Twitter Answers
In response to danah’s survey on Twitter (if you don’t know what Twitter is, go check it out – it’s in a nutshell a way to send micro updates to anyone that cares to listen by phone, web or IM):
First, the practical question. Can i quote you?
[x] Yes, and you *must* use my real name (or any online handle/blog name you find useful)
[ ] Yes, but please use a pseudonym and don’t use any identifying information.
[ ] No, please just use this for your own weird thoughts.
1. Why do you use Twitter? What do you like/dislike about it?
I use it to broadcast short thoughts throughout my day or week or to share something funny I saw/heard that I think most people would find interesting or entertaining. I may also announce some news, “We came in third place!” or occasionally to just let people know what I’m up to—in the hopes that they’ll be seething with jealousy or very sympathetic to my plight.
As for what I like or don’t like, I like the multiple mediums I can access it from. I like how digestible the data is. I like the immediacy of some of the feedback (I’ve also used Twitter to ask for help or advice on something). I dislike the “@mrsmith” public Twitters that are in fact responses to individual Twitters because it assumes everyone else cares about both ends of their conversation. Whenever I’m doing a response Twitter, I either direct message or I publicly Twitter on the same subject matter without explicitly
2. Who do you think is reading your Tweets? Is this the audience you want? Why/why not? Tell me anything you think of relating to the audience for your Tweets.
My friends and acquaintances in the technology and design space. Also, there’s a large portion of followers I don’t recognize. I have no idea who these people are nor why they find a stranger’s Tweets interesting. I don’t really mind, either. I’m presuming at least some portion of them know of me somehow and I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them.
3. How do you read others’ Tweets? Do you read all of them? Who do you read/not read and why? Do you know them all?
I know almost all of the people I follow with a few notable exceptions. One is the fictional Darth Vader Twitter because it cracks me up. The other is Scott Kurtz, the author and artist of PvP Online, whom I simply hope to meet. As for how, I mostly read them on the web or on Twapper on my phone in bursts. I rarely set it to update per Tweet unless I’m at an event like SxSW and need to know where the critical mass is.
4. What content do you think is appropriate for a Tweet? What is inappropriate? Have you ever found yourself wanting to Tweet and then deciding against it? Why?
Just about anything is appropriate but I tend to find repeated Tweets kind of silly (like 20 people talking about an earthquake and whether they felt it or similar number of Tweets on the weather). As I said before, the “@” Tweets are a pet peeve of mine. I’ve certainly been tempted at times but I stick to direct messages when I can.
5. Are your Tweets public? Why/why not? How do you feel about people you don’t know coming across them? What about people you do know?
Yes, they’re public and like blogs and Flickr photos, I am cognizant of that and make sure I don’t explicitly bitch about individuals or work. One is bound to regret that kind of thing later down the road. It’s public just because it’s an extension of a blog to me.
6. What do i need to know about why Twitter is/is not working for you or your friends?
It works because it’s accessible in multiple formats so you can consume (and create) in whatever way works best for you. As many have mentioned, it won’t scale. Twitter could be useful for a lot of other applications (like multiple authors Twittering to a team Twitter). The former Yahoo! project MixD actually dealt with a lot of these issues well but unfortunately had some fixable bugs that weren’t fixed and didn’t gain the traction it needed to continue.
