It seems that I’m not the only one who has been ‘Twittered out’ from Twitter. At the time of this entry, the lack of engagement of Twitter a popular topic now on TechMeme and has been a point of contention for the social media elitist bloggers.
You might recall earlier this year after I used Twitter, I quickly became less interested to the point of not using it unless I found it to be offering exceptionally high value when I did — like waiting in traffic, waiting in line at Best Buy on Black Friday and very seldom now.
I think I figured out the reason why Twitter is either very addictive or very boring: voyeuristic messaging. In more simple terms — we all secretly like to know what other people are thinking and doing. So Twitter is one service that makes that easy. If you don’t have many friends on Twitter (or active ones), Twitter fails to engage the masses. I’ve noticed that for the folks who are more interconnected to people on Twitter generally like it more since they feel “included” in all the micro conversations. The ones who don’t are often “loners” on Twitter who haven’t seen the value.
Don’t take my word for it, there’s several different opinions on Twitter lately:
- Twitter Signal to Noise? Overwhelmed by Facebook?
- Twitter: The Science, Not Art, of Distraction
- The Problem(s) With Twitter — First off, Twitter is a great idea.
- Technorati Search for ‘Twitter’
Ironically, as I wrote this, I posted two thoughts on Twitter. What are your thoughts on Twitter or other micro-blogging formats?
I used Jaiku myself, but have the same dilemma. None of my friends use Jaiku. I just post occasional blurbs when the urge strikes. I like to think of it as thinking out loud electronically.
Ed
December 22nd, 2007