?”
6 Comments, Comment or Ping
i
Commenting on my own post here..
This is supposed to be one of the writers WORTH FOLLOWING on the internet. Therefore most people aren’t going to know her. Therefore by following the herd creates the hype. And if the credit crunch has taught us nothing (and I fear that’s the case), it’s that value built on top of nothing of worth is going to end up in a small number of rich people and a lot of disappointed people.
@girlonetrack — I’m truly sorry for picking you out like this. I really should have critiqued my own gibberish. The same style of comments work for https://twitter.com/ed_dowding
Dec 2nd, 2008
Kerry Gaffney
I thought Twitter was a complete load of tosh when I first heard about it, and I think most ppl do, it wasn’t until I started using it that I realised the value.
The good thing about Twitter is that I know that I’m not actually interrupting anybody, its a completly opt-in service, you can choose who to follow and to stop following them after one inane comment too many.
I’d kinda like the idea of changinng the ‘What are you doing?’ to “What’s worth sharing that’s going to make your world a better place?” but the only problem is that it’s almost impossible to make that sort of value judegement. A comment that is insignificant to one person might spark off an amazing idea in someone else, or perhaps it will just spark off a bit of conversation between two ppl who didn’t know each other but now find they have something in common. Neither of which are bad things.
Dec 2nd, 2008
Laurent Fintoni
You made me laugh and think, thank you. “What’s worth sharing that’s going to make your world a better place?” – v. true, sometimes innane twitter makes my world a better place by giving me a ‘break’ (a very short one) from the real world, sometimes (quite often in the last few days) i find myself thinking twice or more before twittering something because of exactly that.
Dec 2nd, 2008
Dan Thornton
It’s about individual choice of who to follow and increasing your own relevancy – for instance, I follow her and was interested in details of the party being pitched.
And I find that the incidental information in between might be irrelevant (in which case I skip it), or it may amuse me or make me understand the person in question more, which means I can then make a closer connection should I need to speak to them about business, parties or anything else.
Christ, it’s not like we don’t get to hear irrelevant crap in real life from people we work with, socialise with, or hear on their mobiles on a crowded tube train. At least Twitter allows us to pick out the bits we care about, and not pretend to be interested in holiday or family tales etc.
Dec 2nd, 2008
i
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALbH63Ali9U
Dec 21st, 2008
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