Creation of the Twitter page was only one of the first fights in the battle of the Tweets. Now I had to convince him why he should use his Twitter account. We have several friends that only Tweet about what they're doing that day and who have TwitPics of their lunch on their timeline. No one cares about your Thai chicken!
Why should we use Twitter? Does the world need another forum to find out how boring our class is or which restaurant on campus we're currently eating at? Twitter's website advertises it as a "rich source of constantly updated information." Certainly, there had to be more to Twitter than "I'm at work. Work is boring", and it was up to me to convince Steve of this.
Fortunately, I did not have to look far. One of our friends, @justnelson, is in a communications class that requires him to film and edit a video. After he created this video, he tweeted:
What a great start! Having an outlet for instant feedback and comments for your friends is a great way to use Twitter.
So why not just email your friends or ask them in person for feedback? @justnelson's account is public, which allows anyone who has a computer, even if they are not following them, to view his timeline (the list of recent Tweets published by a specific user). This allows people who may not feel the need to invest in him enough to follow him to still provide feedback on his work. Win-win? Yes! This random person does not need to worry himself with the clutter of constantly following @justnelson. However, @justnelson still gets the feedback he wants to better his class project.
Over winter break, I searched for information on graphic design tips and up-to-date information on modern design trends. This led me to
Ohhh Mashable.com, how I love thee. They provide a list of Twitter accounts that may be valuable for a user to follow if they are interested in everything from graphic design to food to building a company brand.
This is the essence of Twitter. Providing information to others in a convenient manner, and allowing them to choose what they are learning. Of course, the information provided is not always desired. I have no care in the world to learn about the National Hockey League. However, Steve would probably die if he couldn't hear about the New Jersey Devils. This is the beauty of Twitter. If you are interested in finding new music to listen to, don't listen to the critics, listen to your peers by using the #musicmonday hashtag, a link that compiles all tweets about a user's listening habits every Monday.
The information does not have to be serious information, either. I personally follow an account called @sportsminute. This user is dedicated to providing information about the sports world in a comical manner. "@sportsminute: Washington Wizards forward Andray Blatche says he doesn't want the season to end. Unlike Wizards fans." There is no denying that Twitter is just as good of a resource for entertainment as it is for information.
In a world of personalized entertainment (i.e. TiVo, Facebook applications, and iPods), Twitter allows you to compile a personal timeline that provides you with the information that you care about, whether that's headlines or one-liners.
No comments:
Post a Comment