I'm skeptical, and Slate has an article about it here. Before I decide if its useful, I first have to decide if its not just another drain on my time. I don't want to be sucked into this virtual information overload, but especially if the information is dubious and/or not very thoughtful.
This is compelling especially when there are very well written news articles in print and online, and outside of mainstream profit making media and the mainstream blogosphere. (Lets face it, mainstream blogging arrived a years ago. see Drudge, or Malkin for an example of what I call mainstream blogging.)
Further, the last person I should want to be persuaded by is a tweeting Ideologue, whose self importance overshadows his/her desire for accurate, unclouded information. What I desire are facts, unfiltered, set out in a discernible language and spelled correctly.
Yes, I realize I sound like an old stick in the mud. BTW, I has txt b4.
What if the KGB or the CIA or some other secret government entity wanted to sow some disinformation, and fast? Twitter could help facilitate that wonderfully. Certainly better than a poster nailed to a telephone pole, or glued to the wall. Are people gullible enough?
A Lego is good for building toys, but a brick is needed to build a house. See here (BTW I don't get the Lego / bolts of cloth comparison).
Twitter has already demonstrated that its good for social/networking purposes.
Update: Regarding accuracy: HERE. :
Here are a few of the things that we’ve “learned” the last few days about
the Iranian elections and their aftermath:- 3 million people protested Monday in Tehran
- the losing candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, was put under house arrest
- the president of the election monitoring committee declared the election invalid on Saturday
These are just a handful of data points that have been shooting around the Internet, via Twitter or the opposition-friendly blogs. And all have been instrumental in building a public opinion case against the Iranian government for undercounting the support for Mousavi.
The problem is, none of them appear any longer to be true.
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5 comments:
Right now I use Twitter along with Facebook for networking. I use program TweetDeck beta which allows you to update both at the same time as long as the message is less than or equal to 140 chars.
I started using Twitter as my main news source last year. I have a Pocket PC with a nice text messaging plan. I got so weary of the political news from this past election season that I quit reading news web sites. I had quit watching cable news years ago. I signed up for tweets from KFAQ for now. I get national and local headlines along with weather alerts, most with tiny links to go to the articles if I want to read them. At least I can get information without wading through a web site.
I know some bloggers that use it to let people know they have posted a new entry. Of late this is how I keep up. When I find a blogger uses it for posting new entries I immediately sign up for it. I am not home much these days so I am not chained to a computer.
I'm not a Twitter cheerleader by any means BUT I have found it quite helpful with my busy schedule.
I took Lileks to mean, "If you want to be quoted, provide short, clear statements that can stand alone, detachable from the context." Intricately woven arguments are hard to excerpt and summarize. If you want to use social media to spread a message, you need to provide a sound bite that's easy for others to pass along.
I'm trying to avoid spreading messages on Twitter; mostly, I watch the Zeitgeist and produce free-standing snark. (Sort of a low-budget Lileks, with the funny switch disabled.)
Twitter is excellent for networking; for marketing and for absorbing useless, sometimes funny chatter. Like any tool, you can use it to your advantage. If you have a small biz, I think it's paramount to successful branding. It can also be used for personal branding. But, my friend, IT CAN BE THE HUGEST TIME WASTER and I HAVE TO DISCIPLINE MYSELF TO STAY AWAY FROM IT. It's fun to read what people are thinking and doing and I honestly have no idea why. It's the ultimate one-way communication - if you want it to be.
"I'm skeptical, and Slate has an article about it here. Before I decide if its useful, I first have to decide if its not just another drain on my time. I don't want to be sucked into this virtual information overload, but especially if the information is dubious and/or not very thoughtful."
It WILL drain your time if you let it, but can also be pretty fun if you connect with the right "twits."
I'm finding I need to get more tweets from "twits" that I actually like reading.
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