Explaining My Twittering
Posted on April 7, 2008
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I just finished reading Joe Kissell’s excellent article Instant Messaging for Introverts which is so true-to-form for me that it felt like I could have written it myself. The gist of it is this: Joe, an introvert, explains what life in in an always-on, Twitter/iChat world is like for introverts. I’m especially fond of this part:
However, given the choice, I do generally prefer to be alone. If you asked me which would be more fun - going to a lively party where I’d be socializing with a couple dozen other people or sitting in a quiet corner reading a book - I wouldn’t even have to think about it: I’d much rather sit alone and read. All things being equal, I prefer smaller gatherings to larger ones, and I prefer solitude to company. To put it differently, being around other people seems to drain my energy, whereas being alone (or with smaller, quieter groups) gives me more energy. When I’ve spent hours around other people, I need to be alone to recharge, whereas for an extrovert, it’s typically the opposite: being alone saps energy, and being around other people restores it.
Introvert or extrovert, I suggest popping over to read the whole article. It just might open up a whole new perspective into some of your friends online. (And lest you think that brief quote sums up the whole article, it doesn’t. In fact it misses the good points entirely).
Joe’s article got me thinking about my use of Twitter, which I’ve tried to use the way most people seem to, and I think I’ve been failing miserably at it. So let me explain:
Who I Follow
Who I’m following on Twitter has almost no relation to who I actually like and consider a friend IRL. It’s more an aggregate function of these criteria, quite possibly in this order of importance:
- You post infrequently
- You post things I find interesting
- You post things that make me laugh
- You post a high level of geek content that makes me think
- I like you IRL enough to wonder about your day-to-day life
- Your posts are not the minutia of your day-to-day life
If I’m not following you in return you it’s simply because your idea of what constitutes good Twitter content doesn’t mesh with my hierarchy of Twitter content relevance. If your inner voice is your Twitter outer voice then I don’t mean to be rude but I’m just not interested. (Look at it this way: I love the BBC and I dumped them because they post just too damned often. CBC: you’re getting dangerously close.)
How I Decide What to Post
I’ve realized that I’ve unconsciously been using the list above also as a filter for what I post to Twitter. As such there’s a good chance that while I’m following you, you might not be following me simply because all the “I” statements in that list may not translate into “You” statements for you. Great! I promise not to be offended.
Twit Conversations
I have absolutely no interest in having a conversation via Twitter. None. Email me, IM me, don’t call me on the phone unless you absolutely have to. I’ve tried using Twitter for a conversation twice now and the 140 character limitation makes it feel like the communicative equivalent of grunting while throwing rocks at each other. Hopefully we’re both a bit more clever than that.
W(h)ither Twitter?
After almost a month of Twitter (though I do often forget to start up Twitterific) I have a nagging and growing suspicion that I’m going to abandon it completely at some point in the near future. To date I can’t actually remember anything I’ve seen on Twitter that struck me as being worth remembering. To be honest I much prefer reading your blog or getting a beer with you and talking in person.
Frankly, you’re far more interesting that way. Hopefully so am I.
(Aside: I just posted the URL for this post via Twitter to see if that was viable, and to revel in the semi-irony of it. Doing so felt very, very awkward. I suppose I’m not very good at the blatant self-promotion.)
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There is a tool out there that will auto post your blog posts to twitter. It is a nice addition to an RSS feed if you are interested in such blatant self-promotion :O)
You can find the tool at http://twitterfeed.com/
It’s an option at least.