Comments on: Why Twitter Isn’t Going Anywhere

By: Prerna

Prerna — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 02:09:58 +0000

Hi,
I agree that Twitter has become the next best thing since sliced bread.. Am a really new user and am loving it.. it does get a little confusing.. and that is when i come here
Keep up the great work and the wonderful posts.. Thanks!

By: Eric C

Eric C — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:47:35 +0000

I think this article underestimates the severe difficulty twitter will have in the near future, for almost the same reasons myspace is suffering now. There is a mad rush for people to have as many friends as possible, people that they have no reason to be follow, just like myspace. And eventually, people will seek out more genuine communication. My basic question is whether a facebook-esque alternative to twitter (maybe facebook itself) will take it over.

Also, myspace’s coding is notoriously bad, and twitter infrastructure is just as sub-par.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:53:30 +0000

I think the point is– not– that movie stars are using Twitter! I think it is the reality show concept, real people are interesting. Movie stars have a job that they do real well, but if you follow their personal life you rob yourself of your own. Connecting with people on twitter is more interesting than finding out what Oprah had for lunch.

By: executor

executor — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:54:22 +0000

Twitter isn’t going anywhere because the internet is full of morons who like to hear themselves talk and operate on the assumption that everyone else in the world gives a goddamn what they’re doing or thinking at any given moment.

^ Case in point.

As far as “look who’s using it” is concerned, who gives a shit? Western societies’ focus on celebrities is assbackwards to begin with– celebrities are some of the most worthless, unproductive, insincere people on the face of the planet and our constant obsession with them and their vapid, grotesque lifestyles is absurd.

With regard to the “instant access to news,” shit you read on twitter is not news, it’s rumor and hearsay at best. Mind you, more traditional news sources also spew garbage 24/7 as well so I suppose it’s possible that information you receive through twitter may be just as useful as something you may hear through more established media. Now you can get your panic-mongering, Michael-Jackson worshiping, irrelevant stories in a more diluted, more distorted and less-regulated setting. Fantastic.

As with most new forms of communication 99% of the information disseminated through social networking sites is utterly worthless and trivial. Since people have a fetish for delving into heaps of trivial and worthless information and then discussing it at length in order to fill their otherwise hollow lives and provide a sense of being involved in something I’m sure twitter will be with us for as long as the marketeers at whatever media conglomeration owns / will own it can keep it trendy!

By: Nathan Hangen

Nathan Hangen — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:55:12 +0000

Tim – When I refer to celebrity access (I’m certainly not a US Weekly reader or celebrity junkie), I’m mostly referring to the manner in which Twitter cuts out the middle man. Sure many celebs hire people to Tweet for them, but the point is that Twitter is connecting EVERYONE.

Bill – Spammers are certainly a problem…I wish I were a programmer so I could come up with something nifty to fix it.

Charles – Great points, although sometimes it is fun to just BS with people when you are bored or trying to kill time. Still, having a goal for any activity is important if you plan to use it to increase productivity.

By: Charles Caro

Charles Caro — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:40:43 +0000

My view of Twitter is that it is a microcosm of the World Wide Web. More specifically Twitter can be viewed as World Wide Web was in 1995-1997 when Internet use really began to expand exponentially.

It seemed that everyday produced a new use for the World Wide Web and along the way many uses for the World Wide Web were not appealing or really “useful” for many of the people using the World Wide Web.

In fact, many people viewed some of the new uses as ether a complete waste of time or a totally inappropriate use for the Internet. For some people they were correct on both counts, but the World Wide Web continued to grow.

People learned ways to channel their use of the World Wide Web in ways where they could see what they wanted to see while avoiding what they did not want to see.

Such is the case with Twitter. Now when talking about using Twitter I like to tell people that in coming to Twitter they should have a mission objective and while they are using Twitter they should remember those “Fidelity” commercials on TV where the folks are reminded to stay on the “green line”. In both cases straying can diminish the benefits. With Twitter straying from the line opens a person to a “stream of consciousness” that can flood out everything that brought the person to Twitter in the first place.

By: Bill Waters

Bill Waters — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:10:20 +0000

Yes and No. I absolutely see the value in Twitter. Like most, it took me a while to appreciate how it could be used. In fact, I thought it was totally useless until I started following relevant people. Prior to that, the people I followed merely wanted to see themselves speak. I couldn’t agree more about the value now, and I instruct businesses how to use it effectively.

I am concerned about the viability of the service though. Without any clear business model, or any prospective model that can pay for the bandwidth, the servers and the management of the service, I have trouble believing it could last too long. I hope for our sake, and theirs, that they come up with something quick and that it works.

Myspace became an advertising screw up. Once Rupert got his traditional media hands on it, it was doomed. Facebook is about to experience the same pain. I’m already seeing my kids move to other venues. They’re usually a good indicator of the life expectancy of a network.

Now that Twitter has reached critical mass, the spammers are hard at it. They’re doing an ok job at shutting them down, but with little infrastructure, it’s going to be hard to keep up to it. I do wish them luck though!

By: Tim Gregory

Tim Gregory — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:57:10 +0000

“Access into the worlds of celebrities in business, sports, and entertainment is invaluable. Plus the possibility of interacting with those celebrities is a major benefit of Twitter.”
Sorry, but I find this comment ridiculous… Ashton, Puffy, even Guy Kawasaki don’t care what you have to saw… they’re just broadcasting to you via a new medium. Loads of celebs hire people to tweet for them anyway, so if you think you’ve found a magical key to the celeb kingdom, I’m afraid you’re wrong. I’ve blogged about whether Twitter is really a conversation or not over here – http://tim-gregory.com/2009/07/twitter-%E2%80%93-conversation-or-not/ drop me a comment if you have anything to add

By: Joe Omansky

Joe Omansky — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:35:47 +0000

Through its minimalist approach and extreme usability, Twitter is by far the most expansively useful social network.

By: Adam Baird

Adam Baird — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:58:58 +0000

Not only does twitter have star power, but, and I think this is much more important for long term survival, it also provides an instant news source.

In the past, if a major news story was breaking, I went to CNN.com and they usually had a quick article with limited details.

Now, I just go to Twitter, click on the story in trending topics, and I’ve got a ton of varying viewpoints, links to numerous articles, and details of the story instantly. Not even google gives you that.