SICK OF TWITTER

[bos1]

I have never seen such an across-the-board free push for a new technology like Twitter is getting. CNN right now has

Moldova: Romania to blame for Twitter riots

* Story Highlights
* Up to 10,000 gathered Tuesday in Moldova's capital Chisinau
* Many demonstrators summoned by Facebook or Twitter
* Protesters claim recent parliamentary elections were rigged

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/08/moldova.unrest/index.html

They are not Twitter riots! They are pro-democracy, anti-Communist demonstrations.

As for T*, I will never use it. I barely use Facebook. What is up with the pro-T* propaganda swamping effect? Is it just the MSM trying to not be left behind on an internet fad?

[Ian David]

1. Why do you hate America?

Just yanking your chain.

BTW, I am on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/IanDavidB

[nycusa15]

6. I love America

I love this country

[Ian David]

8. You can't love America unless you love Twitter. n/t

[PeaceNikki]

2. It's simply another method of communication.

Friends/family can communicate with one another, public figures with the public, organizations with their members, etc.

So, don't use it if you don't like it. People said (say) the same thing about faxes, email, cell phones, etc.

[Oregone]

13. Ants have more intellectual ways to communicate

[PeaceNikki]

19. You're right. They've blown waaaaaaaaay past satellites and fiber optics and shit.

[Oregone]

24. You have no idea

They are smart enough to know they don't need to waste their time creating satellites and fiber optics to let others know, in a short sentence (140 chars), things like "I'm getting food over here", "danger right ahead", "can't talk, I'm taking a shit", etc...

Who are really the fools? Space age technology, we have created, for primitive, inane communications. I gotta give it to the ants and their pheromones.

[PeaceNikki]

26. Their life-span is about 90 days. I bet if they lived to be 90 years-old, they'd Twitter, too.

[Oregone]

29. Man has lived to be 90 years old for a long time...

And has only now felt the need to constantly "tweet" every mundane action and worthless thought to the rest of the world. Before now, if you wanted to reach that many people, you would at least have to put forth the effort and conquer some lands. Now, every damn idiot has a soapbox.

Or wait...smoke signals? Were they to let neighboring tribes know "Im damn bored of fishing this same river"? Or were Paul Revere's lanterns shone to tell the towns, "My ass hurts from riding so long"?

Im glad Charles Dickens didn't tweet "A Tale of Two Cities" (and yes, Im quite familiar with how it was in fact written/published).

Maybe of forefathers knew better. Maybe ants do too.

[PeaceNikki]

31. So don't use it. I do and it doesn't make me less social (as implied below)

it makes me more. I can be in touch with close friends who are local and all over the country/world. I can be delighted with a smile or laugh when a friend says something witty. I can make last minute impromptu plans with a friend while I am grocery shopping.

As sick as the OP is of Twitter, I am sick of people rushing to judgment and saying awful and wholly untrue things about those of us who use and LIKE technology.

[Oregone]

35. Yes, tweeting while grocery shopping. Entirely useful

Id rather just grocery shop, personally. Else Ill end up with a bag full of Rhubarb and vacation plans to Iraq.

Is it ever ok for humans to just be unconnected for any time of the day? Does constantly spreading ourself out across too many realms (virtual, real, social, work) at once promise to lower the quality of experience in each one? Do tools like us force us into some middle netherworld of human experience, where we can merely taste the waters in different pools of life, but not jump in any one of them?

Anyway, its sort of a straw man for you make this about Us (people who use and like technology) vs them (old men shaking sticks). I never said I hated technology--some of it I do, including Twitter. As a Computer Scientist who does plenty of online work/interaction, I could hardly count myself as someone who hates technology and doesn't use it.

[PeaceNikki]

37. Hell yeah. it's useful. I tweet my grocery shopping list to myself.

[Oregone]

38. I write mine down on a piece of fucking paper

Its quick and easy to write it too.

Let the debate begin! Papyrus vs Fiber Optics! In what era were people truly wasting their time creating the necessary mediums to write shopping lists?

[PeaceNikki]

44. Your paper FUCKS!? !

Now see, if I had fucking paper, I'd use it.

[Harry Monroe]

55. You gotta justify this technology somehow!!

But paper and pen work just fine for me for lots of things. It's like getting an issue of "Sharper Image". I never knew I needed any of that crap until I saw it there!!

[Harry Monroe]

52. I just write my grocery list down and stick it in my pocket!!

Just as effective!

[PeaceNikki]

54. Want a cookie?

:shrug:

[Harry Monroe]

60. I'd love one, thanks!!

[PeaceNikki]

62. I just tweeted that to my list.

AND... didn't waste a piece of paper to do it.

;)

[Oregone]

67. Yeah, but your contributed to a massive burning of energy...

Those servers don't work on good will, you know. An expert has stated that a single Google search burns as much energy as boiling up a kettle of water.

So, eh, maybe the paper, and tree it came from (if it wasn't recycled), had less of an impact. Just saying, you know.

[NeedleCast]

87. How much energy does a single post on DU burn

It's fun when people bash a peice of social networking technology on a social network.

[SidDithers]

102. I was wondering when someone would jump in with that...

:applause:

Sid

[valerief]

70. I use an Etch-a-Sketch. I WIN!!!!!! nt

[ananda]

3. Twitter really super sucks!

I joined a couple of days ago and it was
so crazy that I never returned.

I have never even looked at Facebook.

They seem superficial and focussed on
a kind of popularity index and celebrity..
while I want to focus on intelligent
discourse and ideas.

[janx]

7. You are wise.

;-)

[Mojambo]

4. Twitter can be rather nifty. Particularly when you figure out about #hash tags. n/t

[Terry in Austin]

27. Okay, what about the hash tags?

I was hoping somebody would explain them, so I wouldn't have to ask.

EMWTK...

@:dunce:

TIA

[Mojambo]

43. I'm still figuring it out myself

Here's a good introduction.

http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2008/03/11/an-introduction-to-twitter-hashtags.aspx

[Terry in Austin]

84. Helpful link -- thanks nt

[Harry Monroe]

59. Hash tags?

Are they anything like roaches? Yeah baby!!:smoke:

[Terry in Austin]

85. Roach tag

...that's a whole 'nuther thing!

B-)

[nycusa15]

5. I agree

why are all the news media pushing this site. It looks low budget and too simple. I like groupnex.com

[NashVegas]

69. So They Can Market To You

You "follow" them. They send out a teaser and a url to a story link. You click. They get advertising dollars. Or, you buy their book or whatever.

It's actually a brilliantly simple concept, IMO. For breaking events, it's like an official DU thread on primary nights. But, also IMO, it's too much when other people in business are FORCED to use it to compete.

A friend owns a used record store. One day he received a huge collection of '80s vinyl, and tweeted about it. Three hours later it was GONE. Great for him. On the downside, one of his regular customers who spends $150 a month in there doesn't Twitter and he heard about it after the fact and was pissed off, righteously at the lost collecting opportunity, and being forced onto technology he didn't care for, to compete against other collectors. He swore he wasn't going to spend another dime in there.

[Believing Is Art]

9. Tweet!

Tweet tweet! Tweet tweet tweet!


Tweet!

[janx]

15. me-me-me-me-me!

:rofl:

[rucky]

17. flamebait!

[Believing Is Art]

36. Nah, just tired

And though I don't like twitter, I think the word "tweet" is cute.

[NightWatcher]

10. I hear that google wants to buy twitter.

so, they get people used to using portable electronics to "update" their friends as to exactly what they are doing every damned second of their life. Then google takes over and makes it automatic by using all of their mad snooping skills ( like google maps streetview, gmail, web traffic histories....) and the next thing you know we have an automatic online tracking running on everyone everywhere. The private sector would invent it, but the government and large corporations (same difference) would co-opt it. As you walk down the street you tracker tells the billboard that you are approaching that you like to browse chocolate flavored widgets online. the billboard tries to sell you chocolate flavored widgets. if you agree you walk near a scanner that takes the money automatically out of your checking account......


I dont want or need to know what any of the twitter monkeys are doing every damn second of the day. Oh, and if you think that you are really talking to (insert celebrity name here) you are really talking to their assistant or an imposter.


(the luddite picks up a large stone and holds it precariously over his laptop)

[Dukkha]

11. like text messaging, useless technology for the social degeneration

for people with no social skills who can't communicate verbally face-to- face and can not interact with people in a normal social environment so they resort to their little electronic stimulants to compensate. You see them everywhere in public like a zombie infestation. Why do they even go out if they're just going to stare blankly into a tiny LED screen, or chat un relentlessly on a phone narrating every meaningless moment in their humdrum routine.

[PeaceNikki]

12. ha!!

:rofl:

[bos1]

14. yep. welcome to the future nt

[WorseBeforeBetter]

20. Text messaging is useful...

but I agree to some degree with what you're saying. Example: A friend and her 16-year-old daughter frequently text for safety purposes. The young woman just got a job at a coffee shop, and she'll text her mother or father to say she's leaving for work, she's arrived at work, she's leaving work, she's arrived home, etc. The parent sends a confirmation after each one. It's a quick and easy way to stay in touch.

Now, Twitter? Twitter baffles me. I thought Facebook was narcissistic, but Twitter takes it to a whole new level. And what is with the constant need for validation? "I had oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast." Well, bully for you! David Gregory needs "a bagel b4 air"? Who the fuck cares?

[PeaceNikki]

21. I get updates from Russ Feingold and Al Gore.

It's useful for GETTING information, too.

[NeedleCast]

22. Translation: I wish I had more friends

[Dukkha]

45. yes that's it

:eyes:

thanks for proving my point

[PeaceNikki]

46. Your use of the rolling eye smilie guy is contributing to social degeneration.

Sleep well, Dukkha.

[Oregone]

28. I use to use it for work. It worked well

My clients all lived over 2000 miles from me, so being able to simulate and office environment and get constant feedback and brainstorming, it was insanely effective.

Until, all of a sudden, my work day went from 10 to 16+ hours a day. It takes over your life. There are times when you don't want to be messaged. Or even called.

Ive down graded from a PDA to a cellphone to nothing, since I lose my cell on purpose almost constantly. I don't think people realize all the time what they are giving up, if they do not create bounds. Some people think they cannot live without, despite the centuries of predecessors. For my job, it has its place during business hours (a small tiny place), but beyond that, fuck it.

[myrna minx]

30. Come on Dukkha, you must become one of uuuussss. One of uuuussss.

:D

[tkmorris]

32. I'm on your fucking lawn. Deal.

[PeaceNikki]

33. How do you think that ranting on a political message board about people using new technologies

improves to your social skills? Spewing out all of your judgment and hyperbole about people and stuff...

[Dukkha]

53. Free speech is a bitch ain't it?

Let's not make any observations at all on human behavior. That's soooo un-PC.

[PeaceNikki]

56. Let's not make any observations at all on human behavior.

Ha!! ok.

Like claiming that who text and use Twitter are socially inept?

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warren DeMontague]

99. Nah, I like making observations on human behavior. For one, people sure love to finger-wag.

Wag, wag, wag. Bitch, bitch, bitch. Whine, whine, whine.

Everybody just LOVES to get into everybody else's business. "Why can't I be you? I would do such a better job of running your life than you're doing."

Wag, wag, wag.



Ahhhhh, Human behavior.

[NYC Liberal]

72. ROFL! What a buncha bullshit!

The Telephone! (Kids won't know how to write anymore! They'll have terrible penmenship!)

Radio! (Go to the opera, radio is destroying real music.)

Movies! (Go to a play! The movies are destroying the art of theater.)

Television! (Destroying theater just like movies!)

Rock Music! (Kids won't appreciate 'real' music, i.e., classical music.)

Twitter! (People will lose social skills!)

:rofl::rofl:

You realize that this same lame argument pops up *every* time some new form of communication comes around?

That your points are not new? That they've been used thousands of times before by Luddites who refuse to accept that just because they don't understand or wish to use a new technology, doesn't make that technology inferior?

I won't bother to point out the irony of you berating people for "staring blankly into a tiny LED screen" ... while typing out post after post here on DU ... over 6,000, according to your profile.

So... "L. O. L."

[Sheets of Easter]

78. You are wrong.

They stare blankly at an LCD screen. LED stands for light emitting diode. :freak:

[Goblinmonger]

79. There are plenty of good uses

I get the twitter feed from my local newspaper sent to my phone. Got the election results basically live last night. I use my twitter feed to remind my high school students about upcoming due dates and tests, class documents that are posted to my blog, when grades are updated, etc.

[Warren DeMontague]

97. Personally, I think things were better before the telegraph.

And smoke signals. That REALLY fucked up people's interpersonal skills.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

104. There are 86 words in your post.

Counting solecisms like "un relentlessly" as 2 words.

You could have posted that on twitter.

[nonconformist]

106. The same argument could be used for posting on forums/blogs

And it has been.

Just sayin'

[DJ13]

16. As Steven Colbert says

I twatted.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

18. How about people faking on Twitter?

Keith Olbermann has already had someone impersonating him on Twitter.

I think we're gonna hear some really good stories in this vein. The technology is just begging for fakery and fraud ..................

[katmondoo]

23. Twitter is boring

[NeedleCast]

25. Just depends on what you follow

[janx]

34. I have a myspace account to promote my book and got into facebook marginally--

but what bothers me about this culture-of-personality interaction is that it's essentially fake, unless you are dealing with people you already know or people who are genuine enough to meet you face-to-face.

There's a definite narcissism associated with all of it. It's as if we all want to be in the media, and if we are confronted by someone who seems real or even a bit confrontational, we can simply "delete" that person.

Also, there's the tendency that Orwell points out in "Politics and the English Language" to parrot phrases and photo shots. Take a look at MySpace or FaceBook and see how many participants are pictured with their mouths widely open--big teeth, tongues hanging out. They are all taking pictures of themselves in mirrors with similar expressions on their faces. They also use the same phrases and language. This happens in many places, including political and artistic sites.

Remember Michael Franks?

Love is monkey see and monkey do,
that's all it is, Peaches...
Love is monkey see and money do,
Would I lie to you?

[Catherine Vincent]

39. One must remember, that backwards B girl, Ashley Todd, was a fan of Twitter.

:)

[NeedleCast]

42. So was Obama, and Al Gore, and Rachel Maddow...

careful with your broad brush...

[Lex]

50. There you go being reasonable.

This will not stand! LOL.

[Catherine Vincent]

107. What broadbrush?

I was only mentioning the backwards B girl was a fan. Geeze.

[davidwparker]

40. I've never used it and I'm sick of it. For Software Developers, is Twitter just

a publishing and subscribe message service?

[No More Bushbots]

41. The CB Radio of 09

Twitter.
A way for ugly and fat people to feel like they belong to the human race.

[VenusRising]

47. What a shitty and hateful thing to say.

Welcome to DU!

[canetoad]

48. Who would Denis K call Ugly and Fat???

Go back to twittering you shallow turd.

[Lex]

51. You make Dennis proud!

Wow, I'd bet he'd sure like to meet you.

[Harry Monroe]

49. Typical Twitter post?

"I'm taking a shit. I'll update everyone when I flush!"

Film at 11:00

[Lex]

57. You tweet that?

Glad I'm not following you then.

[PeaceNikki]

58. No shit.

Literally.

[Harry Monroe]

61. I wouldn't tweet that (If I even did Tweet), but the point is...

...I don't need to know what a person is doing at every hour of the day. I don't care if you're breathing or having a bowel movement or not.

[PeaceNikki]

64. Guess what? Most people wouldn't Tweet that. And don't.

And they don't tell you what they are doing every hour of the day either.

But it's fun to pretend and use hyperbole to try to prove a point when you're talking about something you know nothing about.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

74. Welcome to Twittourette...

http://twittourette.weebly.com/



:P

[PeaceNikki]

75. That's awesome

:)

[WorseBeforeBetter]

77. Yeah, I'm oddly fascinated with it.

This one may be "better" -- names and pics appear:

Cursebird
http://cursebird.com/

[Pachamama]

83. Thank you for giving the best description/summary of what a "Twitter Post" and "Tweeting" is !!1

Says it all as far as I'm concerned...And the question has to be for people: Why are you doing it? Why are you on here wasting precious time?

[Lilith Velkor]

100. Twitter Shitters Rock!

:rofl:

[WorseBeforeBetter]

117. Twitshitters...

http://twitter.com/twitshitters

"Sensors hooked up to the loo in Kinnernet. They get analysed and the results are twitted here in real-time."

[NashVegas]

66. It's Main Purpose Is For Marketing

Marketing yourself, marketing others, and marketing ideas.

[Iris]

111. even though no money is exchanged

[NashVegas]

115. Which Is Actually the Hysterical Part

All these people with $40-$70k day jobs trying to figure out how to get rich by promoting themselves in order to promote someone else's product in order to promote themselves.

What they don't know is that most traditional media workers they're so envious of make $20k-$35k.

[valerief]

68. I thought Twitter was electronic. How do electrons riot? nt

[JuniperLea]

71. Twitter is a plot...

Of course they are using their power for "good" right now... chasing down the bad guys... keeping people from topping themselves... but mark my words... this will be used for evil, it will be used as a giant "finking" network before we know it.

It just seems horrifically neurotic to want to know what everyone else is doing all the time. Really! There's an entire generation growing up NOT knowing they have privacy, and that they have a RIGHT to privacy!

[JackBeck]

73. #getoffmylawn

[Lex]

76. LOL

:pals:

[JackBeck]

80. ...

:hi: :loveya:

[csziggy]

81. Heck, I can't figure out how to set up voice mail on my cell phone!

Much less use text messages on it.

[donheld]

82. Twitterpated?

[Bill McBlueState]

86. Yeah, internet messaging sure does suck

...says the poster on DU.

[Posteritatis]

96. His rant's nearly Twitter-compatible too in terms of length

I love that part.

[PeaceNikki]

105. And I love taking the "I AM SICK OF XXX" rants and kicking them to the greatest.

I'M SICK OF THE WAY THE MEDIA IS GIVING ALL THIS ATTENTION TO TWITTER SO I AM GONNA START A THREAD SAYING "SICK OF TWITTER" CUZ WHEN *I* TALK ABOUT TWITTER, IT'S COOL.

[Sequoia]

88. On a local TV station the media is yakking about comments on Twitter regarding the murdered girl.

"Oh! Let's see the viewer comments on Twitter about the little Tracy girl." Shut-up and find the killer already. We don't want to see viewer comments, so get over yourself and stupid Twitter.

[JonLP24]

89. Never been on Twitter

Don't know what it is but from what I see from CNN it seems to be some sort of blog. Anyways I find this place to be a perfect blog for me because it lacks the craziness you see elsewhere on the internet.

[Bluenorthwest]

90. Sick of all of that crap

Sick of getting emails telling me to go sign up for a service to see an email sent by a friend. If you have my private email addy, email me. If you don't, well, you don't.
The next person who asks me to join some website rather than simply sending me an email to my inbox will get an earful.

[lies and propaganda]

91. when its not lagging, Twitter is so freaking awesome.

the day of the earthquake in Northern Cali last week, we knew all about it, who all had been affected where, within seconds, and it took the internet media, including the LA Times & the SF Chronicle and Google 20 minutes.

and the bested shitty Communism with it in Moldova! That is fucking gorgeous if you ask me!

And i dig all the DU'ers ive met so far!

@CombustionGlass if you like 140 character rants ;0

[PeaceNikki]

92. Some people in this thread think it's only used to tweet your bowel movements.

Clearly those people are very myopic and unable to see real potential power of new technologies. That's tough to do when you're very focussed on belittling and pointing a finger while on top of a high-horse.

[lies and propaganda]

93. i know.. even the Chronicle editorial described it

as nothing more than "Just ate cereal"
"Thinking about what to have for lunch"


Please.. I can reach 700 people instantly and let them know things i find newsworthy and that they need to be aware of.

and not too mention what it has done for my business! I have had sales out the ass from people who are following me.. its a great environment for net business people

[Starry Messenger]

94. LOL.

Translation: "Everything went to shit when they got rid of the oral tradition!!1"

[Posteritatis]

95. Nah, things went downhill after we *started* the oral tradition!

Back when they knew how to do things properly, grunts and gestures were all we needed, not these vacuous "sentence" things.

[carlyhippy]

98. I know no one on Twitter, what is the benefits of twitter, what is it??!!

Is it the same concept as MSN messenger?

I know, I am such a shrew for not being in the know on this stuff.....

[Jamastiene]

101. Latest fad.

It's trendy. :dunce:

[Doremus]

103. Anything that gets the people into the street is a good thing. nt

[Iris]

109. agreed. And this is yet another technology that can get the word out with the likes of MSN

intervening.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/

[dorkulon]

108. MSM trying desperately to stay relevant.

A couple years ago the buzzword was "podcast." They know the internet is the future, but don't understand how it works.

[NeedleCast]

110. Tons of podcasting still going on

I use them all the time.

[redqueen]

112. Hah... I like that.

"They know the internet is the future, but don't understand how it works."

:rofl:

[Xithras]

113. In my experience, most Twitter-haters have simply never used it.

My last few tweets:

"LA trip pix up on blog and flickr."
"Ill be out of the office until 2. Call xxx-xxxx if you need me."
"Had lunch at PFChangs. Bleck. Go somewhere else guys" <--hashed at a particular group of people I was on a trip with.
"In SoCal until next week. VM off, so email if you need me for anything."
"Finally updated the blog. Read it. Now. I order you."

Yup, those tweets are the epitomy of evil. The world is ending because I tweeted my status, or left brief messages for my friends, co-workers, and family.

FWIW, in all the time I've been using it, I've never seen anyone tweet a BM or any other bodily function.

[moondust]

114. Sound bites. Endless sound bites.

Without the sound.

Heaven on Earth for the 3-second attention span. Even better than Tee Vee!

[npk]

116. I once had an idea for something like Twitter

But then I bought a cell phone.