FUCK TWITTER!

[itsrobert]

enough said.

[MADem]

1. I refuse to play that game, Luddite that I am! nt

[ananda]

50. Me too.

No Facebook or Twitter for me...

[deadmessengers]

2. Yeah, it's a shame that you're not allowed to stop going there, huh?

:eyes:

[AB_Positive]

3. the techie geek gal thinks that twitter...

...is for the birds. I don't care if you're feeding your kids right this second. I don't care if you just finished a book report five seconds ago. You can tell me all this next time you see me.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon soldering my own DB25 to DB9 cable together for a custom job. I've compiled my own custom linux kernel. I love technology.

Twitter sucks. The luddites have it right here.

[burythehatchet]

9. Are you, by any chace familiar with the way businesses, emergency response, and law

enforcement are using Twitter?

[AB_Positive]

55. Can't say that I am...

However I could see applications for them. I don't want to remove the service by any means but I'm sure as hell not going to use it! :)

[Cetacea]

104. Are you aware that the ARMY considers Twitter a potential Threat?

Specifically, a force for possible quick mobilizations of "peace activists" and "vegetarians". :)

But that was during the Bush era.

Back to my Boca Burger.

[hootinholler]

22. A chick with a soldering iron...

That's hot.

-Hoot

[Teaser]

91. sucks = You don't like it

gotcha.

[zagging]

4. Ya.. Peppered kelp, too. F*ck that.

[Kashka-Kat]

5. I think"twitter"was derived from the word "twit," a foolish and annoying person

[Crabby Appleton]

72. indeed

quite correct

[Bill McBlueState]

6. Ironically,

your short, low-content complaint about Twitter is *exactly* the kind of thing people hate about Twitter.

[tekisui]

12. No difference at all.

:rofl:

[burythehatchet]

7. I think this e-mail thing ought to be done away with as well.

[nichomachus]

40. At least the mindless use of email -- yes, you're right

Every time a friend or passing acquaintance discovers the joys of email, I start getting the "Send this to all your friends -- it could save a life" bogus health alerts, warnings of viruses that are 10 years old, "inspirational" powerpoint packages with angels and mountains or kittycats, and jokes that are so old they have mold on them.

[Olney Blue]

98. did you say kittycats?

[NeedleCast]

8. The Personal Comptuer Will Never Catch On

It's a passing fad...

[burythehatchet]

11. The wheel will never catch on.

[rhett o rick]

69. Wheel?? Is that a new online socializing program? How do I join?

Give you my credit card number? Ok.

[ogneopasno]

10. Why on earth would people have discussions on a computer, when they can talk to people in real life?

And why would I use little pictures to show what I'm feeling? I'm a grownup; I can express myself in a way that people will understand. :eyes:

[PVnRT]

13. It's useful if you subscribe to news and the like

But, yeah, the personal stuff is tiring and I don't bother with it.

[bullwinkle428]

14. THE INTERNET??!?!? Is that thing still around?

[Jennicut]

15. I tried with Twitter, I really did. But my day is not all that exciting.

"Today I dusted the top of the fans in my house."
"This afternoon I took out the garbage and cleaned the fridge out."
"Nighttime-gave the kids a bath and watched Pinocchio"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[NYCGirl]

16. There's lots of people who like to talk politics, arts, computer stuff, etc.

You don't have to only talk about what you're doing.

[Jennicut]

17. I know. I still feel so boring. Its just not for me.

[NYCGirl]

18. The trick is finding like-minded people to follow, It takes a bit of time, but

I find it's worth it. I've been finding invaluable help from Twitter with solutions to CSS coding problems, writing good freelance contracts, etc.

[AndrewP]

86. Yeah. That's kind of what I think too. It's interesting for a certain purpose.

I like getting some news and talking to some people that I would otherwise never meet.

I notice some people update to tell you what they are watching on TV, which I could never understand. Vomitting your personal details seems odd to me, but if others want to do it I have no problem with it.

[NeedleCast]

19. And That's A Perfectly Normal Attitude Towards it

Unlike the one in the OP and the now daily "Twitter Sucks" thread(s). These people act like someone is holding a gun to their head making them use it.

[Jennicut]

20. Yeah, I prefer DU! I wont knock Twitter. Its there for people who

want to use that sort of thing.

[NeedleCast]

21. Your reasonable attitude will not be tolerated!

:P

[Horse with no Name]

93. Mine is even more mundane

"I'm still sitting on my ass after 8 hours of blogging on the computer"
"I think I will pee now"
"It's dinnertime...wonder who delivers so I can keep my ass planted here for another 8 hours?"

[Lex]

23. I don't get why people take this so personally.

It's just plain weird.

[burythehatchet]

25. As we age we fear becoming irrelevant. New technology fosters that fear.

The reaction is to denigrate and admonish especially when we can't keep up with the newness.

[NashVegas]

28. Is It Fear? Or Is It Annoyance From Feeling We're Forced to Keep Up With Hollow, Self-Promoting ...

Tools masquerading marketing messages as "content."

[burythehatchet]

29. Thank you.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. Fear.

Definitely fear.

[NeedleCast]

31. Fear

As an IT employee and software/hardware trainer, I see it daily. There is no question to me that it's fear, or at least, trepidation

[Lex]

38. Don't use it then. Easy.

That's all.

[PVnRT]

59. I'm sorry, who forces you to use Twitter?

[Posteritatis]

79. Republicans used Twitter during Obama's address

Therefore it's evil and a threat to us all.

That's the main reason, pretty much.

[bikebloke]

24. Been experimenting with it the past few weeks.

Mostly I get quick news feeds from various sources. I started following a couple Dutchies just to try sussing out the Dutch.

I don't have much to write about except to pimp my vlog videos now and then. Maybe chime in with bike commute conditions. David Lynch will give you the daily LA weather, since that unavailable anywhere else.

[Blue_Tires]

26. i saw that an NBA player twittered during halftime

[AlCzervik]

27. why does Twitter make so many people mad? I don't have a twitter account

and i'm not planning on getting one but Twitter does not add or detract from the quality of my day to day living so it's not an issue.

[NashVegas]

32. Because of What It Represents

Social networking is turning us all into hamsters, stuck on a treadmill so internet advertisers will have us all in one place - like they used to when we watched TV until the VCR and FF came along.

Here's an earlier thread I started last month:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=5005751

The overwhelming majority of what I see on Twitter is personal and business self-promotion.

But what's more than that, is that it combines self-promotion with stalker central: if you write anything even remotely personal you risk having *anyone* read and disseminate your words and info. Even if you take your profile private, anyone who follows you will see everything you've ever written on Twitter.

Because there are no private conversations on Twitter, it can only have one real use: promotion / pr / advertising.

So, of course media people are drawn to it and talking about it like it's the next (or current) big thing** In reality, it's a bing thing for them, but not the average internet user, unless you're there to receive their marketing message.

** with the exception of media people who are going, "jesusfuckingchrist! I'm already sending out MySpace bulletins, email blasts, Facebook requests ... exactly when do I get time to work on the content end of what I'm promoting instead of spending 3/4 of my day on marketing?"

[Lex]

36. Just don't use it then.

nt

[NashVegas]

61. For Some People, That's Simply Not An Option

You seem to be a little dense, so I'll spell it out for you:

I work in media.

[Lex]

89. With your charm, you'll go far

no doubt.

[NashVegas]

97. Indeed

:)

[Goblinmonger]

80. I think applications go beyond advertising/pr

My two examples:
1. I am going to use it next weekend for the youth state wrestling tournament my son and 8 of his teammates are competing in. Some parents, family, etc of wrestlers can't be there so I will twitter how each wrestler on the team does after each match.

2. I am considering offering to my high school students to send out reminders about tests, when I post handouts, etc on line, and when their grades have been updated due to my finishing grading of a major assignment. Don't know how many kids will want it, but I'm willing to offer if it makes their lives easier/better in my class.

As to the "I took a shit and it was green" kind of status updates--I believe I can just unsubscribe if that is what people are posting.

[Lex]

90. Exactly.

People who complain about the lame tweets . . . why would they even be following people w/ messages like that?

[NYCGirl]

95. Umm...there are private conversations. You can direct message most people there.

[petronius]

34. I don't understand that either - I can't see any way that Twitter would enhance my life so I ignore

it, but it doesn't make me angry.

I've heard arguments (going back the the dawn of the internet) that all of these short fast shallow communications media (twitter, blogs, wiki) will devalue more complex and detailed forms of communication (books, essays, lectures) but I think that's a stretch; it's another facet of the claim that people need to be doing something deep and serious all the time (as defined by the complainer), and anything else is a waste.

Also, there's the complaint that the need for hyperconnectivity that encourages twitter will lead to a desperate needy population with no attention span and no ability to be alone or to work/think independently - but that's just us introverts lashing out at the extroverted... :)

[nichomachus]

48. The problem is

that soon people will be shifting stuff to Twitter that you'll need to follow and then you'll be forced to use it.

For example, your company will start posting some employee information on Twitter -- that will force you to join. Like the photo-sharing programs where they force you to sign up to see your friend's photos.

[Javaman]

33. Meh, it will lose it's shine after a while...

I was just reading about how at&t (fuck them) crashed yesterday because of all the fools twittering at sxsw here in Austin.

I also look at a number of this instant messaging companies. They will vanish after a time, when the public realizes that there is no real worth to them. It is a sort of a bubble.

It reminds me of a lot of the tech bubble in some ways. It will run it's course and those that actually have a business plan and actually make money will survive. All the rest will vanish.

twitter will probably survive for a while on name alone, but until they can figure out how to make money, they will keep losing money. Somebody just pumped in a huge amount of money to keep them going, I wonder how they expect to get a return on it.

It's all so very amusing. Useless people talking about useless crap that amounts to nothing.

[NeedleCast]

41. Useless to most maybe

but there's some interesting stuff out there. If I were in Austin I'd probably be following some of the SXSW tweets to keep track of what's going on where, as SXSW is one of if not the best music festival in the country. I follow a few politcal tweets too.

Do I care about the vast majority of them? No. But that's not the point.

[Javaman]

54. and the point is? nt

[NeedleCast]

58. Just saying that people broad brush twitter as if all it is

is 14 year old girls gossiping or college kids talking about what they had for breakfast.

There's interesting stuff on Twitter for those who care to sift through the dross...but that's just like anything else on the internet, isn't it? I mean, what percentage of threads do you read on DU? With all the various groups and main boards, I doubt I read more than one percent of one percent of the total threads posted. I pick the headlines that sound interesting to me, like I suspect most people do. Twitter opperates under pretty much the same principal.

I follow Rachel Maddow's twitters. I followed Obama's during the campaign. The voluonteer group I worked for during the campign used it to coordinate activities, etc. etc.

So, like with most communications technology, you get out of it what you put into it. All these Twitter hate threads seem to be posted by people who have no idea what it is or what they can do with it...but by gosh they know they hate it!

[Javaman]

82. I still believe it's a fad that will eventually sift down to a point where it will be

used in a worth while manner by those groups who find a way to profit from it.

All twitter is, is a 140 character IM that keeps responses short in a short attention span world.

Like the dot com bust those who have the capital to exploit it for profit will, those who don't will vanish.

Right now it's still the flavor of the week only to replaced by yet another flavor next week metaphorically speaking. And once replaced it will serve it's purpose and no longer be relevant to the conversation.

That should be about this time next year.

[burythehatchet]

49. That's bad news for these groups:

Police Departments: Who are using it to send out alerts

Emergency responders: Who find it a great way to communicate in an emergency

News gatherers: Who find that an army of citizen reporters at the scene of an event are the best "breaking news" reporters they could imagine.

Businesses:


ah fuck it...never mind.

[Javaman]

52. did you even read my post?

"It will run it's course and those that actually have a business plan and actually make money will survive. All the rest will vanish."

unreal.

[burythehatchet]

56. Yes. But I probably did not understand it the way you meant to convey it. You'll have to twitter me

:)

[Javaman]

83. Perhaps if I put it in 140 characters of one syllable words. nt

[tblue37]

74. In the "Doonesbury" sequence about Twitter, Kim told Mike that

it's nothing to sweat--that eventually people will realie that for most people it is just a shallow time suck. Obviously those it really is useful for will continue to use it, but I suspect that for most people it will reveal itself as a pointless time suck and they will give it up once the novelty wears off.

[Javaman]

84. exactly, there will come a break point.

every new tech or new fad or combination of the two goes through it.

right now, all those that feel the need to remain on top of the current trend hails it as the next best thing to sliced bread.

I prefer to see what people say about it 2 years from now.

[Poiuyt]

100. I expect all this internet hoopla will soon pass.

[Javaman]

108. Sigh. so instead of refuting you use a non sequitur. have fun with that.

twitter isn't the internet, it's just an offshoot and I never said it would vanish, it would just stop being the flavor of the month.

I don't appreciate you putting words in my mouth.

[Beam Me Up]

35. I want to follow you.

[nichomachus]

37. Twitter -- just the latest reincarnation of CB radio

Breaker breaker --

At least with CB radio, you didn't need a $120/month texting package from a wireless provider.

[Lex]

39. You don't need to text with Twitter. It's no more a CB than messages here are.

nt

[nichomachus]

43. I'm standing in line at Starbucks -- it's hot in here

So how do you twitter if you don't do it from your phone? Anything I've ever seen on there has been sent from someone's phone -- isn't that texting?

[PVnRT]

60. Via the website

You know, you don't *have* to use it constantly on your phone. You can just check in a couple of times a day.

[negativenihil]

42. i hate twitter as much as anyone...

...however you do not need a mobile phone nor any sort of texting plan to use the site - you can do all your updating via the web site.

[nichomachus]

44. Well, yeah, but

most of the stuff I've seen has been posted by someone on the move -- telling me that they were in traffic, waiting in line at a concert, drinking coffee, or something else on the move.

I've never seen anything on Twitter -- and I don't have really wide experience I admit -- that I cared about in the least.

[NeedleCast]

53. Well, that's the thing

You find the things that interest you, and use it for that.

[GinaMaria]

45. I think it had a slow start

as far as finding its niche and best use. Businesses are using it to manage customer service and decrease phone calls to service centers, people get quicker answers. Emergency Services are considering using it to alert people to emergency situations, severe weather etc. I could see using it for traffic, construction info. The constant reporting of what you're doing now? Not so useful.

It will evolve and find it's spot in social media solutions.

[bridgit]

46. Edison made a spring-loaded cigar that pushed tobacco toward the tip as it burned...

I think Twitter is the new spring-loaded cigar :thumbsdown:

[Dukkha]

47. Were a nation of 14 year old girls now

with zero attention span outside of superficial gossiping and self-absorbed whining.

[PVnRT]

62. Thank You For Failing

[Dukkha]

67. your concern is duly noted

:eyes:

[NashVegas]

64. You'd Have a Point If Not for the Sexism

:hi:

[Codeine]

106. . . . says a participant in a messageboard flamewar. nt

[nc4bo]

51. I second that emotion. nt

[lies and propaganda]

57. i absolutely love it...

but then again, i scream about politics and bitch about Etsy, talk about crafting and show off all my new stuff to a huge audience just as soon as I create it. Its like my Gchat, but with a holy shitton of people ;0

Im CombustionGlass if anyone wants a follow!

[DireStrike]

63. Twitter is facebook with 99% of the features removed

Sounds awesome.

[nichomachus]

76. And I don't get facebook either

I joined because someone invited me. And, I keep forgetting to go there. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with it. I did find out that one friend just got back from the park. Another was having a nice day. A third wasn't (having a nice day). And, I can see pictures of all their "friends," none of whom I know.

[Swede]

65. I have never tried the twitter.

:shrug:

[NeedleCast]

66. I was super pissed when the Twitter Police showed up and forced me to open an account

[nichomachus]

68. Actually, it's coming

The latest buzz in the business world is that companies will move to Twitter for employee communications -- since it's cheaper than maintaining email servers and paying for email storage, which is quite expensive.

So, if you work for a large company, you may be forced to open a twitter account. Also, some companies are thinking of using it for customer service for much of the same reason.

You may be forced to open an account sooner than you think.

[NeedleCast]

73. I doubt it

Even if it does, what's the issue? Presumably if you're company is going to move to Twitter for some communications (which is silly, since the platform is not designed for the vast majority of employee communications), then they have some other form of dissimination that they're using NOW, and would move to Twitter and away from what they're using now.

What your saying is like complaining that your company forces you to use E-mail to communicate with other employees.

[nichomachus]

75. Based on what???

You doubt it based on what? It's not "even if." It's already started. Some companies are already using it -- and more are looking into it.

The other new trend -- companies requiring you to provide your own computer for work. A couple are already doing that. They're also looking into making you come up with your own office productivity software -- as a way for them to save money.

This isn't some guess. It's happening right now.

[NeedleCast]

77. So again, what's the problem?

If a business or other group has chosen Twitter as a method of dissimination of things it wants it's employees to know about, what's the issue?

Haha, any company that requires it's employees to buy their own computers and provide or "come up with" their own productivity software is going to find that it doesn't have any employees. I'd like to see some examples of companies who are doing this.

I would be curious to know what companies are currently using Twitter to dissiminate information. Do you have any links? I'm curious as to why those companies think it's a more effective method than say, E-mail.

[nichomachus]

78. Some examples

Microsoft and Citrix (an application company) both have started BYOC programs -- bring your own computer. More are looking into it now. M'soft and Citrix are, I believe, giving employees a stipend to buy them. Once the program gains traction, smaller companies will probably implement it without the stipend -- if history is any guide.

I know of one Australian company -- a pharmaceutical -- that's gone to Twitter. More are using it, but not exclusively.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/trevorcook/2008/10/09/australian-company-using-twitter-for-employee-communications/

There's also a new product called Yammer, which is similar to Twitter and is designed for corporate use. A lot of companies are now looking into it.

It's as much a question of cost than of effectiveness, although there's some feeling that a lot of email is unnecessary. Email is also awfully expensive to maintain and storage is a huge problem. Other companies are looking into having employees just get their own email address and use that instead of a company address.

It's the same as a lot of companies with international operations that use Skpy for calling. I have two friends who work for companies with worldwide operations and all of their meetings are held on Skype, since it costs nothing.

And, I didn't say it was a problem. However, the mindless chatter that now goes on with Twitter is a problem, which is why I compared it to CB radio.

CB radio was worthwhile and had some good uses. However, when it became a toy, you had hundreds of thousands of people just chattering away about nothing, clogging up the bandwidth and rendering it unusable for anything worthwhile.

[NeedleCast]

81. I'm not sure these programs work how you think they work

First, there is NO WAY that a company like Microsoft is telling its employees that they must buy their own computer and bring it to work. This would be an absolute security nightmare! People bringing computers in an out of the office carrying god knows what spyware and virii. Not a chance. Hell, back in the day when I was working for a company who's job was to crack network security, I would have PRAYED for something like this. Find myself a Microsoft employee, snatch their laptop, drop a little keystroke recorder on it, put said laptop back where I found it...bam, instant network access the next time they log in! All of the federal and most of the civilian companies I have worked for would never allow an ouside computer to access their network. That really would be suicidal. Hell, I work IT for a non-profit now and we don't even let our membership access our network...even when they're here at our home office. If you are not employed by my organization, your computer would never be allowed network access through our firewall.


Now, my last company did encourage us to buy computers becasue well, we were a technical company. They provided us 100% intrest free loans and allowed us to pay them back over the course of up to one year through payroll deduction, plus took 200 dollars off the top. If that's the kind of program you're talkng about, I think it's a great benefit.

The Australian company you linked to has not required that it's employees open a Twitter account, they have simply introduced their own internal version of Twitter (something lots of companies already do through any number of instant messaging tools).

You said: "the mindless chatter that now goes on with Twitter is a problem"

Again, I'll point out that no one is forcing you to read the mindless chatter. If a company were to introduce an internal or external version of twitter, I'm sure they'd at least try to keep it within a focused scope. Like I've said many times...most of what goes on on the entire internet is mindless chatter. Even DU. Like I asked a poster up-thread...what percentage of posts do you read? I scan the subject lines and open the threads that interest me. Just like I use Twitter.

(and really, there's nothing wrong with toys...I had a ham radio for awhile and thought it was cool as hell, even though I never used it for anything useful).

[Moochy]

103. Maybe Mid Level Marketing type jobs

might require that sort of crap, but certainly not a legitimate business with any competent management.

[PVnRT]

87. Really? Which companies?

Nothing I get from my company would fit into a 140-character message.

[BlooInBloo]

102. BWAHAHAHAAA!!!!!

[uppityperson]

70. self centered narcissists? I am going to take a drink of coffee now.

Then I will take a shower and go to my credit union.

(like that?)

[Lex]

88. Just like posts/threads in the Lounge

that I've seen.

[tblue37]

71. "Doonesbury" did a great sequence slamming Twitter last week. nt

[Initech]

85. Twitter is the cell phone equivalent of cave man paintings but with the opposite effect.

[Buns_of_Fire]

92. Would you like to expand on that? You have 115 characters left!

;-)

[Zhade]

94. Was this your latest tweet?

:evilgrin:

[Sheets of Easter]

96. I have accounts at Facebook and Myspace,

but for some reason, I find Twitter to be utterly pointless. I signed up a couple weeks ago, and haven't been on since.

[rucky]

101. If I want to share my every thought with the public...

I'll post on DU, thankyouverymuch

[Moochy]

99. I agree, except...

I like Christopher Walken's Tweets:
(to whit)
cwalken: Our driver told the story of his childhood spirit animal - which was apparently a civet cat or seasoned marmot. I'm hungry for a pickle now.

[Goblinmonger]

109. Thanks for that

I don't follow many people (I am using it for the classes I teach) but I am now following Walken.

[FloridaJudy]

105. It's just the spiffy, speedy, more expensive new version of IMs

Which I always found annoying. I just turn the dratted things off. I don't want my train of thought constantly interrupted by "Whaazup?" and "BRB LOL"

I just turn off the IM function. And I choose not to Twitter. Problem solved.

[Codeine]

107. You're posting from your WebTV account? ;-)

Seriously, it's just a message tool with some clever promotion and a fast acceptance. People talk about it because it's a shiny new toy; eventually it will become old hat.

Deal with it. You'll get used to all the scary computer stuff eventually.

[Name removed]

110. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[redqueen]

111. I thought this would be about their refusal to delete the fake Olbermann account. (nt)