Twitter

[Kyriakos]

The characters limit probably is one of the main reasons that twitter is what it is. At least in FB you can post what you want to. I am still ok with FB (for business contacts) despite the crap it has, but twitter is just useless for me.

 

[Dachs]

The characters limit probably is one of the main reasons that twitter is what it is. At least in FB you can post what you want to. I am still ok with FB (for business contacts) despite the crap it has, but twitter is just useless for me.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

 

[Kyriakos]

Brevity is the soul of wit.

I think the phrase originally mentions "essense"?

Anyway, being laconic is being philosophical, as Chilon said. But twitter is still dumber than most other web places

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

I find it's a great way to follow interesting people, or even stay in touch with those I know. The character limit actually gives it a nice elegance. I don't have to deal with massive 1,000 word complaint posts like I do on Facebook. It's like a cap limit on crap. It's just much more simple to wade through than Facebook or Tumblr or whatever else. I'm also constantly surprised by the humor people put out in so few characters.

It's also great and instantly getting in touch with people, and live info. It's really easy. Anyone can say mean things to celebrities on it!

 

[luiz]

When I lived in Rio I used to check my Twitter account just because I followed a "channel" (don't know if that's the proper term) where people would say where the police "blitzes" were. Rio has this ridiculous and draconian policy where the police can stop anyone for no reason and subject them to a breathalyzer. If you drank any alcohol at all, and I mean as little as half a can of beer or even less than that, you have to pay a huge fine and lose your license for a year, and of course your car is towed. So Twitter was great for this and this only, as when I had a glass of wine or whatever I could find alternate routes to get home safely.

Now I never use it. It sucks. But my biggest peeve is with Instagram. What exactly can Instagram do that Facebook can't? I refuse to create an account on that damn thing.
And nobody wants to see what you're eating.

 

[Peck of Arabia]

I don't have a smartphone so I think it's usefulness to me would be particularly limited. Then again I've never felt the urge to use it on my laptop either. Like facebook it looks like an absolute time sponge, but at least facebook helped me maintain my social calendar

 

[Camikaze]

Twitter is designed for very short messages and a high frequency of such messages.
I believe I get what you are saying. Twitter can be very valuable. I don't want to stigmatize every follower or twitterer. But surely you can see that this basic design of Twitter has certain implications related to stupidity?

That would assume that quantity correlates to quality, or that small talk is stupid. There's no reason why something said in 140 characters or less has to be stupid, and no real reason why it has to be more stupid than something said in more words. When we think of long bits of text, sure that includes books and academic articles, and you're not getting that on twitter, but neither are you getting long rants. A character limit may hinder a debate, but then that's a matter of how the platform is used, and doesn't really indicate that it's designed to nurture stupidity.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

That would assume that quantity correlates to quality

It assumes that short messages correlate to superficiality and triviality.

I was mainly thinking of CNN, but I get what you mean. The ZDF has an inconsistent track record there imo. Many of its shows also have the crappy "let's read random tweets" segment, but especially their sister channel ZDF info sometimes tries to be a bit smarter than that, incorporating social media into their program as a way to participate in discussions or ask questions.

It's not the revolution of TV, but at least its a legitimate use of the medium and generally I always appreciate attempts to include the audience. I'm more opposed to the superficial "look we have Twitter are we cool again" mindset.

Yeah I must agree that asking questions via twitter seems fully legit.

 

[peter grimes]

I also run a parody Twitter account ( www.twitter.com/wattsdointhings ) that could charitably be described as "absurdly niche."

OOMG please tell me that's about Tony Watts!


EDIT: Logged in to twitter, I am disappoint.

It's the last online "thing" I have not done.

Totally gonna stalk you on Friendster now

Anyone can say mean things to celebrities on it!

I do love the way people troll Donald The Trump. And Patton Oswald seems to be an idiot savant of the genre.

When I lived in Rio I used to check my Twitter account just because I followed a "channel" (don't know if that's the proper term) where people would say where the police "blitzes" were.

This is one of the few uses I could see for my situation. I bike to work over a bridge, and in bad weather it's nice to know the conditions before starting out. Likewise, the NYPD sometimes do targeted enforcement of bike laws, but since I obey almost all of them it's not too relevant. Lastly, once my kid stars going to school I'm sure it will be helpful for announcements and parents groups.