Can someone please explain Twitter?

[DVCLiz]

Wonder why people who don't tweet feel the need to bash those that do? Oh, right, I forgot, I'm on the DIS...

I follow CNN for news throughout the day, The Onion for humor, and my older daughter for a sense of what her life is like, what she finds funny, etc. She doesn't care what people think of her - she's not tweeting for the masses, just for her small group of friends, her sister, and me. I like being able to have a little "moment" with her even though she's moved away from home and is working in another city. We don't call and chat as often as we used to now that she has a job so the occasional daytime tweet is like a little treat for me.

 

[Scurvy]

Wonder why people who don't tweet feel the need to bash those that do? Oh, right, I forgot, I'm on the DIS...

The thing I find funny about the Twitter bashing is that it's happening on a message board. Most of the things that people say about those on Twitter could just as easily be said about the people who hang out on other online venues like Facebook or the Dis.

One thing I had forgotten to mention about Twitter was that when I posted about my father's initial cancer diagnosis to ask if any of my followers had any suggestions for during chemo, I got tons of help and suggestions from random groups who monitor Twitter for any mentions of cancer. Between those people and my normal followers, the support was absolutely amazing. Even if I didn't like Twitter for all the other reasons, I'd love it because of that.

 

[DVCLiz]

The thing I find funny about the Twitter bashing is that it's happening on a message board. Most of the things that people say about those on Twitter could just as easily be said about the people who hang out on other online venues like Facebook or the Dis.

Isn't that the truth!!

 

[MichelleVW]

I think twitter is the most useless thing on the internet.

Lol...my DH would argue with you that the dis is the most useless thing on the internet! He gets all of his news/weather/sports info on twitter and usually knows things before anyone else.

I enjoy twitter. Many times I use it just to express my thoughts, such as this morning when we booked our honeymoon, I expressed my excitement. I'll also post links that I think are interesting. I try not to include location information because I'm too concerned about psychos on the internet and no one needs to know where I am at all times.

I follow news outlets, both local and national. It's great to be able to learn what's going on in the world & locally in one quick glance, then follow the link if I want to learn more. I follow Disney, so I hear of any news they have. And I follow some people who are down in FL/Disney on a regular basis and post pictures from the parks. If people tweet too much about inane things, I stop following them.

I love twitter too. I follow some news sites, Texas Ranger baseball tweets, and a few friends and my DD who is away at college. I love hearing the random stuff my friends do during the day....just helps me feel connected to them since we don't live in the same states and it's hard to find time to chat.

 

[bekkiz]

I love twitter. It's better to think of it as mini (really mini) blog posts. Of course some people write about annoying or meaningless things. But, sometimes you find people who are actually really good at crafting interesting things in 140 characters. I don't follow anyone that I find annoying--why would I? I also don't tweet very often, but it is a useful medium of communication with famous or semi-famous people.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Where else are you going to see Tom Hanks' dental X-rays?


My friends and I just started tweeting again today. We've had fun catching up with each other. We all have interesting jobs (well, to each other!) so it was a hoot.

 

[Shmily1]

The thing I find funny about the Twitter bashing is that it's happening on a message board. Most of the things that people say about those on Twitter could just as easily be said about the people who hang out on other online venues like Facebook or the Dis.

One thing I had forgotten to mention about Twitter was that when I posted about my father's initial cancer diagnosis to ask if any of my followers had any suggestions for during chemo, I got tons of help and suggestions from random groups who monitor Twitter for any mentions of cancer. Between those people and my normal followers, the support was absolutely amazing. Even if I didn't like Twitter for all the other reasons, I'd love it because of that.

That is awesome that you got so much help like that. When you posted it, did you expect to get information from the cancer groups or was that a surprise? Did you have to put any symbols so they could find it or were they able to just search the word cancer?

Thank you all for the great responses! You all are way more informative that DS!

 

[Scurvy]

That is awesome that you got so much help like that. When you posted it, did you expect to get information from the cancer groups or was that a surprise? Did you have to put any symbols so they could find it or were they able to just search the word cancer?

No, I didn't expect that sort of response at all! I don't post personal things on there often but I had been posting about my dad because we were in different cities when he was hospitalized and the roads were icy and I was trying to get accurate road conditions for the route I had to drive.
People had been really helpful about that, and then they were asking for updates so when we got the diagnosis I posted it and suddenly I had tons of messages from different cancer groups. I assume they probably just do regular searches for the word "cancer" and that's how they found me. There are other groups that do the same thing - XBox Support (which is an official Microsoft account) contacted me when I mentioned a problem with my XBox and Blue Cross/Blue Shield did the same thing when I mentioned them.

Obviously I'm very enthusiastic about Twitter. I do have friends who tried it and found it wasn't their thing. It definitely isn't for everyone. I just find it so useful that I hate to see people discount it based on the assumption that it's just a bunch of people listing every little thing they do all the time. That's probably why I tend to post way too much when threads like this one pop up!

 

[OK!]

Forgot to add another use for it--since I moved to FL, I obviously don't get to see many Cardinals, Rams, or Blues games anymore. Twitter provides instant updates on important game developments without my having to consciously think, "Hm, are they playing today? And if so, when?"

HUGE fan of Twitter.

 

[onelilspark]

I just find it so useful that I hate to see people discount it based on the assumption that it's just a bunch of people listing every little thing they do all the time.

I totally agree!

 

[Freyja]

Tonight I will be meeting a friend I met on Twitter, @earthXplorer, for the first time face to face. Love that Twitter brings together people from all over the world.