Sigh. I have no excuse. In March this year I wrote a rather scathing blog post on micro-blogging service, Twitter. In short I didn’t ‘get it’ and was rather ignorant to its uses. Ahem, and I said something along the lines of “Okay, I’m either cynical or completely boring but why on earth would you want to know what your friends, family or colleagues are up to EVERY part of the day. Seriously, does anyone not value a incy tincy bit of privacy now and again? A little bit of escape? Get away from it all? Disappear for a while?”
Note: The tweet to Ed Lee is made out of sarcasm. I might be slow but I’m not corny.
I’ve avoided Twitter since then out of pure stubbornness and for the fear of being wrong. Well, my friends, I’m eating my hat alongside a piece of humble pie right now. I signed up for Twitter yesterday and haven’t looked back since. It’s great. I’ve barely been in Facebook or Bloglines today and have been ‘tweeting’ like a trooper. How long that’ll last for is beyond me but, still, it’s shiny and new (to me at least) and a great way of keeping up with the PR bloggeratti.
I won’t give you the reasons why I think it’s good as I’m so behind the curve on this one that the laggards have been laughing at me as I eat their dust. Don’t let it be said that I don’t take my time before adopting new technologies.
Feel free to add me.
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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Karen
Good for you. And you’re not alone — a lot of people don’t get it until they try it, including me. I finally tried it when I realized I was missing part of the conversation among those whose blogs I regularly follow.
I think people get hung up on the “what are you doing?” part. If that’s all anyone ever wrote about, it would indeed be a waste of time. Luckily, most people move beyond that after the first few days.
Stephen
Hi Karen,
You’re right and that is totally how I saw Twitter for quite some time. I guess using Facebook Status Updates helped too.
And, again, I agree… I feel like I’ve been missing out on lots of stuff. Oh well, damage over.
Ged
I must admit I didnt do a great job in selling it to you back in March, so that probably didnt help. Welcome anyway.
Stephen
Hah. Thanks mate.
Kev
Dont say that!
it means i have to try it now too!
I’ve not supported twitter since I heard about it either, I just dont get it.
It may now be time to find out for myself
Stephen
Indeed mate, you should try it. Probably take a while to get used to but I’m sure there’ll be a load of SEO people on there to keep up with.
You got a new gig now?
Mookster
Big spoon full of humble pie then?! Cheers Stephen, I’m jumping on the bandwagon, and I’m now a fully signed up twitterer too.
I’ve only been on board five mins, but I’ve still not found anyone I know! Could be a good thing mind, necessitating a bit of verbal communication to find out people’s usernames…
Loving its blatant embrace of stalking too! At least you can tell who’s following yer…
Stephen
@Mookster. Mate, I’m following you now. Let’s get Twittering.
Mookster
@Ste: Magnifico! Hope your Amsterdam woes get sorted!
Kevin Dugan
Welcome to the fray. I share a similar history in this regard: http://prblog.typepad.com/strategic_public_relation/2007/03/twitter_hater.html
Stephen
Haha. Love the cartoon, Kevin.