Understanding Twitter
Insanul Ahmed
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Opinion
Edina Kacic's analysis of Twitter featured in the last issue of The Envoy, "'What Are You Doing?' The Twittering Fad Keeps Catching On," was similar to a student who goes to the first day of class, gets the syllabus, and then never goes to class again and complains that the professor didn't teach anything.
Kacic need not feel bad. She just doesn't get Twitter. But then again, neither does Maureen Dowd. The problem is everyone is talking about Twitter, but so few people understand it because they don't really use it. Twitter is boring to describe, but fun to experience. Take it from someone who's been on Twitter six months, loves it as much as Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg, and is already 3,000 updates deep: Twitter is the ultimate tool for media savvy people.
Yes, people post updates about what they had for lunch. Unless you personally know those people (and even if you do), that's a pretty stupid update. But guess what? I un-follow those people. Which is why every illiterate person in the world can be on Twitter, and it still won't clog your feed. Someone can follow you, but you don't have to follow them.
Hardly anyone actually does interesting things (although, while the attacks in Mumbai occurred, people in the hotel were Twittering). The only way you'll like Twitter is if you're an interesting person and have something interesting to say. In a lot of ways, the Facebook status update which asks "What's On Your Mind" is a more accurate description of Twitter at its best.
As Virginia Heffernan points out in her New York Times Magazine article "Being There," "The real answer to 'What are you doing right now?' is always just 'Updating my status.'"
When I update my status, I try to provide analysis or just be entertaining and opinionated. In other words, I tweet the gist of an article I write for The Envoy. Other times, I provide links to interesting things. But Twitter is not a meritocracy; it's unfair that Oprah has half a million followers in a week and I have 135. But it is what it is.
Plus, don't let all the media hype about celebrity profiles fool you. For one, a lot of celebrity profiles are phony and are being operated by regular Joes or office interns. But the truth is, a lot of fake profiles are better than the real ones; most of the real ones are self-promoting and just plain boring. Case in point, Britney Spears recently Tweeted, "Back in LA spending the day with the boys before Vancouver tomorrow." Yeah, thanks a lot Britney for such brilliant insight.
I follow some friends, but mostly I follow people who think just like me and share common interests like media and hip hop. The best users have semi-large followings and use them to facilitate conversations. I refer to those users as Twitterati, the enlightened Twitterers.
One of my favorite users is Toure, a legendary hip hop journalist and author of Never Drank The Kool Aid. Toure posts his unique opinion covering all types of topics. Last week, on April 23, he discussed Asher Roth, the validity of go-go music, the NBA age limit, and the torture memos. Toure's take is always insightful, but what makes it exceptional is that since he's fairly famous, his large fanbase responds to his Tweets. He then retweets the best posts (he has retweeted a number of my responses) and this starts a conversation between intelligent people who have legitimate things to say. This turns Twitter into one big chatroom. But the key is if you have nothing interesting to say, then he won't retweet you.
Another person I love following is my old boss, Editor-In-Chief of Vibe Magazine, Danyel Smith. True, Smith often posts about being in meetings, going home, and sipping green tea. But she's an editor who has got a great eye for good writing, so every time she reads something interesting on the web, she posts the link on Twitter. At this point, anything she posts, I read. She's a living, breathing, Twitting, RSS feed.
But just because I follow those people doesn't mean you will, or should. The point is that there are people out there who share your interests and want to hear your thoughts. Twitter is a place for that. It just takes time to build a following and find the right people to follow.
Oh, yeah. What is Twitter? Here's a recent update of mine-which is a retweet and quoted verbatim-that best sums it up:
"RT: @NakedWithSocks key 2 undrstndng Twitter is realizing that it's basically just talking 2 yourself in a crowded room & hoping some1 responds."
Kacic need not feel bad. She just doesn't get Twitter. But then again, neither does Maureen Dowd. The problem is everyone is talking about Twitter, but so few people understand it because they don't really use it. Twitter is boring to describe, but fun to experience. Take it from someone who's been on Twitter six months, loves it as much as Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg, and is already 3,000 updates deep: Twitter is the ultimate tool for media savvy people.
Yes, people post updates about what they had for lunch. Unless you personally know those people (and even if you do), that's a pretty stupid update. But guess what? I un-follow those people. Which is why every illiterate person in the world can be on Twitter, and it still won't clog your feed. Someone can follow you, but you don't have to follow them.
Hardly anyone actually does interesting things (although, while the attacks in Mumbai occurred, people in the hotel were Twittering). The only way you'll like Twitter is if you're an interesting person and have something interesting to say. In a lot of ways, the Facebook status update which asks "What's On Your Mind" is a more accurate description of Twitter at its best.
As Virginia Heffernan points out in her New York Times Magazine article "Being There," "The real answer to 'What are you doing right now?' is always just 'Updating my status.'"
When I update my status, I try to provide analysis or just be entertaining and opinionated. In other words, I tweet the gist of an article I write for The Envoy. Other times, I provide links to interesting things. But Twitter is not a meritocracy; it's unfair that Oprah has half a million followers in a week and I have 135. But it is what it is.
Plus, don't let all the media hype about celebrity profiles fool you. For one, a lot of celebrity profiles are phony and are being operated by regular Joes or office interns. But the truth is, a lot of fake profiles are better than the real ones; most of the real ones are self-promoting and just plain boring. Case in point, Britney Spears recently Tweeted, "Back in LA spending the day with the boys before Vancouver tomorrow." Yeah, thanks a lot Britney for such brilliant insight.
I follow some friends, but mostly I follow people who think just like me and share common interests like media and hip hop. The best users have semi-large followings and use them to facilitate conversations. I refer to those users as Twitterati, the enlightened Twitterers.
One of my favorite users is Toure, a legendary hip hop journalist and author of Never Drank The Kool Aid. Toure posts his unique opinion covering all types of topics. Last week, on April 23, he discussed Asher Roth, the validity of go-go music, the NBA age limit, and the torture memos. Toure's take is always insightful, but what makes it exceptional is that since he's fairly famous, his large fanbase responds to his Tweets. He then retweets the best posts (he has retweeted a number of my responses) and this starts a conversation between intelligent people who have legitimate things to say. This turns Twitter into one big chatroom. But the key is if you have nothing interesting to say, then he won't retweet you.
Another person I love following is my old boss, Editor-In-Chief of Vibe Magazine, Danyel Smith. True, Smith often posts about being in meetings, going home, and sipping green tea. But she's an editor who has got a great eye for good writing, so every time she reads something interesting on the web, she posts the link on Twitter. At this point, anything she posts, I read. She's a living, breathing, Twitting, RSS feed.
But just because I follow those people doesn't mean you will, or should. The point is that there are people out there who share your interests and want to hear your thoughts. Twitter is a place for that. It just takes time to build a following and find the right people to follow.
Oh, yeah. What is Twitter? Here's a recent update of mine-which is a retweet and quoted verbatim-that best sums it up:
"RT: @NakedWithSocks key 2 undrstndng Twitter is realizing that it's basically just talking 2 yourself in a crowded room & hoping some1 responds."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
H
posted 5/27/09 @ 3:33 PM EST
I hated on Twitter pretty hardcore. But I'm kind of hooked now. It's interesting to know what's on Trent Reznor's mind. Not gonna lie.
Good defense. (Continued…)
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