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Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#41

Post by vlbrown »

ardit33 wrote: post #28

Twitter reflects the overrall california lifestyle and the shallowness of conections made in here. Comming from the east coast, I can tell there is a huge difference on friends I have in SF, and friends I have in Boston. I know more people, and have more "friends" in california, but for some reason they tend to be more of the "good times" types, while in Boston I had less friends, but more people I could rely on and…

Actually, there are many people in Twitter from Boston. Also the UK, Japan (so many that they've started Twitter Japan), New York, Kansas, Louisiana, and more. Twitter is the web. It's way beyond "California".

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#42

Post by vlbrown »

the1pato wrote: post #4
senthil_rajasek wrote: post #2

its a non-intrusive way of sharing statuses.

The status updates are sent to your phone/mobile device, though. Here you are, reading news.YC, and buzz ... Stephanie doesn't like what she just had for lunch. That's not a little bit intrusive?

And... not only do yu decide if updates come to your phone, you do that on a per-person basis. So you'll only see what that friend is doing If You Want To. That's about as non-intrusive as it gets. It's entirely under YOUR control.

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#43

Post by vlbrown »

run4yourlives wrote: post #18

Well, I've tried twitter for few weeks and ended up turning most of it off, because honestly, I don't give a damn that you're eating lunch at some new restaurant, or giving your dog a bath, or watching TV with your wife. I find the service is basically a big giant intrusion into my life. 99% of the crap that pops up I just don't care about. 99% I put into the thing I can guarantee others don't care about either. I th…

But again, if You don't care what I am doing, that whatever possessed you to "follow" me? You only follow the people you WANT to follow. You only read what you WANT to read. You turn on SMS (or IM) notifications at YOUR preference. The only way Twitter can be a "big giant intrusion" into your life is if YOU turn that on!

It's like saying, 99% of the stuff on television is crap but failing to realize that you control the tv and you don't have to watch that stuff!

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#44

Post by vlbrown »

izaidi wrote: post #14

Twitter is well suited to certain kinds of lifestyles, and pretty much useless for others. I don't use it because none of my friends use it, and I find it more cumbersome and limiting than other services, but if you run with a crowd with which it's reached a critical mass it can be a useful tool for quick-hit communication.

Some of us find that, as we use Twitter, we make new friends.

Not all of my friends need to be people I see (physically) just as not all of the people, I see (physically) are my friends.

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#45

Post by vlbrown »

axod wrote: post #12

I just don't get twitter. I saw some idiot who wrote an article using twitter. So of course each paragraph was 140 characters or less. Just because you can use a tool to do something, doesn't mean you should. IMHO, IM/IRC/email/blog all work far better for communication.

So, you saw one person use Twitter in a certain way, thought that way was silly, drew a generalization to the entire service, and you decided you knew everything abut it?

Someone uses the telephone to do telemarketing to try to sell you carpet and from that you understand what the telephone is "for"?

IM/IRC/email/blog are all different - from each other and from Twitter. As is the telephone. Or SMS. Or...

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#46

Post by vlbrown »

justindz wrote: post #9

Twitter has an extremely low barrier of entry and it's so off-the-cuff that it's a great place to non-blog without cluttering your blog with stuff that's less topically relevant or more random. I find that valuable, though I could live without. It's not terribly "social" for me yet as only one friend also has an account. People have remarked before that if you live in the valley or work in certain types of companies…

Make new friends. :)

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#47

Post by vlbrown »

Twitter is stories, vignettes, small slices of people lives.

Twitter is a 24-hour come-as-you-are blockparty. People come and go, talk and listen. Some of them already know each other, many of them don't.

Twitter is lifestreaming, 140 characters at a time.

Twitter is quick updates, questions, answers. Twitter is "I've got a 2-hour layover at SFO. Anyone want to grab coffee?"

Twitter is microblogging. Twitter is nanoblogging!

Twitter is writing practice. How much can you say in such a small space?

Twitter is a tool. Use it (or don't use it). As you use it more, you may come to see its value to you. If you don't, that's alright too.

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#48

Post by axod »

vlbrown wrote: post #45
axod wrote: post #12

I just don't get twitter. I saw some idiot who wrote an article using twitter. So of course each paragraph was 140 characters or less. Just because you can use a tool to do something, doesn't mean you should. IMHO, IM/IRC/email/blog all work far better for communication.

So, you saw one person use Twitter in a certain way, thought that way was silly, drew a generalization to the entire service, and you decided you knew everything abut it? Someone uses the telephone to do telemarketing to try to sell you carpet and from that you understand what the telephone is "for"? IM/IRC/email/blog are all different - from each other and from Twitter. As is the telephone. Or SMS. Or...

ok. To clarify... I've seen many many articles showing how you can use twitter to do X. When it just seems that there's already a far more suited way to do X.

I'm sure it's sort of useful for some things for some people, but I can't see it going mainstream.

Re: Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

#49

Post by run4yourlives »

vlbrown wrote: post #43
run4yourlives wrote: post #18

Well, I've tried twitter for few weeks and ended up turning most of it off, because honestly, I don't give a damn that you're eating lunch at some new restaurant, or giving your dog a bath, or watching TV with your wife. I find the service is basically a big giant intrusion into my life. 99% of the crap that pops up I just don't care about. 99% I put into the thing I can guarantee others don't care about either. I th…

But again, if You don't care what I am doing, that whatever possessed you to "follow" me? You only follow the people you WANT to follow. You only read what you WANT to read. You turn on SMS (or IM) notifications at YOUR preference. The only way Twitter can be a "big giant intrusion" into your life is if YOU turn that on! It's like saying, 99% of the stuff on television is crap but failing to realize that you control…

No, it's like saying 99% of the stuff on TV is crap, so I don't see the value in having a TV.

Like I said, we're talking personal preferences here, so don't get so emotional about it.

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