Yesterday was another chapter in my “edumacation” in the world of Twitter. A tweetup (i.e. meeting of Twitter users) was held at the Shorebird restaurant to meet self-professed GeekGirl Chistine Lu (@christinelu).
I’m going to be honest and tell you that I didn’t actually get to meet her. I was trapped in the middle of the banquet table against the wall, but I did get to observe the interaction of those who were there.
What I observed was people from all walks of life engaging in conversations about what they do, where they do it, and how they insert the Twitter lifestyle into their daily lives. I was introduced to several new people and was genuinely impressed at the breadth of both online and offline experience. I had a long discussion with @matmatsu about his growing list of clients looking for help with selling their personal items. I was amazed at the general lack of knowledge the public has with services like Craigslist and how Matt has been able to cultivate a growing list of clients. For a person like me, who has been virtually surrounded by the tech world for over 20 years, these kind of stories are eye openers. My mind began to whirl with possibilities regarding who would be willing to pay me to tell them things I thought everyone already knew!
I also learned a valuable lesson in connectivity from @AlohaArleen who explained that by simply placing myself on her following list, people would start following me. I had wondered how so many people from across the continental U.S. had decided to follow me in the last week. I know that you readers are thrilled with the quality and content of my posts but even that couldn’t account for the growing number of followers. As I sit here writing, the count sits at 114 with several new followers joining each day. Thanks for the boost@AlohaArleen! When I get my first comment from the east coast, I’ll know that your reach has helped me to hit the big time. Until then, I will have to rely on my plodding and clumsy attempts to prod and cajole my friends into becoming regular readers. My thanks goes out to you faithful.
So That's Life? 
Don’t Fear the Tweeter
02/03/2009If I haven’t already beaten this horse to death, let me continue. Increasing the number of Twitter followers can be overwhelming. It has been compared to drinking from a fire hose and I can personally testify that there’s nobody there to adjust the pressure! Once you go over the 100 following threshold, you’re bound to encounter so many tweets that you just want to give up. After the initial guilt over skipping posts passes, you tend to look for information from people you personally know.
I use Tweetdeck on my laptop which provides a grouping feature that allows me to see posts from particular users. However, this makes it easy to miss interesting items from common sources and forces reliance on your trusted friends to re-tweet stuff you might have missed. While I do have a trusted cadre of people that do this, I certainly don’t want this to be my safety net.
There is also the issue of people who tweet anything and everything that pops into their minds. Let’s call them tweeter-mouths. Some of these people have the BriteKite application installed that tweets their current location. It surprises me that I’m not finding out when they’re in the toilet! Then there are the folks who take oral hygiene habits to extreme and tweet after every meal with a recap of their menu. While I am sometimes interested in where people are or what they have eaten, I really only want to know if these things are interesting. A trip to the gas station or McDonalds meal might be something that inquiring minds want to know but I avoid that rag for a reason. Add to this the tweeting, re-tweeting, and more re-tweeting of AllTop.com lists and my head is just about ready to explode!
Is this just a symptom of not being able to cope with new technology due to a generational gap? Is it possible that younger people are able to filter out noise better than me? I may be in denial but I refuse to believe that this is true. As I’m fond of saying, “acquiescence is approval” and I do not approve. I will continue my search for new techniques and potential allies in the war on blather. Can I get an amen from the congregation?
Posted in Blogroll, commentary, tech | Tagged discussion, tech, Twitter, Twitter Commentary | 7 Comments »