Archive for July, 2007

Since I jumped off headlong into Twitter, as I mentioned two days ago, I’ve been trying to figure out what makes Twitter different and, seemingly for me, so much more engaging than a few other tools.

I’ve never used text messaging on a regular basis; my wife and I actually use it for emergency communications since I can get text during meetings, classes etc. I’ve not used instant messaging on a consistent basis; it’s served a purpose from time to time, but it’s always been nothing more than a tool. I’ve used discussion boards but not consistently, though RSS feeds do make them more useful and accessible. I’m trying to get better at participating in the blogosphere by commenting more on others’ blogs. I’ve not used groups (Usenet; anyone else remember FidoNet?) tremendously; I typically search them for answers to questions or trouble issues. I’ve used listservs but often feel overwhelmed by the traffic of busier lists (SLEDList anyone?). I have a MySpace profile but don’t use it; I have a Facebook profile which I’m using more frequently.

Given all of that, why do I feel “hooked on Twitter?” Why and how is it apparently so enthralling?

Darren Draper commented on his blog, Drape’s Takes:

Even I know that Twitter’s weird.

So I’ll ask the question again, this time with a better idea of my answer. What in the Web 2.0 is Twitter?

I’m convinced that Twitter is about community. Twitter is about people.

Twitter’s ability to connect me with a network of like-minded people is huge.

With Twitter, the news has added meaning for me. Like when I learned about the steam explosion that happened in New York a few weeks ago. It brought the news home to me knowing that one of my colleagues was so close to the actual event.

John Pederson commented on his blog, iJohnPederson:

I try out new tools on a weekly basis and 98% of them don’t make more than a week. Twitter has stuck.

Twitter is about the network. Twitter is just the tool.

That’s why I like Twitter. It’s my network, a little more refined. And real

So, I’m not the only one wondering what makes Twitter interesting. I understand that Twitter is about the network; it’s about people. But why is it so much more about people than other communication tools? What makes “it stick” more than other applications? What makes it more capable of facilitating, for me, interpersonal communication than IM, discussion boards, blogs, comments, listservs, user groups, social networks?

I think there’s three reasons.

First, all social networks are about people, but Twitter draws people into more in depth, personal communication – along the lines of “life blogging.” Just in the last week of using Twitter on a regular basis, I’ve learned:

• Fleep is remodeling her house: replacing light switches and grouting tile.
• WillRich went swimming with his kids in the Delaware and ran more in one day than I have in a month.
• Intellagirl gets unmotivated just like I do when there’s a ton of work to be done.
• CogDog has a new puppy.
• SPeters is helping family through a stressful time and sharing the stress.
• JUtecht’s on his way to China.
• SSandifer just started a new job and was recently assigned to do a presentation on Web2.0
• sorry_afk doesn’t mind traffic nearly as much as I seem to ;-)
• Typewriter went for a haircut.
• iJohnPederson didn’t clean his coffee pot before leaving school for the summer.
• Kenny Hubble’s headed for some white water rafting.

Oh… wait.. I learned all of that in the last 18 hours! Sure, I may have eventually read some of that on blogs, discussion boards, or listservs etc, but chances are, I doubt it. I seriously do not think I would have ever heard any of those details from this group of people in spaces – social networks and otherwise – where they typically focus on more serious discussions. Twitter’s all about people and the networks, but it’s more than that, it’s all about learning WHO people behind the titles and professions really are in more depth and in a more casual environment than other online environments.

Second, in Tweets with Angela Thomas, I suggested that Twitter is different because, to me, it’s ambi-synchronous. It possesses the immediacy and capabilities of synchronous messaging in which there’s greater immediacy of interpersonal communication, but it also creates a persistent, asynchronously available record of communication that allows you to catch up on what you missed while offline. It can do both. What other tools enable both types of communication?

Finally, and quite simply, Twitter converges SMS and web-based tools to facilitate one to many communication.

Is Twitter the first to be ambi-synchronous? Is it the first tool that encourages a lifeblogging of sorts? Is it the first web-based tool that facilitates interpersonal communication via mobile convergence? If not, is it the first to do all three?

When I first looked at Twitter, I didn’t really “get it.” I think that’s because it wasn’t integrated into my regular browsing experience. The more I’m required to visit a separate unique site, the less likely I’m going to keep up with it consistently. My news and tools, like many other users, come to me; I spend more time in Google Reader than any other site and work to minimize how much time I spend just “browsing around.” So, when I discovered several tools that integrated Twitter directly into Firefox, I had renewed interest in it. That interest has led to 61 updates in the last three days; some people should never be given a PA system, particularly one that spans the globe (grin).

Rather than re-hashing what others have written and explaining what Twitter is and how it may be used in the classroom, take a look at Educause Learning Initiative’s 7 Things You Need to Know About Twitter.

With the Firefox add-ons I’ll describe below, Twitter provides a social network fully integrated in the browser which makes it easier to engage. The micro-blogging element is enjoyable, and the, in essence, “persistent, always on, group IM session” provides a great opportunity for networking with colleagues. And, as Jeff Utecht noted through Twitter yesterday, his Twitter network is “by far the largest community [he] belong[s] to.”

The Firefox add-ons I’m using currently are . . . (if there are some I’m missing, please note them in a comment!)

TwitBin vs TwitterFox. Both tools make it possible to review network posts and to post updates to personal accounts. I discovered TwitBin a week or so ago, and Nick Noakes (twitter: nnoakes) highlighted TwitterFox in an update yesterday. TwitBin resides in the browser sidebar with an update entry form on top and automatically refreshing network updates extending the length of the screen. TwitterFox resides in the lower right status bar and pops up with updates; the form for entering an update works better than Twitbin. On first impression, I believe I prefer TwitBin; the larger interface and persistent sidebar are important to my personal browsing habits.

TwitterBar and TinyURL Creator. TwitterBar adds a small green plus sign to the URL address bar; a simple click posts the current URL to Twitter as a note that the page is currently being browsed. I often want to add a short note other than the URL; TwitterBar doesn’t allow that functionality AND it copies the full URL which takes up most of the allowed characters. Instead, I’ve taken to using TinyURL Creator to right-click and paste the TinyURL for the current page into TwitBin with the note I’d like to add.

Others have also written about Twitter-Bots which provide additional functionality for Twitter which I’ll be exploring in more detail as well. This Lifehacker blog entry describes Twitter Timer and Remember the Milk.