Chirping Twitter's praises 

OK, so when I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon last August, I was skeptical -- looked like a lot of boring chatter. And who would possibly be interested in anything I had to "tweet" about, anyway? But after nearly 9 months of twittering, I've changed my tune.

First, Twitter is an excellent way to follow trends and listen in on topics of popular conversation (rather like hanging out at a virtual water cooler), and I now use Twitter more than site feeds to see what's shakin' on the Intertubes.

I've also found that, while it can be hard for me to hammer out a whole blog post here, it's way easy -- and a heckuva' lot less daunting -- to dash off bitty 140-character updates. Plus, it's a quick way for me to remember articles, videos, and music for my own future reference. For example, when I hear a piece by a composer I'm not familiar with, I'll post a quick tweet like this one:



Then before I head out to the library to check out CDs, I'll look through my Twitter archive for ideas.

Even better than all the above, though, is that, thanks to Twitter, I've had the opportunity to meet and get to know lots of wonderful folks I otherwise wouldn't have. And for folks I already knew, it helped me learn more about them. It's great for following their daily routines, seeing when they're sick, stressed-out, happy, excited, struggling with pokey technology, figuring out what to cook for dinner ... all the little details that go into making up their lives but that you normally wouldn't hear about.

So, if you're on the fence about giving Twitter a spin, I encourage you to give it a try! (And give a holler if ya do.) :-D

If ya still need more convincing on just what in heck Twitter is all about and why it's of value, see the following:

• Common Craft: Twitter in Plain English
• Scobleizer: The secret to Twitter
• Wired magazine: Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense

Labels: blogging, social networking, twitter

---

posted by Lisa, ofs | Permalink