Comments on: 5 Reasons I Don’t Like Twitter (and 5 Reasons I Do!)

By: Jenny Halasz

Jenny Halasz — Tue, 05 May 2009 20:58:28 +0000

Dad (and yes, this is my dad who commented), Good observations, and I’d say you understand a fair amount more than you’re giving yourself credit for. You’ve hit on one of our industry’s greatest challenges. As information becomes more and more accessible, how do you control the flow and accuracy of it? The recent panic over swine flu is a perfect example. Between the twittering, the emailing, the news media, and all the other sources available, misinformation was rampant. Even Google’s swine flu tracker was tricked by the sheer quantity of searches on swine flu and related symptoms, making it seem that it had spread much farther and faster than it actually did. So if you can’t trust the news media, the viral community, or even Google, who can you trust? What if there was a person, or persons who you could follow (on Twitter) for issues like this? Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN for example has his own Twitter account. I’d certainly trust his opinion over “that guy I met once at a conference”. Maybe that’s the next step – a catalog of highly trusted, reputable minds on specific topics. I could make them a separate group in TweetDeck.

By: James Eyster

James Eyster — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:48:01 +0000

OK, Jenny, you know I put the cur in curmudgeon, but one constant in all online activity from my perspective is the near universal creepage of misinformation into most “conversation”. With the death of print media and editorial staffs along with them, I worry about the web as a source of information, especially for the unsophisticated. We have Phd’s, MD’s, CPA’s, CFP’s, etc. We probably need a new profession, call it Certified Online Guru, who really really knows what he or she is talking about. Great article, even though I didnt understand a word of it. Dad

By: Jenny Halasz

Jenny Halasz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:18:04 +0000

Thanks so much for all the comments! I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts and feedback. It’s great to hear from some people who like Twitter. If you guys want to follow the blog, we’re @keyworddriven, or you can follow me directly @jennyhalasz

By: Jenny Halasz

Jenny Halasz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:14:15 +0000

Li, thanks for the comment and for getting the word out!

By: Cris Rominger

Cris Rominger — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:10:28 +0000

It’s been a love/hate relationship for me. Before joining, I was very skeptical about its value and use in an overcrowded life. Watching the in-box fill with blog posts and RSS feeds, I can get overloaded and not get to the good stuff. Guilt ensues, as I fear I am missing out and not keeping up…

Enter Twitter – I can follow my favorite gurus and scan their updates for the latest cool news/tips/insights. I don’t have to wait for someone to write an entire article or post about it and have that reach me. I can scan and pick and choose.

But it quickly became a challenge to filter out the noise even with Tweetdeck, and it’s hard to follow a conversation you care about. So I’m back on the fence, waiting for future improvements…

By: Jeffrey Romano

Jeffrey Romano — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:03:23 +0000

I think Twitter is great (there I’ve said it!). Like most people who seem to be posting here, I really didn’t get what Twitter is all about when I started using it. After all, who cares what I’m doing and what I’m seeing. Fact is, not too many people give a hoot…and thats okay. Thing is, I care. I don’t really care what random people who follow me are doing, however I do care what the Danny Sullivan’s and Matt Cutts’ of this world are reading. Consdering these are people I can learn a lot from, by following them I find out faster who the authorities in the industry are and what they are saying.

I still haven’t explained why I tweet though….I tweet because sometimes it is nice to give something back. If those few who follow me find value in the stuff I tweet about than I guess I’m doing my part in the whole ecology of the world wide web.

Follow me on Twitter @JeffreyRomano if you like. You might find a few good resources
from my tweets.

Cheers

By: Elaine Garrett

Elaine Garrett — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:10:45 +0000

I love your observations — especially #2 and #3 under Twitter peeves. I’ve got my fingers crossed for better engagement in the future without resorting to third-party apps.

By: Jenny Halasz

Jenny Halasz — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:10:17 +0000

Thanks for your comments, everyone. I read an article yesterday that said only about 3% of the Internet population is actively using Twitter. That’s not very many people yet. I can see from the comments here that many people still don’t get the appeal. So let’s hear from some die-hard fans – prove me wrong about #5 above and tell us why you love Twitter!

By: Li Evans

Li Evans — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:54:58 +0000

Mike,

You had me laughing at “hashtags are so 1999″…. I’m imaging Prince… Tom Jones… ok, I’ll stop.

Truly great piece… I’m sure to tweet this out.

~Li

By: Robert McRackan

Robert McRackan — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:23:48 +0000

Very nice article, and you even managed to tie in the Matrix

You can add Twitter to the list of social media that made me realize that I got old — LiveJounal => MySpace => FaceBook => Twitter — never excited me. I just don’t “get” the appeal. It all seems like so much desperate exhibitionist egotism. Blogging is the last huge internet trend in which I saw any merit.

Now if you’ll excuse me, there are some damn kids who need to be told to get off of my lawn.

By: Ande

Ande — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:47:59 +0000

I still have not found the need to join Twitter….. Great article.

By: rob

rob — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:41:59 +0000

I hate twitter because I don’t see any need for it, except to spread rumors to those who ordinarily wouldn’t listen to me.

By: Donna Eyster

Donna Eyster — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:53:10 +0000

Twitter, tweet, twitterberry . . . obviously I am a complete twit. I think being able to “converse” all the time with everyone is the easiest way to become the rudest person in the world and so I won’t be doing it. I have actually walked away from people (”friends”) who were so busy twitting (?) they couldn’t carry on a decent conversation. Enough already!! (Do I sound like a curmudgeon yet?) Donna