It sounds like some kind of nervous disease. It could also be interpreted as rather geeky. Actually its neither and both at the same time. A quick trip to http://twitter.com will let you into the secret of what it is. Those of you who have been using the internet since day one might recognise it for what I think it is – a new paradigm in the IT industry, hey! You dont get those too often bud! But that is what it is. A new model for communication. Its like a cross between blogging lite and instant messaging. But with a word limit that is as infuriating as it is liberating. Every post becomes, by necessity, like a haiku. You cant post more than 140 characters for each Twitteration, so you are forced to either post two posts or keep it short. I prefer the latter so its a process of of thinking VERY carefully about that throwaway post. It’s easy to post to Twitter, but I would suggest that although it is easy, the character limit does enforce a certain discipline on you.
As I write I am watching Twitters coming in from people who are at SXSW, this information is bang up to date. This is stuff that might take another 12 hours to make it into a blog. It’s blogging as it happens, like blogging was a year or two ago when people weren’t afraid to just post what they thought at that time. Since then blogging has become more like the mainstream media, with “A” list bloggers afraid to upset their loyal userbases or the whole industry of blog watchers who make their living by commenting on what the “A” listers say. But Twitter feels more fun, like it used to be. I am sure that it will inevitably descend into the mess that is blogging. But at the moment its a fresh new frontier. Come and join us at http://twitter.com/p2_gilbert.
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