Well. I've finally bowed to the pressure of no-one in particular and signed myself up to Twitter. No, it isn't a magazine published by the RSPB, but rather a kind of micro-blogging service which asks the question, what are you doing? Users can send and receive messages of no more than 140 characters (known as Tweets) to their circle of acquaintances, and have the opportunity to follow the ramblings of others. It certainly seems to have taken the internet world by storm, including within its members Barack Obama, Richard Branson, Stephen Fry, and many other stars of stage, screen and surgery.
Remember the fun we had with the word blog? I think we could make a go of Twitter and Tweet as well. Is a user of Twitter just a Twit? Would the comments of a gentleman who makes bread be a Baker's Tweet? How many users are there in the little Welsh town of Lllantwit Major? And, if there are any French users out there, will we be able to read the Tweeties of Versailles? This has endless possibilities for someone like me who has an infinite capacity for wasting time when I should be doing something else. Like decorating. I did point out to the worthy Stevyn Colgan that I really needed something more personally appropriate; a micro-blogging site called Gibber, perhaps. But, until someone far more computer-savvy than me comes along to do the honours, I'll be twittering along from my small twig in Sussex.
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13 comments:
Welcome friend. I'll keep an eye out for your twittering...and gibbering in fact...
Oh twiffic, another fellow twit to follow and with whom I shall twade tweets.
Mo - yep; more likely to be gibbering!
Rob - I shall twy not to twade in too much twaddle!
Welcome to the world of micro-blogging!
Whenever I hear antyhing along the likes of tweet, twit or twitter I think of this song.
Twitterific? Or maybe I'm just all tweeted out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LklFP1IG9KY
Punky - Hey! Wocking Wobin! Twitter also makes me think of Tweety Pie ('I tawt I taw a puddy tat!)
I am totally ignorant about Twitter, Chris! Is it done via mobile phones, or computers? Would it be suitable for a neccentric giraffe?
Raph! Where have you been? Yes, I believe you can use both computer and mobile. If you are able (and I'm sure you are!) to commit your thoughts to the thing in 140 characters or less for each 'Tweet', have a go!
I have yet to discover the delights of twitter. But you had me on the Tweeties of Versailles - I chortled quite uncontrollably.
If you last a long time on Twitter, is it the survival of the twittest?
Bonjour, Madame!
Survival of the Twittest. How appropriate in this bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth! Had Mr. D been around today, he'd probably be micro-blogging instead of microbe-logging (geddit??)
Cwis (damn this is catching) - The lovely Mr Fry did say that if Twitter had been around in Oscar Wilde's day he'd have 'put the wit in twitter'. I'm so pleased that you 'get it'. The tabloids are full of journos who simply don't. Mind you, they are terrified of it too. 24 hour news has robbed them of such reportage so they've had to fill their pages with invasive reporting and celebity guff. Twitter, and whatever the next fad is that follows, democratises (?) opinion. Every celeb now has the opportunity to put their side of a story instantly and at a speed that the papers cannot match. Brilliant. The sooner we destroy the tabloids the better.
Tweet dreams are made of this.
Stevyn - yes, it's refreshing to know that we can hear the unedited views of public figures, free of the misreporting and misrepresentation we can expect from the press. By the time the journos cotton on to Twitter we'll probably have moved on to something else!
Always good to hear your views...don't leave it too long to drop by again!
I guess I'm one of twose who don't get it. I'll be interested to see how you like it and how long you keep twittering.
Hi Willow.
For me, it's a way of nailing random thoughts to a page; little snippets that, if I didn't write them down, would be lost forever. The 140 character limit adds an interesting dimension to the thing. I'll keep you posted...
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