I read an interesting editorial from Leonard Pitts Jr. at the Miami Herald about Twitter. It’s interesting because I thought I was the only one avoiding that service. I’m glad to see that someone else also finds it less than appealing.
Most of Mr. Pitts’ confusion at the popularity mirrors my own. Why anyone would want to stab at the air in that fashion, releasing esoteric one-sentence notes about where they’re sitting in a meeting … well, it escapes me.
But there is a lot of the Internet that escapes me. Blogging is a perfect example. Why anyone would care or want to sift through the dreck I post here is confusing too. It’s kind of you to visit, and kind of you to leave a note, but beyond that nothing is really gained. I have no insights or expertise to share, and no credentials to otherwise bolster my content.
I could make a list — a long list, really — of popular things on the Internet that I just don’t understand. MySpace would be on it. Facebook, the MySpace for over-18-year-olds, would be there too. And so forth.
I have no solution to all the aimless and pointless (in my opinion) blather that coats the Internet nowadays. I have my own ways of slicing through it. I think on the whole though, things like Twitter and Facebook and so forth will be filed away into my own junk drawer. Use it if you must, but don’t look for me there.
You know what? I’ve joined Twitter and while I found it ridiculous for a long time, I’m now finding it useful.
Instead of texting or calling my friends and family, we keep in touch through Twitter and save a lot of money. It’s kind of like a distributed SMS system, but for free (we don’t use SMS to update Twitter here, it’s just silly to do so). It’s especially good for me, as I hate making calls.
I have a family member who is in a somewhat famous band (it’s going on a tour to the US next April), and we’ve been keeping in touch mostly through Twitter. I’ll know where he’s playing, how the gig went, if his flight’s delayed, etc.
Now, the thing is… I communicate through Haiku. With just 140 characters, I found it better to be a little creative.
The problem with it is that some people exaggerate. I don’t wanna know when someone’s taking a wee, for example. Then again, I would never let someone like that enter my circle in Twitter.
It’s useful when used the right way, just that.
I don’t know what people mean by “blogging”. You’re WRITING. There’s no need for a special term for it. Some people like to read what you write — does that sound odd? Credentials and expertise don’t have to enter into it.
“Tweeting” is not writing, it’s slapdash scribbling.
I enjoy reading the witty tweet’s out there. Stephen Fry (their poster boy) has quite a funny Twitter feed. I am not witty, and i cant think of interesting stuff to to say regularly so i do not really tweet myself ^^
“Why anyone would care or want to sift through the dreck I post here is confusing too”
I think you sell yourself short. Your blogs are to the point and interesting. Take your blog on rtorrent for example, that was exactly what I needed. You taught us about a prog we may not have been aware of before and you gave us the basics of how to use use it and reasons why we should bother.
You are starting to sound like a grumpy old man!
You are starting to sound like a grumpy old man!
+1
(problem is, sounds just like me too !!)
No insight or expertise to share? I beg to differ altho what I have gained from this blogs is a 1,000,001 ideas about what to do with my old linux machines. That alone keeps me coming back to see what you’ve discovered.