Twitter is a Waste of Bandwidth
As of today I joyfully canceled my Twitter account. No more twitting or tweeting for me. I found it to be the ultimate expression of Internet silliness. I highly do not recommend it to anyone, anywhere, anytime. Here is a great article on Twitter-hate. And here's a spot-on excerpt:
Why do we think we’re so important that we
believe other people want to know about what we’re having for lunch,
how bored we are at work or the state of inebriation we happen to be at
this very moment in time? How did society get to the point that we are
constantly improving technology so that this non-news can reach others
even faster than a cell phone, a text message, a blog, our Facebook
profiles?
There’s
no blaming Generation Y for that. Blame their parents, those
touchy-feely post boomers who piled on the praise and positive
reinforcement, lest they bruise little Dylan or Madison’s budding self
esteem. It’s Mom and Dad who awarded gold stars and iMacs every time
their precious progeny engaged in the most mundane of child
development. Why should they or the rest of us gape in horror at the
next generation posting itself naked on the Internet (both literally
and metaphorically). Twitter is just the latest development in the
biggest generation gap since rock n’ roll invented teenagers.
Or
blame Paris Hilton. She’s always good in a pinch. Twitter, then, is the
latest evidence of the Paris Hiltoning of America. Twitter is always
on, always looked at, and at a 140 character limit, doesn’t have the
capacity to be either deep or meaningful.
Oh well. Who gets hurt?
You lasted longer than I did. I think I was on (with?) Twitter for all of 2 or 3 hours before I came to the same conclusion as the article-writer.
Very true, very true.
Whenever I feel too self involved/promoting about blogging, I just remember that at least I’m not twittering. ;^)
Seriously, though, I need a bit more of a filter on what I make available to the world at large than what Twitter tempts me to put out there. I think most everyone does.
I signed up, but couldn’t figure out why it was, or I guess I should say why it is. Period.
That’s pretty harsh, Rev. McCain! Twitterers can be self-absorbed nobodies, it’s true, but I’ve also found Twitter to be pretty useful for connecting with other like-minded people, getting tech support, stumbling across interesting links posted by others, and the every-so-often moment of personal venting. For me it’s a middle ground between blogging and IM. And honestly I write better when i have an upper limit set on the size of my posts.
But, to each his own.
Replace the word “Twitter” with the word “blogging,” and the excerpt sounds a lot like the stuff people say about blogs before they understand that the blogosphere is not monolithic.
I’m finding Twitter more and more valuable as I use it more. Maybe as valuable as my blog, for different reasons. Sure, there can be a lot of noise. But there are also lots of good reasons to be on Twitter — from monitoring comments about your business, to keeping track of what people in your circle are talking about, so you can participate in that conversation.
If someone posts nothing but trivial junk like, “I am now having a cup of coffee,” just stop following them, and find some of the people who are linking to really interesting stuff.
Okay, so I just deleted my Twitter account, too. At first I thought, “Well, if it’s cool enough for McCain, then it’s gotta be okay in my book.” But then I realized how I lead a pretty uninteresting life compared to editors at CPH and math professors in Indiana.]
And so I thought, “Well, if McCain thinks it’s a waste of time, then it’s gotta be scratched out in my book.”
Besides, I waste enough time on Facebook.
[McCain: Wow, if your life is more dull than a CPH editor-type, I do feel sorry for you!
How much time did it take you to write this blog on anti-twittering? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? How could you have better used that time? Could you have blogged about what you read in the Bible this morning? Could you have given someone the hope of the Gospel? There are so many people in the world that need to hear what you have to say about our Savior, Jesus Christ and they could care less about whether or not you like Twitter.