Twitter

[moonshayde]

So, tonight I decided to poke around Twitter. Man, I do NOT get this thing. I don't even understand the appeal.

I suppose it's nice if you're either a celebrity figure or if you chat with friends via texting a lot. Or if you travel. But people use it for everything. That's okay. I just find it random and odd.

I feel like an old fart or something. LOL

*pokes around some more*

Comments

[brijeana.livejournal.com]

I don't get it either. ???

[platysseus.livejournal.com]

It took a while for me to get used to, but once I found a support network of writers I was hooked. :D I also get to read about writing industry things from literary agents & publishers. It's fun! :D

There are "topics" just for writers such as: #writechat (a weekly chat about writing) and #writegoal (tweet your goal for the day/week). There are a bunch of other ones too, but I don't want to confuse you. ;) Just search for a topic, & you'll get everyone's 'tweets' (posts) about it.

[beyond-wonder.livejournal.com]

Don't worry - i was the same, but now I think i've gotten the hang of it. A few of my friends are on it but mostly singers and actors I like 'I follow'. Mischa cracks me up - sometimes I think he is high when he tweets.

[lastingdreams8.livejournal.com]

Don't feel old ^^
I don't understand the appeal to Twitter either. It's like a Myspace/Facebook status except you broadcast to the whole world rather than just your friends...I suppose.
*shrugs*
:)

[autumndandelion.livejournal.com]

I didn't get it AT ALL initially. Then I found out that the guys from My Chemical Romance all had Twitter accounts, and I got one just so I could read what they had to say. Then I found various NASCAR people's Twitters and started following them too. They crack me up so bad! Like Kyle Petty was asking why a woman would feel the need to bring a Louis Viton (sp) bag into a Waffle House, and Delana Harvick (a driver's wife) answered him. Kenny Wallace says all kinds of random stuff, to the point that Mikey has told him, "That's weird, man."

That's the best part about Twitter! My favourite driver Michael Waltrip is on there. He cracks me up with his borderline obscene jokes. I get the messages on my phone. Sometimes, I can be having a really crappy day, and someone will say something that makes me laugh.

There are some people who twitter every time they go to the bathroom. If I actually write a tweet, I try to make it interesting or amusing.

[banana-cave.livejournal.com]

What don't you "get" about twitter? It's microblogging. It's like LJ but in 140 characters or less. You can follow other people to see what they say, and they can follow you, kind of like friends on LJ. You can even set your tweets to be private if you don't want strangers reading them. But I agree, it is random & odd!

[powerof3.livejournal.com]

I like Twitter because I sometimes have stuff to say, but it doesn't warrant an entire LJ post. Also, I tend to forget things that happen throughout the day so I can put them into an LJ post at the end of the day. ;)

It's also a nice way to keep up with celebrities and stuff.

[platysseus.livejournal.com]

There's an option to be just 'friends only', though. ;)

[lastingdreams8.livejournal.com]

Oh, ok:)
But still, I don't see the appeal :P

[amycooper.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I tried twitter and didn't really get into it either.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I mean, I understand how it works, but unless you are showing off, promiting, or have a tight group of friends, I guess it's pointless? Hmm.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I am thinking it depends on a lot of factors. If you have a tight group of friends on it, or if you are some kind of famous figure and want to use it to connect and promote, or if you just have tons to say, it could be cool.

Taking about my groceries probably isn't the most exciting thing in the world ;)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I actually saw you over there and had a giggle.

Hmm, those are pretty good reasons to use it. I guess I'm just looking for a purpose. And I guess it's more fun if you know people over there.

I'm not a huge huge celebrity fan, so I don't follow them all that much, but I hink it's greta for them to promote and even mingle with fans :)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Yes, I understand that and I think the concept itself is interesting, I just have trouble reading it. I was over there last night looking to see if any of my flist is over there and I found a few people, but I had a hard time understanding what was going on LOL

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I totally see why celebs would use it. It seems like a great vehicle to promote and keep in touch with fans. I don't follow celebs all that much, so I wouldn't know what to do with it.

There are some people who twitter every time they go to the bathroom. If I actually write a tweet, I try to make it interesting or amusing.

See, that's cool :)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I don't really have a lot of close friends that use Twitter, so I think maybe that's why I can't seem to really latch on.

I think it's great for celeb though.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I don't really follow many celebs so maybe that is why I'm kind of lost.

I did look at Misha and wow. The man is sure weird!

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Okay, now see this? This I have use for.

What is the # mean? I still don't know all the commands.

[platysseus.livejournal.com]

The hash tag (#) gets used for topics. If it's put in front of a word anywhere in the tweet/post it'll come up in the search. I don't think it's particulary necessary, but it does appear to makes things easier for everyone. ;)

[platysseus.livejournal.com]

I didn't either at first, but I learned that you don't have to state your status. There's probably only 10% of my posts/tweets that actually answer the question: "what are you doing?" :D If Twitter would just get rid of that question, we'd all appear a bit more sane. ;)

[shallanelprin.livejournal.com]

It suits my need for randomness in my life :) And gives me a place to text that I just saw a guy dressed as Indiana Jones at Starbucks (true story from the day Indy 4 came out). I also like following people from my industry (web design & development) and various celebrities (Nathan Fillion, David Hewlett, Greg Grunburg, Misha [who is clearly on crack], Jewel Staite, Wil Wheaton [who is hilarious], etc.)

[htbthomas.livejournal.com]

I'm addicted to it. :D Basically I use it to talk about and link fandom things. I follow some celebs, but mostly people related to the fandoms I like.

The three biggest groups of people I communicate with are Big Bang Theory fans, Chuck fans, and Smallville/Superman fans. If we have fandomy thoughts or news, we share it, and it's way faster than posting to LJ.

I do share personal things sometimes, like updates on my California trip as it was happening, and so do others, but the back and forth is the most fun. Here's a good example of my last set of tweets, and the replies to them: http://twitter.com/#search?q=htbthomas

And platysseus is right about the support for writers. rj_anderson is a published author whom I got to know through BBT fandom -- she uses it to discuss and network quite a bit.

[foxy11814.livejournal.com]

I don't get it at all, either. I have a Twitter, and I've posted on it like three times. My first post was commenting on figuring out the whole point of the thing, but I've noticed now on my Twitter page that they erased it! LMAO! I guess they want no negativity when it comes to Twitter.

Seriously, though, it does get on my nerves, sometimes...not with regular people using it, because however they want to spend their freetime is fine by me, but it gets on my nerves when news networks, such as CNN go Twitter and Facebook crazy. Get back to reporting the news, please! Stop relying on Twitters to get quotes and news material, lol.

[lastwordslinger.livejournal.com]

I AGREE COMPLETELY. I guess for people who are ultra-busy and can only post a sentence before they gotta run... it makes a kind of sense. For me? I find it so pointless. I cannot sum anything up in a badly constructed sentence. I mean, I'm even rambling here! :p

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

LOL! And here I thought *I* was an old fart for not getting the appeal of Twitter. Glad I'm not the only one!

Besides that, I'm not on it because I'm already on Facebook and Myspace (though I don't use that one much anymore), plus here at LJ and a few fandom-related forums. It would be just another thing I'd have to keep track of and I wouldn't be able to keep up.

[powerof3.livejournal.com]

Hah. Glad I could amuse. :)

Twitter is fun, once you get over the "OMG WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?" phase. I think we've all gone through that, too. I remember when I first got mine, I was like, "Uhhh, okay. What now?" And now I'm posting ... a lot. :D

Well, even if you don't follow celebs, there are some great news outlets, a lot of major companies, police departments, government agencies, and some really good role players on Twitter. It's just a matter of who you want to follow.

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Gratuitous icon love posting.

First Rolf the dog, and now Hardison and Eliot with the Nate picture! OMG! So adore your icons.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's me. I'm like, what I am suppposed to do? *flails*

I guess I just have to look around and see if it works for me.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I can't really have Facebook right now since I'm trying to get into teaching and that tends to be frowned down upon. I have no interest in MySpace.

But I thought I'd take a peek at twitter LOL

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I can see why people use it. And I think it's really useful in some situations. I guess I'm just trying to see if it suits my needs or not. Hmm.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I think it might work if you have a group of friends and you tend to text each other a lot. Or if you are a writer or a celeb or some news worthy person. I mean, it obviously works well for some people.

Me? I'm a beginner writer who is unknown. Almost none of my friends text on a regular basis. And my offline friends hate computers/email. So for me, it's like talking to myself LOL

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

How do you like communicate with people though? It's not just posting right? I mean on LJ you can comment. I guess I don't get how it works over there.

I am intrigued on how it can be used for writers though.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

LOL

So it's great for people who embrace their inner random? ;)

[htbthomas.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try to do a short tutorial... hopefully this will make sense:

Let's say you post this:

moonshayde: Does anyone know when Smallville Season 9 starts?

Then I reply to you by typing @ + your username with no space between:

@moonshayde: I think it starts on Sept. 25th.

You would see that reply on twitter.com/home when you are logged in. You could then reply back:

@htbthomas: Thanks!

You can also use your phone to receive the updates from the people you follow, but I don't! I check it on my computer, using the twitter.com site, the Twitterfox plug-in for Firefox and iTwitter on my iPod Touch. I have used my cell phone to send updates, and often use the mobile website, but it's not necessary at all.

I can also explain "RT" and "#" as well as how to link things, but you probably don't need that immediately. But let me know if you do! Did you set up an account?

[got-no-strings.livejournal.com]

I dont get it either, and I dont want to.

[brijeana.livejournal.com]

You could always talk about hash browns. LOL!

[dknightshade.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I don't get why a word limit makes it better. But then I'm wordy.

[emptystarbox.livejournal.com]

Here's something that may help (http://www.kimtracyprince.com/2009/03/what-is-twitter.html) if you're in need of what to do and all that. Just a tutorial.

Honestly, I've had twitter for over a year and I'm still surprised I still have it. Not because I hardly update -- when I totally do! It's just stuff like this is normally a phase. And it's probably the only reason why I haven't been updating livejournal all that much (though, anything more than 140 characters & if it's bugging me that much.. I'll update LJ haha). It's just little random things that happens, road trips I go on or things I think of. I also use it to talk to friends and what not. Also! Get updates on, yeah, celebrity (it's like an OKAY stalker system! :P), movies, tv shows, travel, local events.. stuff like that.

You can set up to send pictures from your phone and have several sites feeding into it if you want to update from there (I have my flickr). :B All the more recent is adding video. It's never ending.. it's fun when you're bored like I am.

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I felt the same way at first. I poked around a bit and even got an account, but I didnt' get it. I still intensely dislike the Twitter updates on LJ. Not a fan of having my flist cluttered up with gibberish which is often personal conversations between poeple I don't even know.

Twitter can be addicting sometimes, though. On Supernatural nights and/or American Idol nights, I used to open up a search window and it was like being in a wild & crazy chat with a bunch of strangers talking about the shows. That was actually a lot of fun, because you're not in a chat with friends so you see lots of different opinions and interpretations of things.

I also like it for liveblogging at events--mostly just to read what others write at an event I couldn't attend. It's usually the fastest source of news. I've found that I can't really do it myself, though. I wanted to liveblog from the concerts I've attended, but I'm always too busy enjoying the concert. *g* I feel like I end up disappointing everyone who is waiting for news.

I sometimes also post random things, but mostly use it to follow what people are saying about whatever I'm interested in at the moment. I open up a search window for that topic and just read what people post, but mostly, it's just gibberish.

For instance, I follow what anyone says about Drake Bell. Mostly it's fangirls asking him to marry them or random people saying he's cute or he sucks, but every once in a while I get something awesome. Quite a few times, a random musician and/or songwriter has mentioned working with him on new songs, so that's really exciting. In the past, Drake wrote most of his songs either by himself with his close friend (sometimes including one other friend). Hearing that he was working with other well-known musicians and songwriters was really exciting--both because he would have new creative input, but also because they were interested in him.

Basically, though, it's filtering through a whole lot of garbage for one or two gems like that. I do it for the Drake topic, though, because there is no central fandom place for him. Most fannish places (including Twitter) are filled with those "marry me" type of posts (as if he were hanging out on random message boards looking for a wife *g*).

The appeal of Twitter sometimes escapes even me, but it's amazing at how quickly I got sucked in. *g*

ETA: Many of the current Idols on the tour have Twitter accounts and post little videos and things, so that can be fun, too.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I checked some of the write ones you mentioned and that's pretty cool :)

[banana-cave.livejournal.com]

What goes on depends on the individual person you're following. I view twitter as overflow for my brain. If I think of something random, I'll post it on twitter. I also use it to say "(insert TV show I just watched) was awesome" a lot.

Everyone uses twitter differently. Misha Collins will post about once a week crazy things. He calls his twitter followers "minions" and it's pretty funny to follow him, but bizarre.

And I apologize. Some people actually don't understand twitter (how it works: that you can post from your phone, etc.) and some people don't understand the appeal of twitter. My husband is with you, he doesn't understand it's appeal, either.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

It's okay. I just find it hard to read and I haven't really found a good purpose (for me) for it yet. That said, I do have one and I'm trying to use it the best way I can for my needs.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

OY...don't have a cell - SO glad for it - but it seems to me the appeal of Twitter is somewhat...lacking, lol!!

*headdesk*

*hugs you*