"Jarrett Billingsley" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:mailman.190.1229232715.22690.digitalmars-d-annou...@puremagic.com... > On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 12:17 AM, John Reimer <[email protected]> > wrote: >> Hello Nick, >> >>> "Walter Bright" <[email protected]> wrote in message >>> news:[email protected]... >>> >>>> I started one to see how that works out for D. >>>> http://twitter.com/WalterBright >>>> >>> Call me a curmudgeon, but does anyone ever read twitters? They seem to >>> be enormously popular to write, though I've never understood why. >>> (Maybe I'm just not a "web 2.0" kind of guy -> I've never cared for >>> social networking sites, either.) >>> >> >> >> I find it odd too and fail to see why the fad attracts people. I'm >> guessing >> that the popularity of it is due the attraction the idea has for certain >> personality types: something like an opportunity for the less expressive >> to >> express themselves free of the obligations rigour (no more thought to >> choosing words carefully, I suppose). In the manner of blogs, maybe >> people >> just like talking about themselves... only twitter seems to take it once >> step further, where the reader is entertained with decidedly less thought >> provoking material. I just don't get it. Maybe I should /not/ be >> looking >> at twitter as an information resource. But if it's just a way people can >> connect with one another to let each other know they are there, then all >> they really need is a flashy red or green light. Add to that a beeping >> noise for extra effect. >> >> The other alternative is that it's just yet another "marketing" scheme >> that >> has succeeded in making people think that it's the "thing to do". I'm >> sure >> facebook fans would eat this one up. :) >> >> The last option is that I'm just a boring killjoy that doesn't get it. I >> dunno ;). >> But I'm sure this isn't the last clever idea to make it's rounds on the >> internet. > > I found this article pretty interesting, at least as far as an insight > into what some people see in Twitter and similar services. > > http://tinyurl.com/6ng7tg
Only read the first couple pages of that, but that's kind of interesting. The description of "like a social gazette from the 18th century", seems to really make it all "click": both why it's so popular and why I find myself not interested. The stuff on the second page makes it sound like a primitive version of (and here I go into scifi-geek territory) a borg-like mental link (minus the imperialistic tendencies). Seems to make for a potential antidote to the claims some people make about computer technology driving people apart. Also interesting from a marketing standpoint: giving people what they don't realize they want. I'm still perfectly content remaining on the sidelines for this stuff, though.
