Thoughts on Twitter

[MerlinCross]

So this has been something that's kinda been on my mind for about a year now, maybe two. But it came back up thanks to Gamersgate. Now, I do want to be perfectly clear;

You can bring it up but do NOT debate Gamergate, for or against.

That's not the purpose here. That out the way let's go.

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What are your opinions about Twitter? Myself, I kinda hate it since it's even weaker than instant messaging or chat rooms. Oh I see some good in it. Thanks to the speed and ease, people can keep alerting others to what's going on(Like in protests or something way more simple). Or as evidence for someone doing something wrong, like twitting they robbed a store or took advantage of someone.

But more and more I see it(especially these days) just to spew hate and insults at people/groups. Like a microphone for people to use. Actually less like that and more like someone shouting really loud at you from a moving vehicle. Sure you might get the main point of what they're saying but you lack the details.

Just too many people jump on twitter and well don't seem remember to think. Like their fingers are faster than their brains. So your own thoughts?

 

[Colour Scientist]

I think that Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them.

It's just a social media site and, as with all social media sites, certain people are going to use it to post bullshit.

For every abusive, uninformed or hateful tweet, there are millions of insightful, funny or mundane ones, people just notice the shitposts.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Twitter, just some of the people who use it.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I enjoy it. If you avoid hashtags, you avoid about 99% of the stupid hateful shite anyway.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I enjoy it. If you avoid hashtags, you avoid about 99% of the stupid hateful shite anyway.

I feel like we should have made our posts 140 characters in solidarity with Twitter. XD

 

[Andy Shandy]

I enjoy it. If you avoid hashtags, you avoid about 99% of the stupid hateful shite anyway.

I feel like we should have made our posts 140 characters in solidarity with Twitter. XD

Hey, my post would fit in a Tweet comfortably. And like hell am I making it exactly 140 XD

 

[Marter]

I like the Twitter. It's, like, fun and stuff. And there are some people I only talk to on it. And some people I talk to more frequently on it. It's fun. I dunno. I don't really put more thought into it than that.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I find the 140 character limit far too restrictive to allow meaningful posts and discussions. The best one can usually manage is a short announcement, update or insult. I remember someone comparing Twitter debates to "hurling bumper stickers at one another," and I'd say that's a spot-on assessment. Nothing thought-provoking or substantial can be brought up, it's just variations of white noise and rancor. Couple that with the "knee-jerk" environment such limitations foster and you've got the recipe for all sorts of ugliness.

The one practical use I can see is status updates, and even then its use is limited. Unless it's a company or celebrity (e.g. someone who's at least "internet famous"), I wouldn't count on anyone bothering to read it outside of immediate friends and family.

 

[Queen Michael]

I use it to tweet a daily manga quote, and for that, it's useful. Though I do wish they'd increase the letter limit to approximately 200 letters or thereabouts.

 

[MerlinCross]

Then again I don't use twitter so I could just be someone looking in. Thanks for your thoughts thus far

 

[Silence]

I use(d) it and I hate it. There is nothing worse than the need to change a post into a 140-characters catchphrase. Then needing to tweet 5 unreadable answers (actually one answer in 5 "posts") because someone didn't get that it was a joke or just a thought or a point which does sound stupid if you don't have something to back it up - which you don't, because it doesn't fit in 140 characters.

It is stupid. And it is used in news media. FFS. In the news as a "source"!

But it's also the only site that tracks all the news from all these people I follow. Fuck.

At least I avoid hashtags also. One thing less to ***** about.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I don't use it. I just haven't found a reason to get a Twitter account when it does absolutely nothing for me that Facebook doesn't already do. Then again, I don't have any friends that use only Twitter, so my perspective might change if a few of them switched from using Facebook or both to just using Twitter.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I don't see much of a point in it since Facebook already does that shit better, allowing you to write longer, more detailed status' than the one or two sentence posts you see on Twitter and the confusing "hashtag" system. Whenever I've looked on Twitter, it always seemed like an ugly mess of small, inconsequential posts or pictures that are trying to be funny.

Big meh from me, honestly.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Mm, I don't really pay attention to twitter all that much.
The sites that I go to to get my laughs often filter out the good stuff and that's pretty much the high and low of twitter for me.
I don't have an account myself, I'm going to make one to follow PAX as we get closer to tickets going on sale then shut it down then do the whole thing again the year after.

 

[Barbas]

I don't like the number of links to 'expanded upon thoughts'. If you can't think within 140 characters, your ideas are too complex.

This can likely be attributed to the wisdom and profundity of several of your statements, but you are genuinely beginning to look increasingly like Yoda.

OT: I see it as a convenient tool for getting in touch with friends if you've all got phones on you, or simply following press releases and news reports shortly after they come in.

 

[The_Darkness]

It's so easy to use... and that's its curse. So many tweets per second that its essentially impossible to moderate. Which means it can easily be a hostile environment, and its very hard to prevent that.

So, no, I don't really use it. With the exception of following a select few celebrities that I'd like to see live at some point.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

I think I'm getting old, I don't get Twitter, what the hell is the point in in? But then I'm one of those heratics that think facebook is annoying (it was fun back in the day but it's just creepy now with all the privacy invasions and the whole 'once it's uploaded it's ours so no you can never really delete it' mentality)[footnote]Also it depresses the shit out of me, /foreveralone[/footnote].

 

[Zombie_Fish]

I don't use it often, but generally I enjoy it. I mostly use it to post terrible attempts at humour, just like the rest of my social media. As well as occasionally to speak with others.

The only thing that bugs me is that it notifies you if a new tweet is made. As someone who follows a decent number of people on Twitter, that happens regularly if I keep it open.

Also for the people saying that you can't write anything meaningful on Twitter, an American university once offered a scholarship to the person who could best explain why the deserve the money in a single tweet. Source [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111632]

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Probably not good to use for reasoned discourse or debate (but most people already know that...I hope).

I only use it extremely sparingly. There are some pretty funny tweets or tweeting trends out there though. Like when Nature Valley started posting a bunch of anime photoshops with Nature Valley bars in them.