No. 14 on the list: I started a Twitter account. Finally, about five years after Twitter was cool :-).
What do I like about Twitter? It's more interesting reading than Facebook, at least to me. I'm following people with ideas about social media and film and Mexico, not just hearing about pets and babies and what happened at work today.
I'm following 22 Twitter accounts, mostly news and meta-news accounts, plus a couple of friends, Starbucks, Ellen DeGeneres and Kim Kardashian. I find that with 22 there's enough in the feed to keep it fresh but not so much that it's overwhelming.
I like being RT'ed and @ed and sent DMs. No matter how minute the mention it's big to me. I got retweeted a couple of times because I mentioned Starbucks. That was cool. I also like to RT other people's tweets. It's faster than posting it to my blog and I don't have to try to come up with a witty comment to go with it.
I have a paltry seven followers and I think a few of them may not exist. I guess I could try to get more followers but I want to really get the hang of it before announcing it to everyone I know. Like a lot of people I know, I like following more than I like tweeting.
A big thing I like about Twitter is that it's more anonymous than Facebook. You're more likely to get a follower who doesn't know you, who just likes the links you tweet. And you can follow people you don't know without it seeming weird. In that way it reminds me of the early days of blogging, where you just put stuff out there and hoped to build a following.
Some things I dislike: It can get inane. Must you post about breakfast, lunch and dinner and every article that was slightly interesting that day? I don't like to read conversations between two people. I get annoyed with people who tweet every 10 seconds. I don't like it when you follow someone you know and they don't follow you back.
Despite a few drawbacks I'm glad I finally took the plunge on Twitter. You can't really understand Twitter unless you are on it, no matter how many articles you read about it. It's fun, it's clever, it's of the moment. I'm starting to look forward to checking Twitter even more than Facebook and personal e-mail. With Twitter, you are almost guaranteed to stumble on something interesting. Not so with the other two.
There is still a lot to learn. I use my personal account mostly for my amusement, not for any serious purpose. But it seems like it could be a really great mouthpiece if I was so inclined. Anyone can be the next Twitter star...right?
I'm following 22 Twitter accounts, mostly news and meta-news accounts, plus a couple of friends, Starbucks, Ellen DeGeneres and Kim Kardashian. I find that with 22 there's enough in the feed to keep it fresh but not so much that it's overwhelming.
I like being RT'ed and @ed and sent DMs. No matter how minute the mention it's big to me. I got retweeted a couple of times because I mentioned Starbucks. That was cool. I also like to RT other people's tweets. It's faster than posting it to my blog and I don't have to try to come up with a witty comment to go with it.
I have a paltry seven followers and I think a few of them may not exist. I guess I could try to get more followers but I want to really get the hang of it before announcing it to everyone I know. Like a lot of people I know, I like following more than I like tweeting.
A big thing I like about Twitter is that it's more anonymous than Facebook. You're more likely to get a follower who doesn't know you, who just likes the links you tweet. And you can follow people you don't know without it seeming weird. In that way it reminds me of the early days of blogging, where you just put stuff out there and hoped to build a following.
Some things I dislike: It can get inane. Must you post about breakfast, lunch and dinner and every article that was slightly interesting that day? I don't like to read conversations between two people. I get annoyed with people who tweet every 10 seconds. I don't like it when you follow someone you know and they don't follow you back.
Despite a few drawbacks I'm glad I finally took the plunge on Twitter. You can't really understand Twitter unless you are on it, no matter how many articles you read about it. It's fun, it's clever, it's of the moment. I'm starting to look forward to checking Twitter even more than Facebook and personal e-mail. With Twitter, you are almost guaranteed to stumble on something interesting. Not so with the other two.
There is still a lot to learn. I use my personal account mostly for my amusement, not for any serious purpose. But it seems like it could be a really great mouthpiece if I was so inclined. Anyone can be the next Twitter star...right?
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