Comments on: Somebody had to say it http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/ Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:55:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: John Gee http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30656 John Gee Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:32:11 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30656 Absolutely true: 140 characters are not enough - but at some point, maybe a hundred words or so, there's too much room for the purpose, which is not necessarily to hold "the conversation" on Twitter itself. That function is much better served by people like yourselves at the League (i.e. the blogosphere). I do think, however, that Twitter can help to facilitate conversation by drawing people's attention to salient articles. It's almost certainly overhyped, sure. But it's not "basically useless," a point on which we seem to agree. Absolutely true: 140 characters are not enough – but at some point, maybe a hundred words or so, there’s too much room for the purpose, which is not necessarily to hold “the conversation” on Twitter itself. That function is much better served by people like yourselves at the League (i.e. the blogosphere). I do think, however, that Twitter can help to facilitate conversation by drawing people’s attention to salient articles. It’s almost certainly overhyped, sure. But it’s not “basically useless,” a point on which we seem to agree.

]]> By: Will http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30582 Will Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:57:53 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30582 If the conversation wasn't so limited and superficial (a function of Twitter's design constraints), I think this argument would be more persuasive. I can accept the social and organizing functions of Twitter as genuinely useful, but I think it's been over-hyped as some revolutionary new form of communications. If the conversation wasn’t so limited and superficial (a function of Twitter’s design constraints), I think this argument would be more persuasive. I can accept the social and organizing functions of Twitter as genuinely useful, but I think it’s been over-hyped as some revolutionary new form of communications.

]]> By: Jaybird http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30535 Jaybird Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:35:35 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30535 Can I change my avatar from green back to something else, now? Can I change my avatar from green back to something else, now?

]]> By: John Gee http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30525 John Gee Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:10:14 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30525 Oh, and also here's Tyler Cowen saying the same thing much better. http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/09/in-defense-of-twitter.html Oh, and also here’s Tyler Cowen saying the same thing much better.

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/09/in-defense-of-twitter.html

]]> By: John Gee http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30493 John Gee Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:53:07 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30493 A lot of people are using twitter the wrong way. As a friend who works in Menlo Park explained to me, it's intended to be mostly a crowd-sourcing thing. Like a less-focused version of yelp. Specifically, with search functionality you could see what "people" were thinking in the last x minutes, hours, or days. Now, there's some problems with that model. It may become focused on targeted advertising. It may not make a whole ton of sense from the micro perspective of the user (or at least not right now). But it doesn't serve a person-to-person or person-to-crowd function. Twitter is a crowd-to-person aggregator, and like anything new, it's still working itself out. A lot of people are using twitter the wrong way. As a friend who works in Menlo Park explained to me, it’s intended to be mostly a crowd-sourcing thing. Like a less-focused version of yelp. Specifically, with search functionality you could see what “people” were thinking in the last x minutes, hours, or days. Now, there’s some problems with that model. It may become focused on targeted advertising. It may not make a whole ton of sense from the micro perspective of the user (or at least not right now). But it doesn’t serve a person-to-person or person-to-crowd function. Twitter is a crowd-to-person aggregator, and like anything new, it’s still working itself out.

]]> By: JosephFM http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30492 JosephFM Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:48:05 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30492 Or Palms or G1s or whatever. Or Palms or G1s or whatever.

]]> By: JosephFM http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30491 JosephFM Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:47:12 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30491 I suspect it has something to do with how they all have Blackberries and iPhones. I suspect it has something to do with how they all have Blackberries and iPhones.

]]> By: E.D. Kain http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/2009/11/somebody-had-to-say-it/#comment-30467 E.D. Kain Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:15:42 +0000 http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/?p=10942#comment-30467 I never remember to check my twitter page. No matter how hard I try. I never remember to check my twitter page. No matter how hard I try.

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