I have multiple uses for Twitter. Depending on the context (there's that word again) one or several of those uses come into play at a given time.
Stay in touch with friends and colleagues distributed around the world: Will, Dan and Dave have all discussed ambient intimacy. The casual contact and conversations that we have with people in our physical communities is difficult to have or maintain when physically removed by great distances. Twitter's near real-time / asynchronous design facilitates that in a convenient manner. Live-tweet entire conferences (most recently IDEA 2008) and take questions from a distributed audience: Almost everyone whom I have seen since returning from IDEA - and who follows me on Twitter - has thanked me for my conference updates. A few even said they felt like they had attended the conference even though they weren't there(!). I received numerous e-mails and Twitter messages from friends, colleagues and strangers who found it valuable, too. I know that Whitney has had a similar experience. I could take notes selfishly, but more people learning encourages better design. Save time: Because Twitter ties in to e-mail, Web and mobile - and I may not know which medium is the best way to reach someone at a given moment in time - a message sent via Twitter is a far more effective and less time-consuming way to get in touch, especially when time is a factor. Learn about and share local, national and international events: News about local meetups,conferences and social events are often disseminated via Twitter. At a recent UX Irregulars meetup when Don Turnbull was in town, one of the newcomers told me he learned of it 15 minutes before the event and showed up. He wouldn't have known about it otherwise. Travel information: Twitter is invaluable for travellers. Multiple people at home and abroad - or others who are in transit - can send/receive updates on my status, flight delay information, changes in plans, directions, recommendations, etc no matter which city I am in or en route to. Some of you have heard one of my best/worst travel stories in which twitter plays an important role (too long to recount here). A friend tells me she thinks it is the single best use of Twitter she has ever seen. Timely news: Several of us on Twitter documented and shared information after an industrial accident in August led to a massive explosion, followed by dozens more, at a propane storage facility. It caused the evacuation of thousands, shut down public transit and the city's arterial, 16-lane highway. Because it happened in the middle of the night on a weekend, it was hours before news organizations were able to respond. David Armano and I were online as the event unfolded which inspired his post: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/08/if-you-cant-bea.html Richer communication: Cindy mentioned the power of narrative experienced over time and the dialogues that start on Twitter facilitate in-person introductions and conversation. We can jump immediately to richer, meaningful conversations already understanding much of the context that informs our thoughts. Fun: Expressing one's thoughts in 140 characters can be poetic if one chooses that approach - in my view, more should. Expressing complex ideas in a short space is both a challenge and a reward. Meeting in person is even more enjoyable than a random introduction due to the shared history. Contrary to what some say, there is no "correct" way to use Twitter - though there are irresponsible and disrespectful ways. "What are you doing?" is a starting point. The rest is up to you. -K @kaleemux http://twitter.com/kaleemux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34682 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
