5 Reasons Twitter Is Fail

Now that I have an almost-teenager (Happy 12th birthday, Ben!), I am picking up all sorts of new slang. Like "fail" used as an adjective. Whoopie! :)

What better way to show you how hip I am than by bagging on the hippest thing out there -- Twitter! I jumped into Twitter as a fairly early adopter, and after struggling in the stream for a while, I strapped on a pair of floaties and started doggy-paddling my way with the current. But I am ready to abandon ship and head for shore (like my metaphors? :) I try. I really try).

Here are my five reasons I believe Twitter is fail:

1. I am overwhelmed. I have too much to do, too much to read, too many claims for my attention. I don't need another source of data: I need someone/something to make sense of it all for me. Twitter is the antithesis of this: There is no filter, just more data. More and more and more. Even with the new "lists" feature, it's difficult to create

2. I can't keep up with the technological changes. I missed MySpace completely. Grabbed a corner of Facebook's coattail as it rushed by. Got a whiff of LinkedIn. Too many choices! When people have too many choices, they: A. resist making any choice at all (according to Made to Stick) and B. are less pleased with any choice they do make (according to The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less).

3. I'm out of time. I need something to save me time, not suck more time. Twitter is just another time-suck whose value has yet to be proven (to me, at least).

4. There's no discernment. I currently have 1,432 people following me. Why? I'm not sure, but I think most of them want to sell me something. It's difficult to determine if someone really wants to connect with me, or if they're following me because they want me to follow them and tell me about some crackpot scheme for making money on Twitter, or they want me to buy their cute kitty-cat notecards. In either case, I'm not interested.

5. You can't develop a relationship in 140 words. Maybe you could when Twitter first started, but now trying to connect to someone on Twitter is like whispering something really profound to the person sitting across from you at an Aerosmith concert. They won't even see your lips move, let alone notice that you spoke.

What about you? Are you a Twitter lover or hater? Why? 

Comments

[Ann Johnson]

My thoughts on Twitter - 1. Virtual Stalker (creepy) 2. I don't have enough interesting things to say. 3. And (not personally) I really don't care where you are at every minute of the day. Just my thoughts - Happy New Year.

[Katrina]

I'm with you...I try, but I'm just not loving it.

[Anne M]

Well I am following you on Twitter (that's how I arrived on your blog to read this post!) and I can tell you that A. I am NOT trying to sell you anything and B. it's not because I want you to follow me (you could but I'm not sure you would be really interested in my little life!).
As a stay-at-home mum, Twitter is a fun way to stay connected with other people. And I don't mean connected on a deep and profound way! I find it fun and INTERESTING to read snippets of life from many different people who mostly live in other countries (I am French and live near Paris). Your everyday life may seem uninteresting to you (I mean "you" in a general sense!) but it helps me discover a different culture. And I thank Twitter for that!
[I hope my English makes sense... sorry if it doesn't!]

[Danielle]

most days I don't dig Twitter but I just can't seem to give it up either. I'm not sure why I guess I'm afraid I'm going to miss something...

[Kristine]

I follow you also, although I'm not sure how that happened in the first place LOL! I probably found a link from somewhere that led me to you, and I just loved the concept of your blog - 5 things. I suppose that I could follow your blog by another means, but since Twitter is running - it just makes sense to follow you that way. (and P.S I'm not trying to sell you something, but I hear you -- there are a ton of those people out there).

[Christina]

Not a fan of Twitter. I have enough anxiety trying to come up with witty facebook status updates. I can't imagine doing that all day-plus my life just isn't that interesting. :)
I have a Twitter account but I have never tweeted. Completely agree-for me, it's a fail.

[coffeemamma]

I think that people expect Twitter to be a life changing relationship builder...but I see it as exactly the opposite. Anyone who expects to build life changing relationships on the internet through twitter or facebook needs to reexamine their priorities! It's just a fun outlet for me, that's why I like it. I don't have time to journal or write things down as they come into my head....and I don't always have time to blog them, either. With twitter I can shoot things out there and let them go.
I don't have time to read everything people post, but sometimes I enjoy doing that, too. I like it when people tweet that their blogs are updated, or links to fun recipes or interesting articles.
Sometimes I just have to step away from technology, and I don't look at it for a few weeks. It's like anything else: use it for your level of comfort and stop worrying, you aren't expected to master every latest and greatest thing. :) It's okay to let it go, even if everyone else loves it...my mother always used to tell me "you aren't everyone else!" :)

[Jennifer McIntyre @atthebluebarn]

Well - I "met" you through Stacy and Tami. . . and I am glad to follow you and read your blog and visit your site, ella publishing. For me, I like Twitter better than FB {have no interest in the other social networks}. Twitter is a to-do list for me - I grab tidbits via tweets and move forward. It is a diversion while waiting in carpool or other pick-ups and it has provided me an outlet to sell from my shop. For me Twitter keeps me creative and current and plugged in. I read a tweet and visit that person another way either blog or link. Since my husband has been in the hospital on and off for last 40 days, I haven't really tweeted. . and I have been stagnant and stale. Tweets that were posted around the New Year gave me a boost - and I have been moving a little quicker. . . and ideas are forming. . for this, I love Twitter.

[Abbie]

I never got into Twitter... I didn't have the time and also, at the time, it was more about what YOU were tweeting, not using Twitter as a source of information. I just didn't think that posting what I was doing every 5 minutes was necessary for ANYONE involved. Do you really care that I just took a shower??!? Plus, I have Facebook for that (but I don't post every 5 minutes!) Then I heard a story on Paperclipping Update a while back about QVC or HSN showing the Tweets about a new Cricut ON AIR. But by the time they got around to showing it, it had turned to almost all porn and spam. After that, I figured I didn't need that unnecessary annoyance in my life.

[Kylie]

I twittered for about a month. Lost interest entirely and haven't done anything since about May of last year. However, I still gain about 3 followers a month. Um, why? I haven't updated in a year. Do you think that I actually check this at all?

I just couldn't keep up with it all; I don't have the time. So I'm with on the idea that Twitter is a timesuck.

[Michelle (from KY)]

I actually like Twitter. First off, I block people I don't know (or who seem sketchy) from following me, so I avoid the spam stuff.
I can follow stars of my favorite shows, which is fun.
I can share links and photos with my scrappy friends (like you). I get info from people (like all the books you recommend on your stream).

I agree it is another time-sucker, but for me, I think it's fun. I dont obsess over using it too much.

[Lain]



I guess for me the challenge is that I mostly check
it when Im on my phone, so I cant check out all those links... and it is just
so darned overwhelming for me! Everyone talking and no one really listening. If
I could take it for what it is, it would be easier - but I always feel like I
have to read EVERYTHING. That doesnt work on Twitter! ;)
xoxo

L

Lain Ehmann
[email protected]
408.348-2156

[FuzzyCricket]

Here, here! I have avoided Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. I keep one small blog, mainly so I don't forget what the heck I did during the year. The grandparents also seem to think it's a wonderful way of keeping up on what we're doing. I want my connections to have some depth to them.

Loved your analogy of whispering something profound at an Aerosmith concert. That is exactly how I feel about Twitter.

Another thought? So many people want to be heard, I wonder if anybody listens any more.

[Brenda Benjamin]

I like Twitter. I limit the people I follow to those whose tweets I find helpful or interesting so that I don't get so many that I'm overwhelmed. I've found new fav clothing stores, lots of great scrapbook inspiration, and new music and book suggestions. I think there are a lot of good things about Twitter if you don't look at it as an obligation, just something to do when you have time and feel like it.

[PaulaSG]

I agree with Brenda. I'm not entirely sure I *get* it but I do get a lot of interesting stuff. I don't follow everyone who follows me. Only those I am interested in, like you ;) And hey, people are listening - look at all the responses to this post!

[Barbi]

I am unsure about Twitter. For me it started, honestly, as a way to have an extra entry in contests. I follow mostly "celebrities" for example Jann Arden (a canadian singer) is freakin' hilarious a lot of the time. I also follow scrapbooking, photography, some local independent stores I like to go to and therefore know if they are running specials. And I block anyone I am not interested in. And yes, you need to filter out the trying to sell ya stuff, unless of course, you want to buy. For me, my blogs, facebook and twitter are the time I used to spend reading the paper....why I don't do that so much anymore is it can be a real downer! I stay informed but I don't want to know about some of the stuff they seem to report and report and report. So I can read up on the stuff I want to and I put time limits on it during the day and in the evening which tends to be TV time, Hubby controls the remote, LOL, and I don't often like what he is watching or just not interested. I would rather find some inspiration for my next creative project or the current ones, yes ones! : )

[Cori-Lyn]

I currently follow you but only to read your witty sayings! I have nothing to sell... that would mean I would be destashing and sadly, I can't seem to get on that boat! I log into Twitter once in a while and like to read...I rarely post but always enjoy reading :)

[Etta]

Never even tried it...don't really care to. I do the facebook thing because I can regulate who sees my profile, and I already actually KNOW most of those people in some capacity, and if I don't want them to see, I can control that, too. But even that can get annoying as I have a few "friends" from my past that are so full of themselves and their supreme opinions that they think I actually care what they are listening to, what/where they are eating for lunch, or their particular opinion on cell phone etiquette. :)

[kate]

Haven't seen a need for Twitter, my life doesn't feel incomplete without it. However I will admit I've only looked at it briefly, so don't really know what I'm missing. I used Facebook for a year and then erased that account as well, over a year ago now. I do use Ravelry a lot, I guess that is as much social networking as I need. That and my blog list give me enough to look at online -- otherwise I'd never get any work done!

[Laurie T]

I've never followed Twitter - same as you, not enough time. I do have a Facebook account but that's cuz my adult children really wanted me to get one. I check it maybe every couple of days. I have a handful of blogs I check almost daily (yours is one!) but other than that I'm too busy living my own life rather than spend all that time following someone elses! Same as reality shows - for awhile I watched them and then thought "Why am I watching this couple with their 8 children fight all the time?" I have better things to do like scrap some of the things in my life or read a good book. (currently reading Three Cups of Tea - very good)

[AnnieB]

Started out liking twitter more than facebook, ending up liking facebook more. I like that there is more interaction, more socialness to facebook. But I still check in on twitter for a minute or two every day or two. P.S. I follow you...on twitter, not as a stalker!

[debbie]

I haven't done facebook or twitter. I have no interest. I do love reading blogs of scrapbooking and organizing. Especially my childrens blogs as I am now an empty nester. Our family almost "daily" stays in touch commenting on their blogs. I still get to have a "mommy" conversation with them and feel I am still in touch!

[Sandra @ The Memory Workshop]

I think you just summarized all the reasons why I have resisted Twitter. I'm easily distracted, and I don't need another distraction.

Facebook is marginally better :)

[Nicky H]

I'm on Twitter, but I'm not a huge fan. I don't understand how I'm following 29 people, and 21 people are following me, but I can't talk to the people who I'm following, because they aren't following me.

Anyway, the only reason I'm still on there is because I follow the Alaska Volcano Observatory, and when the local volcanos are trembling, the AVO tweets every hour or so to let us know if we need to worry about ash. Other than that, I agree that it's a bit of a waste of time. Not that that's a bad thing. ;)

[justkrish]

I follow you on twitter, that's how I got to your blog. I enjoy the people or organization I follow. I enjoy the links people tweet about and it saves me time from researching. Also, I enjoy your "what I want to read" tweets that automatically post from goodreads