Lately I’ve re-discovered twitter as an outlet and connection to pretty much everybody. It’s a slick way to communicate what you’re doing without wasting time. Friends from across the country can stay up to speed on what’s going on in each other’s lives. Professional acquaintances stay in touch with achievements. It’s a very social social-network.
I wasn’t attracted to the Twitter service when it first came round. It wasn’t because of the service itself, but rather because I didn’t accept the mentality of Twitter. I started out using it as a communications tool for passing work details to fellow co-workers (a terrific use of Twitter, btw!) In that state of mind I knew I was writing for a target group and ultimately found it easier to reach them with email, SMS or phone calls. What’s the point of another channel?
Twittering for a single purpose was clumsy and short-sited. Messages go much farther than the group. Messages go to everyone. It’s a many-to-many service and you’re shouting to the world silently announcing what you’re doing, thinking, or wish you were doing.
So with that in mind, you need the mentality of hitting the Public Timeline. You’re reaching any listening party and sending words which may never reach a destination. <geek>(It’s a massive hub, broadcasting UDP packets.)</geek>
You can follow me at http://twitter.com/solyoung. Leave a comment and get followed.