Comments on: Twitter Is A Tool For Ambient Awareness

By: Heather Negley

Heather Negley — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:59:32 +0000

Wow, I’m so happy to see all these comments on the article. I think Tim makes a really good point about the obtrusive message that come in the form of spam and unsolicited messages getting in the way of a pure people watching experience. I think this is also true of everyday life. We are though we are faced with a persistent barrage of advertisements and “advice” from people who feel the need to offer it up to us. With Twitter, all these interactions are sped up and we get tired as we filter through them all. I think that as this medium matures our ability to filter out this noise coupled with an improvements in a evolved Twitter technology will help us manage the messages in a way that makes sense to us.

On a side note, I did change my seat from time to time on my bus ride to work because some days I just couldn’t listen to all the “spam.”

By: Judith Wilson Burkes

Judith Wilson Burkes — Fri, 08 May 2009 03:49:54 +0000

I love this post! Wonderful description!

But, I also feel that we embrace this online interaction more as our offline ones in in our real life diminish. Do we people watch less? I do. Do I get to interact with those people? In my neighborhood, unfortunately, not as much.

I often feel a strange disconnect when I go offline and walk outside into my own neighborhood. We have seen all the “Twitter in Real Life” parodies, but it is ironically true. Twitter gives us something we cannot necessarily walk outside and get; the instant ability to talk/connect to someone we have never met (or are meeting again) and converse about a subject for as long as we want. If we do meet these same people at a Tweetup, we have an established connection, instant discussion and mutual interests.

I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity.

By: Tim Schoch

Tim Schoch — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:35:33 +0000

Wow, I truly wish you were right about Twitter. The analogy in part is apt, but it is true with many other forms of interaction and communication, offline and online. Still, that isn’t all that Twitter is about.

It’s about spam. It’s about sending tweet after tweet of unrelated and gratuitous links. It’s about sales spam, of someone hawking in the most obvious, direct, and I find insulting manner. It’s about marketing gurus sending you a link to someone else’s wisdom to represent their own services.

It is, in short, overkill. So if you play the tweet game, you need to patiently weed through the garbage for the good stuff. I’ve met some fabulous people on Twitter. It’s a good ice-breaker. ..if you follow like-minded folks, instead of accumulating them like a huge rolling ball of lint.

Obviously, Twitter hasn’t proven its value to me. I’m glad others find it fulfilling, because I think all these new spins on socializing are terrific.

By: Are Morch

Are Morch — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:39:15 +0000

Really an cool article here.

I in what I define as the preparation stage on Twitter where I allow Twitter to take me on a Twitjourney and observe and learn from all the cool peeps and info they provide. There is an abundance of great info on Twitter if you just take the time to look for it.

Keep up with articles like this.. Awesome

Cheers..

By: Gretchen Anthony

Gretchen Anthony — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:32:42 +0000

I think this is great — and it describes what I’ve been doing most on Twitter. So, thanks for that moment of clarity.

While I’ve made other great uses of Twitter (it’s better than my RSS feeds many days and I’ve gotten loads of good recommendations after asking for them) watching the twitterstream and getting to know the characters who swim it is akin to riding the bus everyday.

BTW – as a North Denver suburbanite myself, I particularly enjoyed your picture of the 16th Street Mall. Nice touch.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:52:05 +0000

Hmm…Twitter for people watching. Interesting concept, and likely one that many on Twitter find themselves involved in. Of course, the entire dynamic shifts once you start to converse with those you’re “watching.” Personally, I find Twitter more enjoyable when participating and interacting rather than simply observing.

Good viewpoint, and thanks for sharing!

@MarketingScott

By: Heather Negley

Heather Negley — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:49:16 +0000

I’m glad you enjoyed the article. I think ambient awareness is a pretty cool concept. And we can find it all around us.

By: SRivera

SRivera — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:30:43 +0000

I will definitely use this information to explain the Twitter to non users..it makes a lot of sense!

By: Brad Hart

Brad Hart — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:25:15 +0000

I have been looking for the right description of twitter for a while now. Ambient awareness is how filter through the fifty to one hundred tweets that pop up every minute on tweetdeck. I see them and aware of them if I look at. Like ambient lighting ambient awareness is good enough if I am looking to see what is there, and if I like what I see I can always shine a little more light on it with an @, RT, or DM

By: Judy McCleery

Judy McCleery — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:09:35 +0000

Once again, you have nailed it. I joined the social media sphere rather late, having grudgingly just set-up a Facebook account in January 2009, but upon finding Twitter, I immediately found it to be the extension of the Internet that I have been seeking for a very long time. The Internet has matured and is now very mainstream, and when used properly it is an invaluable resource for information, networking and even supporting a family (right Darren? ). The thing that it was lacking was an easy and elegant way to interact with regular people in real time or nearly real time without being tied to a computer. For me Twitter’s ability to give us an “ambient awareness” of our online connections is exactly what will make it so valuable to us. By osmosis, we will gain a greater understanding of those we interact with, and those we just observe, so that when called upon, we become a valuable connection too. We don’t always consciously realize it, but that desire to be wanted, needed, useful and valuable is a very human trait. These connections-that have the potential to turn from virtual to physical-are very important to us. Twitter helps making the connections easier.