Follow me on Twitter
I have just recently started using Twitter. I have been thinking about it for a while but it seems as if it has not taken off in Sweden yet so I don’t have that many friends who use it. Without other friends to “follow” (and friends to join as “followers”) it’s no point. But I guess it’s always nice to be one of those “early adopters”, besides I do have friends from outside of Sweden that are using Twitter.
It is too early for me to say anything conclusive about my experience of Twitter, but I think that I will like it. I’ve been on Facebook for a while now and have always felt that my friends’ status updates have been one of the most interesting features of Facebook. Twitter appears to be a refined version of the Facebook status updates. You can write a little bit more, but still only short messages. It seems to be somewhat easier to manage and people tend to update it more often.
I’ve been thinking a lot on why I find it so interesting to watch short and simple status updates from friends. I think that it has something to do with creating a narrative and making me a part of it. When I read about the things my friends do it becomes a description, almost like a story, about their everyday life and I get the feeling that I am a part of it. I can comment on it and react to it or just watch it evolve like a real life drama. Also, even though people of course can write fake messages about what they are doing at the moment, it feels more like the real thing than many other kinds of online interactions. Twitter messages are typically short and snappy and have a spontaneous and unstructured flavor to them.
Anyway, I hope to see more of my Swedish friends on Twitter soon so that I can really get a feeling for its pros and cons. For all of you not yet familiar with how Twitter works, there is an excellent video on Common Craft that explains it all.
i think it is fantastic that you are thinking about getting into Twitter Daniel – i have been toying with the idea myself because i also *love* the status update feature on Facebook. i would go further and say that it is our voyeuristic tendencies as academics, and perhaps just generally as people, that make us fascinated by the little tidbits of everyday life offered up by our friends on social networking sites. it makes us feel connected, and what’s more, like we know something about, or are piecing together a puzzle, about people we may or may not know well in “real life.” just random thoughts, but perhaps you will be the tipping point to force me into yet another social networking site. perhaps i need a cellphone first! anyhoo – good luck on Twitter!
I think that you’re right – to some extent I feel connected even though I don’t really know the people I follow so very close. But I would imagine that when the people I actually do know rather well also decide to join Twitter, it will be even more fun. As for the cellphone – I think you can skpi it. I hardly use mine.