Anna (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
owaranai_natsu) wrote2011-09-28 02:51 pm
owaranai_natsu) wrote2011-09-28 02:51 pm
Entry tags:
About Twitter
Recently, I’ve noticed people being more vocal about their feelings about Twitter, and mostly, I think people are upset that they have to conform to the social movement just so that they can keep in touch with you. Whether that person has abandoned Facebook, LJ, or whatever, it’s getting to the point where people are on Twitter so much, you don’t hear from them otherwise. Now, this is just a generalization, I could be wrong, but due to all this talk, I wanted to be open about my own opinions on it.
Disclaimer: I am a user of Twitter, but my experience may be different from yours. I don’t use it on my phone, so it limits my enjoyment (maybe?) and my knowledge of its full potential. I may try to generalize, but what is said may not apply to you.
As to everything in life, there are pros and cons. Twitter, it’s great! Stay connected, live-updates, and you feel like you’re with that person. So long as you have Twitter on and check it at all times. However, this is also what’s great about it; you can always read about people’s real-time life hours later, or at your leisure (though the relevance of “I’m eating a bagel” 8hrs later is questionable). It’s kind of like condensed LJ-posting (with extra things like “alkdjf;akdj on the bus and it’s pouring”) or as it has been likened to, IM chatting.
In terms of LJ –yes, I think it is like LJ in that we get fandom updates, “ARAMA! This celebrity is now officially dating this person!” we hear about fandom thoughts, “Oh this show was not so great, probably shouldn’t have done this…” and we hear about people’s everyday lives, “I hate this stupid class, WAII aldfjd :(“ However, you’re only limited to 140 characters per tweet, so unless you plan on massively chain-tweeting your tlist with a bunch of stuff, it’s not meant to be like LJ. However, I will say that it's like LJ in that you can choose to read someone's tweets or not, and skip things. Perhaps this is like that with everything a person posts on the Internet.
Oh! And Twitter doesn't have the greatest archiving, because if you've tried to find what you said a couple days ago...good luck? xD The auto scroll is great and all...but you can't just go to one date and it pull up a list of what you said. I'm not sure how long your tweets stay in their database either...
I do like going through what I said a week or a month ago, because I am a forgetful person and I do like to go back and laugh at myself for posting silly things. Or maybe I had an epiphany, I could 'favorite' it and save it for another time. Or use them for 'extended tweet' posts ;)
In terms of IM-chatting; again, you’re limited to 140 characters and if you’re going to talk to someone for a long time, you might want to be courteous to your fellow followers who mutually follow the person you’re talking to, by moving the conversation to an actual IM platform. However! Twitter can be fun especially when chatting with people, because people can reply/retweet/comment on your status and it doesn’t have to be a long conversation. It’s like one moment of bonding and then you continue on with your day. In this aspect, I like it, because even though you might not talk to anyone for the rest of the day, you had that moment. That is not to say you’re obligated to reply to every tweet a person makes (that would be CRAZY) like you would perhaps an LJ entry (and even then, people won't comment), but it’s nice to be heard/acknowledged (Yes, I do pay attention to what you say).
I think Twitter can be good for short bursts of conversation, because sometimes, there is not enough stuff to talk about on IM. Twitter is a nice medium between full out, non-stop, convo and not talking at all. Because I know on IM, I have awkward silences or moments where I’m just busy doing other stuff online, so Twitter lets my friends talk to me when they want to, and not necessarily feeling like they need a response right away. Especially if you live in different timezones.
Great things have started from Twitter. From small things like supporting your idol using hashtags (deadfisheyes and eggplant <--this is questionable since these are mean nicknames, even if they were funny when it started) or helping your favorite celebrity get toilet paper in a public bathroom (XD- I’ve heard this happening, though idk who). And then there are REALLY great things like Tom Felton and Matthew Lewis raising support and money for multiple sclerosis, Ian Somerhalder raising awareness about environmental issues, Maggie Q finding a home for a puppy, ALL kinds of things. Not to mention, it is a great marketing tool that allows you to keep in touch with the latest celebrity happenings(Criminal Mind's Spencer Reid @Matthew Gubler, @Nathan fillion, etc) or show updates (@Runaway_tbs, @tumblingtbs, etc).
But then again, there are some horrible things on Twitter. Things we say online, let alone Twitter, are permanent whether we like it or not. And when things like politicians getting caught in sex scandals happen due to Twitter, well, then it's not so great. But then again, one could say it’s not about Twitter itself, but the users who make it good or bad.
And if we look at the big picture, what does it tell us about face-to-face interaction. Of course this is a technological era and almost everyone’s on the computer, phone, iPad, whatever, but with things like Twitter, even if we are more ‘connected,’ do we really tell people about our lives and do we really listen?
Pulling this back to LJ –some people are upset that we’re overusing Twitter (or Tumblr for that matter) and no longer using LJ, and for those of us who are not following the Twitter trend, it kind of sucks. Personally, I am able to follow Twitter and Tumblr and still post on LJ, but I am definitely experiencing the lack of need/desire to update on LJ, because my fangirling outbursts are done in scattered amounts on Twitter. Though, there are days when I do it lump-sum too xD
BUT, I really do love LJ and I’d rather update with an entry that exceeds 140 characters, not to mention, I’m not capable of condensing what I have to say in 140 characters all the time…as you’ve seen here xD
(Maybe you’re using Twitter, because not much goes on in your life that you consider exciting enough for an LJ post, but appropriate for Twitter?).
Sure, I’m one of those people who tell you what I’m eating or where I’m going or useless thoughts, and I’m wondering, why do I do this? Yes, I will admit, I want people to pay attention and know what I’m doing. Maybe I’ll be lucky to get a @mention “No way! I’m going to the beach right now too!” but yea, there is something to this platform that we love or else we wouldn’t be using it.
In other words, I like Twitter, it keeps me connected, but please don’t neglect LJ :)
And I hope whoever’s reading this doesn’t feel offended or obligated to change their online habits- I just had to lay it all out ^^
I have, in no way, covered everything there is to Twitter, so if you have something to add to this discussion post thing, comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts :D/
Disclaimer: I am a user of Twitter, but my experience may be different from yours. I don’t use it on my phone, so it limits my enjoyment (maybe?) and my knowledge of its full potential. I may try to generalize, but what is said may not apply to you.
As to everything in life, there are pros and cons. Twitter, it’s great! Stay connected, live-updates, and you feel like you’re with that person. So long as you have Twitter on and check it at all times. However, this is also what’s great about it; you can always read about people’s real-time life hours later, or at your leisure (though the relevance of “I’m eating a bagel” 8hrs later is questionable). It’s kind of like condensed LJ-posting (with extra things like “alkdjf;akdj on the bus and it’s pouring”) or as it has been likened to, IM chatting.
In terms of LJ –yes, I think it is like LJ in that we get fandom updates, “ARAMA! This celebrity is now officially dating this person!” we hear about fandom thoughts, “Oh this show was not so great, probably shouldn’t have done this…” and we hear about people’s everyday lives, “I hate this stupid class, WAII aldfjd :(“ However, you’re only limited to 140 characters per tweet, so unless you plan on massively chain-tweeting your tlist with a bunch of stuff, it’s not meant to be like LJ. However, I will say that it's like LJ in that you can choose to read someone's tweets or not, and skip things. Perhaps this is like that with everything a person posts on the Internet.
Oh! And Twitter doesn't have the greatest archiving, because if you've tried to find what you said a couple days ago...good luck? xD The auto scroll is great and all...but you can't just go to one date and it pull up a list of what you said. I'm not sure how long your tweets stay in their database either...
I do like going through what I said a week or a month ago, because I am a forgetful person and I do like to go back and laugh at myself for posting silly things. Or maybe I had an epiphany, I could 'favorite' it and save it for another time. Or use them for 'extended tweet' posts ;)
In terms of IM-chatting; again, you’re limited to 140 characters and if you’re going to talk to someone for a long time, you might want to be courteous to your fellow followers who mutually follow the person you’re talking to, by moving the conversation to an actual IM platform. However! Twitter can be fun especially when chatting with people, because people can reply/retweet/comment on your status and it doesn’t have to be a long conversation. It’s like one moment of bonding and then you continue on with your day. In this aspect, I like it, because even though you might not talk to anyone for the rest of the day, you had that moment. That is not to say you’re obligated to reply to every tweet a person makes (that would be CRAZY) like you would perhaps an LJ entry (and even then, people won't comment), but it’s nice to be heard/acknowledged (Yes, I do pay attention to what you say).
I think Twitter can be good for short bursts of conversation, because sometimes, there is not enough stuff to talk about on IM. Twitter is a nice medium between full out, non-stop, convo and not talking at all. Because I know on IM, I have awkward silences or moments where I’m just busy doing other stuff online, so Twitter lets my friends talk to me when they want to, and not necessarily feeling like they need a response right away. Especially if you live in different timezones.
Great things have started from Twitter. From small things like supporting your idol using hashtags (deadfisheyes and eggplant <--this is questionable since these are mean nicknames, even if they were funny when it started) or helping your favorite celebrity get toilet paper in a public bathroom (XD- I’ve heard this happening, though idk who). And then there are REALLY great things like Tom Felton and Matthew Lewis raising support and money for multiple sclerosis, Ian Somerhalder raising awareness about environmental issues, Maggie Q finding a home for a puppy, ALL kinds of things. Not to mention, it is a great marketing tool that allows you to keep in touch with the latest celebrity happenings(Criminal Mind's Spencer Reid @Matthew Gubler, @Nathan fillion, etc) or show updates (@Runaway_tbs, @tumblingtbs, etc).
But then again, there are some horrible things on Twitter. Things we say online, let alone Twitter, are permanent whether we like it or not. And when things like politicians getting caught in sex scandals happen due to Twitter, well, then it's not so great. But then again, one could say it’s not about Twitter itself, but the users who make it good or bad.
And if we look at the big picture, what does it tell us about face-to-face interaction. Of course this is a technological era and almost everyone’s on the computer, phone, iPad, whatever, but with things like Twitter, even if we are more ‘connected,’ do we really tell people about our lives and do we really listen?
Pulling this back to LJ –some people are upset that we’re overusing Twitter (or Tumblr for that matter) and no longer using LJ, and for those of us who are not following the Twitter trend, it kind of sucks. Personally, I am able to follow Twitter and Tumblr and still post on LJ, but I am definitely experiencing the lack of need/desire to update on LJ, because my fangirling outbursts are done in scattered amounts on Twitter. Though, there are days when I do it lump-sum too xD
BUT, I really do love LJ and I’d rather update with an entry that exceeds 140 characters, not to mention, I’m not capable of condensing what I have to say in 140 characters all the time…as you’ve seen here xD
(Maybe you’re using Twitter, because not much goes on in your life that you consider exciting enough for an LJ post, but appropriate for Twitter?).
Sure, I’m one of those people who tell you what I’m eating or where I’m going or useless thoughts, and I’m wondering, why do I do this? Yes, I will admit, I want people to pay attention and know what I’m doing. Maybe I’ll be lucky to get a @mention “No way! I’m going to the beach right now too!” but yea, there is something to this platform that we love or else we wouldn’t be using it.
In other words, I like Twitter, it keeps me connected, but please don’t neglect LJ :)
And I hope whoever’s reading this doesn’t feel offended or obligated to change their online habits- I just had to lay it all out ^^
I have, in no way, covered everything there is to Twitter, so if you have something to add to this discussion post thing, comment! I'd love to hear your thoughts :D/