Communication is the enemy
Oh hai. Looks like I’ve been away for far too long and this place doesn’t seem to reflect me anymore. Well, there’s pretty much ONE other place you can find me lately - except for the lovely UnseenRomania - and that is… the mighty TWITT-ER!
Some say it’s no good and vicious, others spell addiction all over, but they do agree on one thing: Twitter is it! This cute pixel-birdie has become a massive aggregator of web 2.0 VIPs and events, being the latest most popular sh*te in micro-blogging (the spring to ~1 million users in just a few months speaks by itself).
A huge number of desktop, web and mobile apps have been developed from its API (e.g. Twitdir, Hashtags, Twitterposter, Twitstat, TweetScan etc etc etc) - all serving the ultimate purpose of making Twitter a friendlier and more useful place to be.
Forget about Second Life. Forget about blogs. Forget about IM and even e-mail! Twitter does it all - from instant to private interaction and multiple replies - you name it! Of course, it sometimes crashes under the heavy weight of live micro-coverage from popular events - but who wouldn’t, when Steve Jobs is speaking? (And LeWeb3, MacWorld keynote, TED, SXSW… are just a few of them.)
Yet, there’s one itsy-bitsy tiny-mini micro-problem:
Twitter_Is_The_Heck_Of_A_Productivity_Slowing_Device!
Yes, read again and read it sloooweeer - the outcome is the same. And whether you like it or not, most of the time you spend interacting on Twitter is NOT time-well-spent.
I don’t doubt the many uses of it, no. [Meh! I got 2 accounts. Go figure.] I just doubt that this is not true communication after all - even if instant and en masse (just think about all those Tweet celebs who have thousands of followers - eg. @gapingvoid*).
By the time the day ends, you have posted your rants, have had tons of DMs and replies to respond to BUT… Have you had the satisfaction of fully completing your tasks? Have you done your job any better than not using Twitter? Have you even had a decent coffee without checking your updates twice a minute?
OK, I’ve been (and still am) at a point where my Twitter addiction is laying mellow… But give me the iPhone and you will ruin my IRL comm for good!
(Btw: you can reach me at http://twitter.com/womanchild and you can reach UnseenRomania at http://twitter.com/UnseenRomania - for the latest scoop and if you’d like to give your input on our project.)
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*Hugh deleted his account. Micro-blogging lost a very sound voice, but blogging recovered a cartoonist. Hurrah!
Diana - interesting post. We’re on Twitter in various capacities for ourselves and for clients… and, like every other community, we are trying to assess its real value. It has real value, most definitely. I’ve experienced it myself in many capacities.
But I did forward the “color war” to my team and ask if they thought any of these people had real jobs :-)
Christine Perkett
20 Mar 08 at 8:02 pm
I really didn’t ever managed to understand Tweeter (or social networks on that point) but I guess it’s just that I’m stuck somewhere between a lot of forums, my feed reader and podcasts I follow regularly.
I’m not saying that it is wrong, but when you reach the point where you just keep pressing CTRL+F5 at 4AM to see if there’s anything new on the threads you’ve got a problem.
I’m dysfunctional, I know.
Serban Constantin
20 Mar 08 at 8:04 pm
So, one line wrote by me on another communication channel, Yahoo! IM, saved your soul from the evil Twitter?
Lucian Marin
21 Mar 08 at 12:24 am
@LM: Not exactly. It helped me realize it is a double-sided comm tool. Good and bad go hand in hand on this one. ;)
Diana
21 Mar 08 at 12:51 am
@CP: Thx. And don’t get me wrong: I FULLY appreciate & reap the benefits of Twitter as a Community Tool. I just don’t see it useful for other things that take away big chunks of my time.
I got into the “color war” myself just b/c I like GREEN so much. But I am not a very fervent/active supporter of my team. :-)
Diana
21 Mar 08 at 1:32 am
@SC: Haha! “I really didn’t ever manage to understand… social networks, but I guess it’s just that I’m stuck somewhere between a lot of FORUMS, my FEED READER and PODCASTS”.
Dude, I really hope the above has a hint of irony in it. Cuz - without knowing - you ARE involved in Social/New Media (forums are just another way of web 1.0-ish socializing)!
I don’t refresh my browser to see new tweets; I use a Twitter client (www.twhirl.org). But 4 AM is a normal go-to-sleep hour in my handbook. Which makes me dysfunctional as well. :)
Diana
21 Mar 08 at 2:44 am
communication is the enemy! eu voi comenta in limba romana ca sa mai scap de o piedica a acestui dusman, comunicarea! esti indusa in eroare de o falsa problema: comunicarea nu e problema, e solutia. problema e comunicarea suie, proasta, stramba. stiu ca nu are legatura cu articolul. desi are. ai inteles?
iulian
21 Mar 08 at 3:28 am
Every tool is a sword that cuts both ways. Including the communication tools. Reminds me of the “technical adolescence” rule from Carl Sagan’s “Contact.” We just have to learn its wise use and we can’t do that until we play a little with it, even risking to get absorbed by it.
I have a Twitter account and I remember the first days. Stormy and addictive interaction. But, like any other storms, it somewhat cooled down and interaction became self-selective. Chaos is turning into new order, adding value to my life. The rest is self control and smart usage of a simple, but effective tool.
Communication is great. Communication is terrifying. Communication is trivial. Communication is wonder. Communication is everywhere.
Marius
21 Mar 08 at 12:12 pm