Twitter Twaddle

I was planning on telling you about Garbage Day today, but that's going to have to wait because since I blogged last, I've discovered TWITTER. I want to talk about Twitter while it's fresh in my mind.

A week ago I had no idea what it was. I had heard it mentioned a few times on CNN, but that was it. So I read a little about it, and nope, still didn't get it. It was only after my webmaster suggested that I at least look into it, I jumped in.

Twitter is very hard to explain to people who aren't familiar with it. As is often the case with computer applications, the best way to learn it is to use it. Just do it. So on the 13th of January 2010 or thereabouts, I arrived on Twitter. A childhood friend of mine, who had just launched a new website herself, helped me to get started and answered the first few idiotic questions. I registered the name quinceandquilt and just started talking (or tweeting as they say).

For a quick and dirty explanation, the way Twitter works is this: You decide who you want to listen to (or read), and others decide if they want to listen to (or read) what you have to say. The ones you listen to you "follow" and the ones who listen to you are "followers". There's a steady stream of comments (or tweets) that you have access to, coming from the people you follow. You can read them or not and respond to them or not. If you tweet only your "followers" see those replies. And the rest is commentary.

As someone explained to me tonight--a nice person I met on Twitter--some people or most people are only on Twitter to sell something and to promote themselves or someone else. Some people participate to learn something, offering or gathering links and information. A few are there just for entertainment. I'm sure there are some screwballs too. Some people are probably on there because their employers make them do it. I'm thinking of Fareed Zakaria of CNN who rarely posts and doesn't seem to have his heart in it (BORING), even though I believe he's a great newscaster.

I have to admit I like Twitter more than I thought I would, and I have found it very addictive. A week ago I had 2 followers (2 girlfriends helping me get started) and I followed them too. As of this writing I follow 97 people and 76 are following me. Will I follow more people? Probably, but I'm getting more and more selective about who I follow, just because like the ShamWow guy says, I can't do this all day. It takes time to wade through lots of messages. I think this becomes easier with a desktop Twitter application, but that's a blog post for another day.

I get the impression that most people on Twitter stick to a specific topic. Photographers talk about photography. Government people talk about government crap. Not me. I offer household tips, weird science news, opinions on current events, ideas for art inspiration. You'll never know what I'm going to say next because I don't know what I'm going to say next. So far 76 people find that entertaining.

I probably won't continue permanently tweeting as much as I am right now, but I think I'll be there for a while. I like it. If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm @quinceandquilt. If you'd like to know who my favorites are on Twitter, then follow me because I retweet (RT) them regularly.

Next time I PROMISE I'll talk about Garbage Day.