What 'exactly' is Twitter? Every time I try to find out I have to join and

[Bobbieo]

maybe I don't want to. Someone supposedly is trying to contact me.

[Lex]

1. Why don't they just email you if they are trying to contact you?

Seems like that would be the most direct way.

Edited to add: Twitter is just a way to network with friends/colleagues quickly and succinctly.

[RoccoR5955]

4. It's something that Twits with no life, and a lot of free time do. n/t

[Lex]

6. Wrong.

You obviously haven't used it, or don't know how to use it properly.

[RoccoR5955]

26. Sure I use it, I just think it has become the latest over-hyped thing...

...on the Internet. There was IRC, than IM, then blogs, now Twitter. What's next?

Believe me, it's a passing fad. I have been on the 'net since before it was kewl, and I have seen more fads than I can shake a stick at!

[Bobbieo]

7. Why doesn't he contact me directly? That is what I am wondering!

Would respond to him but I don't want to be bothered signing up for the stupid thing. He has some info I could use for my column, too.

[Lex]

9. Just sign up with a throw-away yahoo email account

and a throw-away screen name. I don't think there's any harm in that.

[anigbrowl]

28. Because a one-line reply is less time consuming. Like this one.

[rvablue]

29. You can follow his Tweets online without subscribing....just google

his name and twitter and it will come up in a search.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

2. Someone is supposedly trying to contact you?

Huh?

This piece sums up Twitter pretty well:

OMG! Shut up about Twitter already
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29534317/

Pluses and minuses.

[FloridaJudy]

23. I seem to spend half my life

Avoiding those nitwits who broadcast their every thought and activity no matter how trivial or annoying on their blasted cell-phones - usually when I'm trying to eat or buy groceries "Yeah, I'm in the Chinese restaurant now...egg rolls look good...maybe the won tons..." "Worst case of irritable bowel I've had in a while: must have been the broccoli..." "She didn't! No way! What you said!"

So why on earth should I sign up for a service that charges me for that dubious privilege? Yes, I know Twitter is free, but I have to pay for all those text messages. Some how I don't think that people who have something interesting to say use Twitter a lot. When the Dalai Lama and Neil Gaiman sign up, I might reconsider, but until then: no, thanks.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

24. You're in luck...

at least with Gaiman.

http://twitter.com/neilhimself

As a fan, would you find this information useful?:

"Okay world. Up too early tomorrow to take Maddy to the braces-remover. Now sleeps."

You make a good point about cell phones: Many people don't seem to care how inconsiderate they are when yapping away in public spaces. I've gotten to the point where I frequent businesses (restaurants, salons, etc.) that have a "no cell phones" policy. Can't always be done, but it's much more peaceful than listening to some blowhard.

[FloridaJudy]

25. Oh dear.

I think I'll just wait until the novel comes out.

That's a thought: has anyone ever written a novel featuring a scary orthodontist? Maybe Gaiman can do for braces what Marathon Man did for root canals.

[hvn_nbr_2]

3. When someone I don't know is trying to contact me from a site where I'm not signed up...

I assume it's B.S. and spam.

[sufrommich]

5. Here's a short film that explains it well:

http://www.diaryoffools.com/2009/03/perfect.html

[lordsummerisle]

11. Pretty entertaining, thanks n/t

[WorseBeforeBetter]

15. I'm so glad I came back to this thread.

That was perfect, particularly the "constant self-affirmation" aspect that completely baffles me.

[Muttocracy]

19. ditto. nt

[Irish Girl]

22. that video cracked me up!

Great explanatory video of this whole Twitter craze.

:rofl:

[emilyg]

8. I joined. Have not been back.

[Lex]

10. I follow Rachel Maddow's tweets, and Al Gore's and a few others.

I don't spend much time on it, but it's cool to use in some ways. It's like a big chat room if you use the hashtags to follow a particular topic of discussion.

[willing dwarf]

14. It sounds about as intersting as

...listening to my sister in San Francisco tell me about her children's success and failures in potty training.

...hearing my kids tell me that they're about to get in the bath tub now.


...being alerted by the scratching on the window that the kitty wants to come back in the house and sleep now that's she's finished her hunting for the night.

...watching the paint dry on the side of the barn to see what insects stick to it while it's still tacky.

...hearing from my great aunt Sue about the various balls of yarn she sorted in my grandmother's attic yesterday....

and to all of these I answer, with the wan look of one whose eyes glazed over a while previously, "gee, thanks for letting me know!"

[Lex]

18. But why would you follow their Tweets then?

You control that aspect of it, not them.

[HeeBGBz]

20. I have fun on there and it's great for breaking news

I couldn't follow it well until I got tweetdeck to sort out the tweets according to subject matter. It's also good for bashing wingnuttery.

[Lex]

21. I haven't tried

tweetdeck yet. I should give it a look.

[tularetom]

12. I don't understand how people have the time to do this stuff

I'm retired. I don't work part time. I have some home related chores which consume 3 or 4 hours daily. I have some financial matters that need to be attended to periodically maybe on average an hour a day.

That said, it's all I can do to log onto DU once or twice a day, read a some posts and post a few responses. I don't twitter, I don't even want to. WTF is it that make things like myspace, facebook and twitter so inviting?

[anigbrowl]

27. They're fun, and they can increase productivity (if you choose)

I'm not into Twitter. But I find Facebook quite useful because almost everyone I know is on it, and it functions like my contact list; since I work freelance, I can quickly pursue or offer jobs and suchlike.So like some other things, I just leave it open all the time and use it when I need it. As a matter of fact, I'm getting to the point where I don't want to store email on my own computer any because it's easier to just leave it all online instead of manually organizing it in Outlook or something.

Twitter (or some other similar services) is very useful if you need to stay in touch with a lot of people and require frequent but brief status updates, which don't necessarily require a response.

[billyoc]

13. This will tell you more than you'll ever learn by joining:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

[Skink]

16. Sort of sounds like a CIA torture method.

[Bobbieo]

17. Thank you everyone for the info - greatly appreciated!

[BlooInBloo]

30. A niche e-communication method. Think short (140 character) email-like distribution list.

Very useful for, say, liveblogging, or public-safety announcements.

The medium isn't good at, nor is it intended to be a replacement for, email or IM.

But despite what the new-things-suck people say, it has a valid niche in the e-communication realm.


EDIT: www.twitter.com.

Most recent example of it being useful to me:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8269514&mesg_id=8269559

[Dr.Phool]

31. I just scratched my balls and farted.

Since I don't twitter, I figured I'd post it here.
:think: :silly: :crazy: :silly: :think:

[tangent90]

32. I'd just as soon not risk my life saying what I think of these twits.

:eyes: