One Tweet World

I've been lax on posting simply because nothing particularly interesting has happened to me in the last few days; I did have a nice Saturday night hanging out by the firepit at my friends' house, but other than that, I worked on freelance projects, watched a lot of Law and Order, and ate some bacon over the weekend.

I also caught up on some blog reading and followed what fun and exciting things everyone else was doing on Twitter . I've blogged about twitter in the past, but maybe some of you aren't 100% sure what it is. Maybe some of you aren't sold yet on its micro-blogging goodness. So here's my pitch.

Twitter is the latest social networking craze. It prompts users to answer one question - 'What are you doing?' - in 140 characters or less. The messages are called Tweets, people you hang with are called Tweeps, and you build a network by 'following' people and by allowing others to follow you. 

Different people Tweet at different frequencies. Some record their every move, while others only Tweet about work, or home life, or sports, or another hobby. Most fall somewhere in the middle.

I like Twitter because it makes me feel connected. I follow favorite bloggers, real-life friends, and friends I've never met but with whom I communicate  online nearly every day. It's cheesy, I know, but Twitter makes my life better. I find like-minded people, get answers to questions, share jokes, and glean support from my Tweeps.   

Sappiness aside though, Twitter is also a great way to stay on top of the headlines and pop culture. Tweeps were the first, for instance, to know who Obama chose as his VP. East coast users like me stayed glued to their Twitterstreams for the better part of an hour last month when the earthquake hit California -- many of us asking our West Coast Tweeps if all was ok. And when LeRoi Moore, saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band passed away last week, fans put the word out on Twitter, and then shared concert stories and favorite tunes. Many news outlets are catching on, like CNN and MSNBC, and posting their breaking news in real-time. 

But there are no rules concerning what to Tweet (barring harrassment and spam, of course), and some of my favorite Tweeps are those who inject a little creativity. LolaRennt , for instance, takes on the persona of the main character in one of my favorite films, Run Lola Run . Santa Claus tweets, too, providing moms and dads with a little further proof of existence.

And, talk about feeling connected ... Pocklock , a blogger I read and follow on Twitter, Tweeted as she went into labor, continuing as long as she could. Then, this morning, I was greeted with a message on my screen, written in LOLSpeak :

If you want to follow me on Twitter, you can find me here . A few caviats, though: 1) if you have a screenname but do not Tweet yourself, I will block you. 2) If you are spam, I will block you. 3) If, overall, you behave like a mongoloid or a douchebag, I will block you. That is all.

tags: twitter  

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit