Lotus Geek :: Needing some Help: Can someone explain the whole Twitter thing?

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I remember when I first heard of Twitter in 2007 sometime. The premise was simple - tell the world what you're up to. The UI was simple (and pretty ugly, as I recall), with no graphics at all. I signed up back then, and I even told a few friends - Gabriella for sure, and Andrew I think as well. I tried to keep up with telling people what I was up to, but I realized I just didn't have time for it, and I simply put it aside for more worthwhile stuff.

Well, fast-forward to today. Now everyone I know is using Twitter - a lot. And since I now use Planet Lotus a lot, I see stuff flying by on there constantly - people having conversations, almost like some party chat (for the geeks, an IRC chat). So, I don't "get it", at least not yet, and that's where you come in.

I want to understand Twitter - not what it is at it's basis, I get that - but what it has become for so many, and why this has become so popular. Alan Lepofsky posted a couple of good posts on this - "Twitter is instant messaging inside out" - his brief explanation of "what" Twitter is, and "Twitter Twitter everywhere", his explanation of his "Twitter ecosystem (the tools/services he uses with Twitter). But what is it really? What is the attraction?

Alan made a brief shot at explaining what Twitter is in the first post I mentioned previously - "Twitter is instant messaging inside out". The post is very short, so I hope Alan doesn't mind if I quote it all here. (If you do, Alan, let me know and I'll shorten it!)

This weekend I was talking to some friends about Twitter (yes, the bad parts as much as the good) and the question came up "So what is different about that than instant messaging"? It was a good question, so the following is my answer.

Twitter is instant messaging inside out.

When using Instant Messaging (or chat) you choose who you want to talk to. You have a list of defined friends, and when you want to say something, you click on one or more names and type away. The content of that conversation is just between you and the selected people. No one else can benefit from it. That can be both good and bad.

With Twitter, instead you choose who you want to listen to. When you "tweet" (type in 140 characters or less) it is broadcast to everyone on Twitter. Information is not limited to just a specific group. Of course with millions of users, the full stream of information is impossible for anyone to read, so you filter the tweets you want to read down to just the people you care about, by "following" them. Still, even then conversations can get a bit confusing due to the lack of structure, but in my opinion Twitter is not the right tool for a long conversation anyway.

Sigh. I get that. But the question still remains - why? I guess I am having a hard time perceiving the value of it, outside of entertainment. And I'm not saying that being entertained isn't valuable in-and-of itself; it most certainly is, and I am a big fan of being entertained

. But is that all there is? Is it just entertainment? Or is there any real business value to it?

I have to be honest that my primary fear of Twitter is that it is just entertainment, and that it then becomes nothing more than an addictive time stealer. My secondary fear is just the sheer challenge of being "late to the game", and that if I do decide to give it a try it will be a PITA to discover what my "Twitter ecosystem" should be. If I do go this route I'll probably start with Alan's other aforementioned post, enhanced with suggestions I get from you.

So, will some of my "Twitting" readers out there take some time to give me your take on Twitter?

I know I will appreciate it, and I bet someone else will too.

Rock

Comments

1 - So...we're having interesting discussions within IBM now on the difference between search and discovery. Christopher Columbus would never have found the new world if he was using Google (searching for it). He would have found India instead. Lucky for us, he discovered it. Discovery is what Twitter is good for...finding interesting nuggets of information that you might never come across otherwise because the barrier to blogging about them is too high.

If I follow people on Twitter, it's because I think their opinion is valuable in some way or I am interested in discovering more things about them personally. Twitter has allowed my actual network to expand and has even helped save me many hours of troubleshooting because another Twitter user posted on a problem (and resolution) caused by a Windows update.

And in case you haven't seen it, the Common Craft tutorial is excellent. { Link }

Posted by Chris Blatnick At 04:16:25 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

2 - I think twitter is cool but a waste of time. LIke all things electronic, it requires you to have, on your person, a device that is connected. Kinda the point I guess, but that means you end up always checking your computer or iPhone etc for tweets. Don't we do enough of that for email?

And as to get to know someone, whatever happen to just talking, you know. With vocal cords? We have to wait for someone to tweet us a tidbit before we can know them. Poppycock I say!

My two cents.

Posted by Neil At 07:34:39 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

3 - damien katz summed it up like this: twitter is tivo for chat. it's an ongoing conversation that you can drop into and out of whenever you want.

my fave client for pc is twhirl

{ Link }

Posted by John Vaughan At 11:13:29 AM On 08/07/2008 | - Website - |

4 - Nice post Rocky, and thanks for the references. You got some great feedback, more than I have when I talk about Twitter! Emoticon

I do have an important post that you missed, so I'll reference it here instead of typing all the same stuff again. People ask me why Twitter has any business value: { Link }

Posted by Alan Lepofsky At 10:40:40 PM On 08/11/2008 | - Website - |

5 - And to counter Grey's fanboy take on it (:P), I loathe Twitter. Well, other than the entertainment factor. I check in about once a week, and I usually read about 50 tweets back, then I ignore it again. It's like Oakland, to Gertrude Stein anyway: there's no there there.

Obviously I'm the wrong person to answer your questions, because I agree with you. I don't see the point, and I don't get anything out of Twitter that I can't get more easily via email, RSS, and IM.

I will say that I think your concern about setting up your Twitter ecosystem later in the game is misplaced - if anything, the latecomers will have an easier time, because better Twitter add-ons have been developed and the early adopters are always more than happy (WAY more than happy - Twitter fans are more zealous than Mac fans...) to make suggestions.

Posted by Rob McDonagh At 03:14:40 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

6 - Here's just one way I use it...
I'm at work, where we're not allowed to use external instant messaging tools. I have a question, so I ask 'Twitter' using a web browser. Now I'm in a conference room, and while there, I get the answer that I need, plus am able to share that information with others.

Everyone else above have had great explanations (even Rob) about the power and pain of Twitter, but the best way to figure out what works for you is to get back on that horse and try it again!

Posted by Ray Bilyk At 04:42:32 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

7 - I'm not a huge fan, really. Not yet. I think that there are some things that are missing from Twitter, which would make it a lot more appealing if they were included.

Primarily, what I need is a way to actually find the people I want to listen to. Right now, all you can do is let them log into your online mail accounts, and check whether people in your contact list have accounts. There's no way to effectively search for individuals that you might want to hear from. The lotus people who are using it made it work by trading their twitter IDs the old fashioned way.

If you don't have some kind of filter, then the whole service is useless - kind of like having telepathy that you can't turn off.

What I'm doing, at present, is using a facebook app to copy all of my facebook statuses to twitter. If I end up able to build more of a twitter-based ecosystem, I might use it independently. But, I'm just not sure quite how to do that right now.

Posted by Brian Miller At 11:51:31 AM On 08/07/2008 | - Website - |

8 - Here's a summary of what I get out of it (and additional thoughts on it here: { Link }

1. By observing what other people are saying, I find interesting links, videos, insights or opinions that I might not have come across otherwise. (I think Robert Scoble said it well - the value isn't how many people follow you - it's how many people you follow.)
2. It gives me a chance to interact with a community of peers (inside and especially outside of IBM) with whom I don't have regular interaction otherwise (e.g., those "hallway" conversations when we don't share a hallway).
3. It gives me a chance to share information (both professionally and personally) with others without having to create a full blog post
4. I can keep track and respond when people say things about my products.

Posted by Adam Gartenberg At 03:15:38 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

9 - Twitter is a tool that I didn't know I needed but now I can't imagine being without it. Or something like it.

For those that work in an office environment, every day, the value may not be high. You interact with people all day. Someone who works from home, Twitter allows you to interact with people that you know, allowing you to engage in conversations that you would not otherwise have. Unlike IM, where you have to initiate a conversation, Twitter allows people to simply post their tweets and you can reply (or not) and throw your thoughts out there (one to many relationships).

It is an acquired taste, I think.

But it allows me to connect with people that I otherwise would not (the "cost" would be too high - e-mail, IM, blog post, etc.)

Posted by Gregg Eldred At 02:08:28 PM On 08/08/2008 | - Website - |

10 - I tried Twitter for a while but just could not justify the time I spent reading entries that had no value whatsoever to me. The ROI was just not there for me....it became just another distraction.

Posted by Curt Carlson At 11:04:19 AM On 08/13/2008 | - Website - |

11 - Twitter is a great tool - but you do need to "ride the horse" for a period of time to really see the benefit. Follow 30 or so of the key community folks plus some others from outside and see you what gets discussed, and pipe in where you can.

Re: tools. For me, nothing beats Twhirl. This is an Adobe Air app that is cross-platform and sits in the periphery of your vision just updating automatically every minute of so. It does replies, direct messages and searches really well and also bolts into other micro-blogging services. Well recommended.

Posted by Stuart McIntyre At 10:09:22 AM On 08/07/2008 | - Website - |

12 - Rocky,

Two answers. One is CommonCraft's Twitter in Plain English: { Link } but I'm betting you've already seen that.

The other is very similar to Alan's except emphasizing that most of the Twitter conversation is "useless" - You will feel more approachable if you use Twitter. You know when you're a consultant, or you're on a sales call, and you end up talking to the client about his cats, or kids, or about recent advances in bubble memory? Even when it's arguably (or even totally) off topic, it's still useful in order to give context for that person. In Twitter, you're offering that context to others who are interested, now or later, in a way that those that aren't interested can easily ignore, and in a way that those who are later interested can access without bothering you. It's the perfect place for ideas that are too small or half-baked for your blog. I like knowing that Alan has a Mac and didn't like Dark Knight all that much, that Julian Robichaux was excited about Speed Racer, and what Mary Beth Raven thinks about. Does it help me in my job? I doubt it, maybe it is just entertainment, but the next time I see Alan, Julian, or Mary Beth, I will be more comfortable in approaching and saying hello because, in my head, there's been a recent 'touch'.

What I find most annoying about Twitter is the lack of context for specific tweets. It's nearly impossible to pick up on a conversation even when it's just two people unless neither tweet anything else throughout the conversation. Now that I've given up on even trying, it's faster and more fun.

Posted by John Smart At 06:20:38 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

13 - Wow, great responses - and yes, I'll "get back on the horse" sometime this weekend, I suppose.

But I must admit that the most "fun" thing I got out of this informative little exchange is a reminder of the word Poppycock Emoticon

Thanks to everyone for your input. I now understand why it is popular - another way for us to be connected, in a human sense of sorts, while physically "disconnected" from your "peeps". It reminds me of the quick, fun, group conversations I often find myself in when at a convention - there is usually a "logical" topic of conversation, but as the conversation progresses little extra "tidbits" (or tangents) are thrown in as well.

Now my next question is: what are the best tool(s) for me to use to make this as easy as possible? I am on XP, Notes 8.5 beta, Firefox 3.x. Right now I use the "classic" Notes client in 8.5 because I love all the extra crud I get in the full Sametime client that I don't get in the Notes-embedded version (e.g. screen capture).

So what tool(s)/services do you recommend?

Rock

Posted by Rock At 09:06:16 AM On 08/07/2008 | - Website - |

14 - Here's my earlier comments on it:
{ Link }

And here's how Comcast used Twitter to support me:
{ Link }

So on the Comcast thing, Twitter basically helped me get it resolved and ultimately save about $240 over this next year.

I also read a tweet late last year that saved me about $500 on a purchase. So just by using Twitter I've saved myself $740 already Emoticon

I think of it as as a quick way to keep in touch with some people and in another way it lets me see what the pulse of the community is. YMMV.

Some folks loathe it, some love it. I guess it's up to you...

Let us know what you think!

-Grey

Posted by Greyhawk68 At 02:32:53 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

15 - Small world. Hi John Smart.

I was in the same spot. I had left it alone because I couldn't see where the noise to signal ratio would ever be something that made it an efficient use of my time. It's fun, but I think it's easy to have fun and then try to assign value to that fun. I blogged on it [link={ Link } and chased down your blog from your comment. Thanks.

Posted by John Kelly At 07:53:10 AM On 09/02/2008 | - Website - |

16 - @12 - you can use tools like Monitter to watch keyword and then follow those that talk about them. You can also run TweetScan to get daily reports.

@Rock - for a nice list of tools to choose from try { Link }

Posted by Chris Miller At 03:16:57 PM On 08/08/2008 | - Website - |

17 - For me the question is why people use twitter and how. In the rare case, it might save someone money as someone posted above. But why should I care that someone is sitting in the bathroom reading something, or why should I want someone to know what I am doing every moment of my day.

This is where Twitter fatigue comes in. There is so much noise on there, the real value of twittering something important is lost. This is much the same as Facebook updates.

Rock, we are just old farts I guess.

Posted by Christopher Byrne At 10:15:51 AM On 08/12/2008 | - Website - |

18 - I see Twitter as a nice way to have a few conversations at your own pace. Say what you want, read answers when you want, read the messages from whomever you want.

It's global communication with a bit more freedom.

Posted by Pedro Quaresma At 04:35:44 PM On 08/06/2008 | - Website - |

19 - Some, like Duffbert :) , seem to spend all day on Twitter. I guess one can do that if one has a device (like Duff's iPhone) set to buzz with every message, and one is quick with the thumbs.

I use TinyTwitter { Link } on the BlackBerry and Twhirl on the PC { Link } (and sometimes just use Firefox directly) for access. Probably have a look at Twitter 1-3 times/day.

I've gotten extremely fast replies to questions when tech issues pop up ...much faster that response from blog, and much easier to toss the question out there. Since there's the 140 character limit to a tweet, it also helps ensure that I don't get as verbose as I am wont to be.

Emoticon

Posted by Joe Litton At 12:29:10 PM On 08/11/2008 | - Website - |

20 - I quite like twitter, and I drop in and out as I like. What I don't understand is why some people feel some kind of obligation to it, i.e. having to check their tweets all the time. If you find that painful (and that's understandable!), um, just don't do it: use it at your own pace, it'll wait.

Posted by Ben Poole At 03:30:43 PM On 08/11/2008 | - Website - |