Twitter has had a sudden influx of popularity since a handful of new celebrities have begun promoting their new accounts. It seems to be entering the middle of the Early Majority/Late Majority section of the product diffusion bell curve.
The interactive science museum I work for recently got an account, and we use it to share dates of new exhibitions and events for visitors to attend. As such, more and more staff here are paying attention to the microblogging service, several directing criticism about its use to us as an organisation or towards anyone using it as an individual. Most of their arguments are along these lines.
They seem to be missing the point. The many users who do update regarding their breakfasts, mild headaches and itchy feet are being represented as the norm, whereas to me they are a development due to the large influx of users over the last year or so.
I also think Twitter isn’t the time sink it’s made out to be. I have two Twitter accounts, one for my personal social network, and another for my interactions with the web dev/usability community.
I probably get about 60 messages through my personal network, which pop up while I’m using my web browser via Twitterfox.
I read them at a glance (let’s say half a second) and continue with my work. I might respond to two a day, which would take about a minute or two to compose each.
My dev account gets many more messages, but I filter them and only bother checking it about 5 times a day, reading the latest handful of messages. This probably takes me one-two minutes per session, factor in another three minutes for replies or my own messages.
I’d say my time investment in Twitter is under fifteen minutes a day. Except when I blog about it, of course ;-)
I use Twitter to keep up with the events around me. I found out about a hostage situation half a day before mainstream media picked it up, and was able to contact the members of my family who were in that city to make sure they were okay.
I find out about new updates to software and hardware I use, I hear about the latest projects from developers I admire, and I get handy tips for my hobbies, such as bellydance.
I follow my favourite authors, bellydancers and web developers, to learn more about how they work and hone their arts.
It gives me a connection to people I wouldn't normally be able to maintain at that level. I'm aware of what is happening to them, without calling up every one of my friend each day (ridiculous) or pestering my unknowing mentors and role models for information on their latest projects.
To me, the fifteen minutes a day are time worth spending.
Everyone uses Twitter differently, and to me dismissing the service as a vain steam-of-consciousness, Tamagotchi-like beast is like refusing to catch a train just because you have heard that some people you sit next to can have some issues with body odour. Twitter delivers me information in a timely and efficient manner, and I can handle occasionally rubbing shoulders with someone in need of a good Lynx-ening for that.
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