I am about to go to the toilet. It may not be pleasant. More details later.
I can imagine that the previous three sentences filled you with revulsion and disgust. I have got a point – honestly (and it does not involve graphic details of my toilet habits). My point can be summed up in one word:
Twitter
I have been reading a few blogs recently and have noticed that more and more bloggers are asking me to follow them on Twitter. I’ve had a quick look at the Twitter web site and it basically says:
Answer this simple question – What are you doing?
The opening line to this post tried to illustrate how I thought this whole Twitter thing worked. I’ve seen something similar on Facebook where you can leave a status of sorts stuff like:
Fred is skinning a dead fish
Bill is up to his eyeballs in dog poo
Linda has just dumped Greg but don’t tell him.
So what’s the difference between your Facebook status and Twittering? To be honest, I don’t know. I never bother filling in my Facebook status simply because I don’t want my friends to become comatose reading about my mundane and tedious life. Can you imagine it?
Dave is having a one way conversation with the cats about who scratched the door.
Dave is beginning to regret having chicken madras last night.
Dave has hay fever and it is totally unpleasant.
Dave is at work, cursing, spitting and drinking copious amounts of tea.
Actually to be fair, my life isn’t that humdrum; I do occasionally wander out into the wide world and slap it in the face (or usually get slapped instead), so there may be a remote chance that somebody might be vaguely interesting in some bits of my existence. I doubt it though.
So now I have a dilemma. Should I get onto this Twitter thing and spend my whole day updating it? I can see one use for it – that’s to promote this blog – but is that enough to make it worth my while?
I must admit I’m intrigued to find out what famous people are doing. For example, I know that Stephen Fry is a huge fan of Twitter and does it all the time. I wonder whether it is worth enrolling. I enjoy writing drivel here, so I wouldn’t want to make it a substitute for this blog. But I guess it could have its advantages.
So, can I ask anybody out there whether it is worth me doing it? Do you “tweet” and if so, why? And does it help to fulfil your life?
I’m genuinely interested, particularly after the recent events in Iran, where Twitter seems to have come into its own.
By the way – my first tweet, if I go for it, will be a report on my first paragraph. That should scare people away.
I can imagine that the previous three sentences filled you with revulsion and disgust. I have got a point – honestly (and it does not involve graphic details of my toilet habits). My point can be summed up in one word:
I have been reading a few blogs recently and have noticed that more and more bloggers are asking me to follow them on Twitter. I’ve had a quick look at the Twitter web site and it basically says:
Answer this simple question – What are you doing?
The opening line to this post tried to illustrate how I thought this whole Twitter thing worked. I’ve seen something similar on Facebook where you can leave a status of sorts stuff like:
Fred is skinning a dead fish
Bill is up to his eyeballs in dog poo
Linda has just dumped Greg but don’t tell him.
So what’s the difference between your Facebook status and Twittering? To be honest, I don’t know. I never bother filling in my Facebook status simply because I don’t want my friends to become comatose reading about my mundane and tedious life. Can you imagine it?
Dave is having a one way conversation with the cats about who scratched the door.
Dave is beginning to regret having chicken madras last night.
Dave has hay fever and it is totally unpleasant.
Dave is at work, cursing, spitting and drinking copious amounts of tea.
Actually to be fair, my life isn’t that humdrum; I do occasionally wander out into the wide world and slap it in the face (or usually get slapped instead), so there may be a remote chance that somebody might be vaguely interesting in some bits of my existence. I doubt it though.
So now I have a dilemma. Should I get onto this Twitter thing and spend my whole day updating it? I can see one use for it – that’s to promote this blog – but is that enough to make it worth my while?
I must admit I’m intrigued to find out what famous people are doing. For example, I know that Stephen Fry is a huge fan of Twitter and does it all the time. I wonder whether it is worth enrolling. I enjoy writing drivel here, so I wouldn’t want to make it a substitute for this blog. But I guess it could have its advantages.
So, can I ask anybody out there whether it is worth me doing it? Do you “tweet” and if so, why? And does it help to fulfil your life?
I’m genuinely interested, particularly after the recent events in Iran, where Twitter seems to have come into its own.
By the way – my first tweet, if I go for it, will be a report on my first paragraph. That should scare people away.
8 comments:
Hi PM,
I tweet every now and then and usually only with those whom I'm familiar, but, personally, I think that Twitter is enjoyed most by outgoing types who like to chit-chat. I'm not real chit-chatty, so all of it is kind of lost on me.
I do like following Lance Armstrong and some other cyclists...during their races they'll twitter the latest happenings and post pictures...that stuff is kind of interesting.
I also sometimes put up a link to my latest posts, but think I've only gotten one or two visitors through doing that.
So, if you happen to join up, "follow me!" :o)
Hi Holly,
I was planning to do a little more investigation. To be honest, I don't know if any of my friends participate (I'll have to probe a bit) but until now I've wondered whether I could be bothered writing a few words several times a day. As I said, I think it is like a mini blog or mini diary and if it proves interesting reading I might go for it.
And yes, I will "follow" you - I trust you "tweet" on behalf of Lucy ...
:-)
Cheers
PM
A lot of bloggers and online marketers say Twitter is great for reaching your goal--either to drive traffic to your blog or to make sales. They really swear by it. However, being a member of Twitter, I don't see it. But when I took a closer look, people who swore by its effectiveness are those who have about 5,000 or more followers. The most troubling part is, not all can reach that number of followers. In fact, even only a quarter of the total of Twitterers. Plus, it could take a lot of your time to make a real presence on Twitter. If you don't hang around and Twit that much, your followers won't seem to notice you. That's my dilemma. I only have 200+ followers. I hardly Twit except when I update my blog. So, Twitter for me is not working to its full capacity because I'm not fully utilizing it.
You really need to hang around there as I noticed most effective Twitterers do. They get really a lot of traffic because they Twit like all the time.
But if you don't have time for this and you can't get followers, I think forget it.
However, there is a tool available to get 1,000 Twitter followers each time you use it for a fee.
I participate, but as I've said I really don't share that much. I don't share a lot of links, nor my mundane life.
Hi Bingkee,
Thanks for the useful insight. I've asked a round and it seems to me that your views are very accurate. I really don't think I have the time or the inclination to spend my day Twittering. Maybe if I were a celebrity it would be useful (I think that maybe it will give followers an insight into a celbrity lifestyle), but as I said in the post, I'm about the furthest thing you can get from a celebrity and, unless I'm on my travels to a bizarre country, I can't see anybody being interested in my tedious existence.
:-)
Cheers
PM
Your opening lines to your two most recent posts were great. They grabbed my interest. Not that I am intrigued by toilet habit but someone who dares write about them is usually funny overall.
I was right.
I will be back.
Vodka Logic. xx
Hi Laura,
Thanks! I don't always get the opening lines right, sadly - but it is something I've learned to do. Not sure I will write about toilet habits - but then again ...
:-)
Cheers
PM
i've been twittering for about a month or so now, very irregularly though. and i don't think i have a knack for those type of oneliners - and very few seem to have. i'm really not that interested in reading about how long the queue was for a grande non fat latte at starbucks, or that the sun is shining, that you're wearing fab shoes etc. wait the latter might be reasonably interesting...:)
all and all, not really my thing.
Hi Pia,
Yeah - still not sure myself. I'm being the indecisive Libran. Should I or shouldn't I?
:-)
Cheers
PM
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