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Ask YC: Why should I care about Twitter?

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

#51

Post by vlbrown »

vlbrown wrote: post #41
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".

In fact, according to twitterlocal.net, there are roughly as many twitterers in New York City as San Francisco (on May 6 it was almost even). More in London UK than Los Angeles, CA. Almost as many in Wash. DC as LA. And Tokyo is the Twiteringest city by 3 to 1.

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

#52

Post by vlbrown »

ardit33 wrote: post #30
rantfoil wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hm, not exactly sure how a question about Twitter became an indictment against California / Californians. Lets stay on topic.

Honestly, it is not an indictment, just an observation. I actually like having many friends, getting invited to many things, but I also don't like when many people RSVP to things, and they just don't show up. I actually can directly quanitfy and compare this at soccer games. In boston about 80% of yes-es would actually show up at games. In SF about 60%. I guess, you could also argue that in the east coast, people are…

> Taking example something like blogs: it has instant appeal in a lot of people, because basically it is an online diary.

If you think back 8 or 10 years, a lot of people didn't understand blogs. They were dismissed as being the online diaries of a bunch of self-centered 20-somethings and teenagers. Who would want to read that What were they good for?

I think Twitter (microblogging) is in the same place blogs were, and where the web itself was in 1994 and 1995. We're still determining what can be used for and how it can be used. Already, the Twitter community has changed the rules. Twitter isn't what Obvious originally thought it would be two years ago. Keep in mind, Twitter began in March 2006.

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

#53

Post by vlbrown »

run4yourlives wrote: post #49
vlbrown wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think "it's a giant intrusion into my life" was getting emotional. :)

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

#55

Post by girk »

I find myself explaining to people why they should care about Twitter quite often, so I recently wrote up a comprehensive blog post about it.

Twitter-Me This: http://www.gee.ky/blog/2008/05/twitter-me-this.html

My reasons include: Social Network, Keeping in Touch, Minutia Can Be Meaningful, Mobile Chatroom, Information On-The-Go, Privacy Shield, Accessibility, Forced Short-Form Communication, Pulse of the World, Proxy, and Brand-Monitoring.

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