Hi again,

I tried Twitter and I don't get it. People sign up to follow you, but they mostly just Twitter about their views on some particular thing and there is no real interaction. Maybe I don't have a long enough attention span for this, but I was ready to give up after a couple of days. I fit well into the graphic. I just don't get it I guess. I asked for some "help", but I didn't get a response. Sherry Tellitocci

once the mainstream catches onto something it'll then beat it to death. it's now ruined by the likes of people such as yourself. always behind the curve.

Z,
Check out this link. Swine flu, Twitter's power to misinform by Evgeny Morozov/Net Effect. This may be more powerful than the media.

Sherry T.

Hi Sherry, I do this all the time: You forgot the link. Please send. Z

I am one of those users - signed up for it, thought it was cool for awhile, and then quit. I was overwhelmed with the self-importance that one must feel in order to really get into it. Why would anyone care what I'm eating or when I'm in the shower? Its simply not that important, and I quit. I think its kind of a silly thing, to be quite honest.

Hi Sam, Thanks for the testimony. I have to run out, but later today I'll post something from Katie Couric who says almost the same thing you just did. Thanks. Z

I thought I was the only one who didn't get twitter.

Hi, Thanks, Notable. Z

http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/25/swine_flu_twitters_power_to_misinform

Z, I think this is the link to the Swine flu Twitters power to misinform.

Sorry, I had to fiddle around, I have never sent a link, hope it gets to you.
Sherry T.

Not really behind the curve Brandon, I'm ahead of it because it only took me a few days to figure out that Twitter was pretty much useless.

Sherry T.

I'm apart of that 40%, I just don't care to read small worthless posts.

The main reason is that the media is using it to force tweeters to read their tweets. It becomes a one way communication. Once again the mainstream media horns in and ruins it.

Monday's XKCD comic made the same point about misinformation on Twitter about swine flu: http://xkcd.com/574/
It's funny - you can't tell if he made up the tweets or copied them verbatim (not that I care - I don't use Twitter, either).

I only follow people that give links or information about stuff I'm interested in. People are mistaken if they think anyone really cares about what they did during the course of any given day

Twitter is like being in a BIG room. Casual conversation happening throughout the room. Anyone who shouts in the room get laughed it. I can overhear the conversation next to me and I can join it. Converse with like minded people, network and you'll learn the value of Twitter.

I don't care about when you showered, unless you're my wife. I am interested that Tony Robbins is talking with Frank Kern and what they did today.

It has value and for those that don't get it, relate it to the real world and you'll get it.

If you want to learn how Twitter works for your local business, download my free book at www.scott-gallagher.net.

I will definitely visit the site anyway, Scott. Thanks. Z

Ha! Finally, some common sense about a social networking site that has the relevance of meat. I quit after the second day! Twitter is insipid and borders on navel-gazing. How relevant can a site be that allows you to only say something clever in 140 characters? The whole idea is just freakin' stupid. Give a big Thank you to Neilsen from me. Finally, someone rang the bell on this continuing inanity!
As to brandon's comment:
grow up dude. There aren't any "just don't get it(s)" anymore. The person behind the curve is you and your other friend, self-important.

Hi Bob, Thanks so much for posting and sharing this -- and helping Brandon continue his education. Z

This week I'm embarking on a journey to see if there is real-life application to Twitter connections. You can read about it here, http://digg.com/u11xsB.

Well, for someone who doesn't understand the Internet but has been in business for 30 years, I see some semblance of Twitter. What I don't know is how it is suppose to make me money instead of waste my time.

Remember though, in 1994 they said you couldn't make money on the Internet. Google was born without a money plan, and uhm, they've made a little money so far.

I know Twitter isn't catching on because it's a fad, it's a new tool that will take time before most people see the real value, and it's coming!

these comments are amusing. like anything twitter has its good and bad. is it the new black sliced bread the cats meow etc etc NO is it overhyped YES but it still serves a purpose and has advantages and disadvantages like anything else. could i fit this comment in 140 NO its just good for quick ads and alternate search for what other people find on topics your are interested in thats about it. tweeting as far as doing and spreading opinions not for me.

twitter will have much more practical applications when companies and individuals promoting their services figure out how to best use the technology....

the actual application is the innvovation and now it is up to innovative individuals to create practical and useful applications using the new technology....solving common problems with uncommon solutions....

it is coming sooner than you think....

Say what you will, but I found this blog entry via Twitter.

Thank you, LA. Like I have always said, Twitter is a fabulous development. Seriously, I love the kind of research that Nielsen did -- reearch that tests conventional wisdom. But I don't think anyone is saying Twitter is a bomb or bust -- not at this point certainly. But I do think a lot of media types -- especially on TV -- were just ridiculous in trying to act like they were totally into Twitter and it was the end all and be all of new media. Z

Like everything else, Twitter is what you make it. Personally, I have a wonderful time on Twitter, I have made friends, found a little freelance work and am continuing to meet a wonderful range of individuals around the world every day.

If you care to try Twitter again, I'll be glad to follow you back and introduce you to some like-minded people - you can check out a few of them by visiting my Twitterhood website and maybe you will discover another side of Twitter that explains why some people, including me, are so fond of it :-)

I'm not so sure that I understand the popularity of "the" Twitter. Like some of the others who posted above, I signed up for it, but I'm pretty certain that people really do not care about the minutiae of my life. I know that I don't. Perhaps it is how Twitter presents itself. When you sign up, you're prompted to answer the question, "What are you doing?" I wrote something inane and, amazingly, I have two people following me. Maybe a more in depth look at it will make me understand it.

I view Twitter as an incomplete thought: only scratching at the surface of what the web can be made to do for us. It's really nothing more than Facebook's status feature.

Twitter has definitely been hyped the last couple of months, I guess especially thanks to Oprah and the 1-million-followers guy (I don't remember his name, he's not that big here in Norway). And of course nobody, except maybe your closest friends and family, are interested in what you had for breakfast or when you were in the shower. We have Facebook for that kind of posts :-) To me, the power of Twitter lies in that I can choose to follow anyone I like, so I can pick those who have something interesting to say. They don't have to accept me as a friend or anything, so it's kind of like listening to their own radio. I use it as a means to get updates on stuff that interests me. I don't have a lot to say personally, and I don't have a lot of followers, but that's not why I'm on Twitter. If Twitter were to improve something, they should implement a good way of following topics, not just people. IMO, being able to following and joining conversations about stuff that interests me with anyone in the world is much more rewarding than knowing when a friend of mine got up this morning.

I read another article once that said social networking sites like this are all about "participatory surveillance."
Sure Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc are all great sites, but I prefer Twitter. I enjoyed FB for the past 6-7 months, but got tire of Sea Plants, Passing Drinks, and Mob Wars. I just enjoy catching up with people by a quick note, something to keep me up to date on what they are up to. If it interests me, I will follow them, or read more into it, but its not noise, like FB and MS, those seem to be geared towards a younger audience, like 13-19 yo...

z, please change "bed" to "web" in my previous comment. thanks!

I tend to agree with Scott. You must understand that Twitter, along with FaceBook, Myspace or any other social networking site is just that...Social Networking. If you are at a social gathering, you have your choice of conversations to choose from. No one says you have to pay attention to whomever is in the shower, or picking their child up from the babysitter. Think of Twitter as IM on 'roids. You can always ignore who you want and develop relationships where you want.

I have personally been able to make lucrative contacts via twitter, not through my Facebook or Myspace, which I have been members of long before Twitter. However, I also educated myself on the tools necessary to manage twitter and not let Twitter manage me. Twitter is social networking, plain and simple. When you learn to socialize on it, you find the value in it...PERIOD!

I offer you this...my free ebook on twitter - http://tr.im/jTfO

Read it. Learn the tools to make your Twitter life easier. Then follow me http://twitter.com/@ericbleach, and I'll introduce you to some good people with plenty to offer.

Siwulio!

I saw Twitter as a doomed service when my phone was being flooded by useless info from Diddy and John Mayer. Only once or twice did I get important information from CNN...but really how much important information can you put using only 140 character???

It's simple: people get caught up in the hype, sign up, then quickly realize how stupid it is. Mundane blogging taken to an entirely new level. Total fud.

Now I will have to recant what I said in a previous blog. I kept on working with Twitter and after I worked it out I found out that I liked it afterall. I can follow the Baltimore Sun Arts columnist, as well as some others and I find it very interesting. I found out it is more about acquiring information than interacting with people, as in a blog. It is actually very informative. So now I guess that maybe I do not fit into the curve, unless there is a new curve for people who don't give up to easily and just keep plugging away even if it seems tedious at first. Apologies to Brandon, maybe he was right after all. Sherry T.

I think it takes people ALOT longer to GET Twitter than Facebook and others.

I really have just realized the power in the last couple of months and even then, the power for me has been in following key people, not in gaining followers (yet - I know that is yet another great benefit to establish thought leadership, etc.)

However, I'm surprised they quit - why bother - why not just keep it out there.