A lot of the Internet doesn't need a "plan for monetization" because it's not owned by single corporate entities. If giganews goes down, Usenet continues to exist. If Google implodes, the Web, email, and XMPP chat will live on. If Twitter's funders put the knife in it, Twitter just goes away, as there is no other implementation.That's one of the reasons that people are excited about Status.net. It's an open source implementation microblogging system that's Twitter-API compatible. The userbase is obviously smaller, and if you download the source, set up your own server, and say, "Hey! I'm the new Twitter!" You will most likely be ignored. But at this point the utility of 'something like Twitter' has been demonstrated and there are tools out there to take Twitter.com's place if the Twitter team implodes.
I don't read a lot of news stories about how telephone calls and livejournal accounts are going to revolutionize communication/journalism/marketing/culture/the internet/society/business/life.I had no idea that Mashable.com covered the invention of the telephone. As for Livejournal (and its cousin, straight-up blogging), seriously? Did you sleep through the early 90s? Does the phrase 'citizen bloggers' not ring any unpleasant bells?
It's the level of attention it gets compared to how important it actually is that makes it irritating.That, IMO, is a problem with the way the press works. It doesn't diminish Twitter's utility for those who like it. That's why the hate-on for Twitter here feels pointless and, dare I say, just as narcissistic as the worst celebrity "tweets."
The best thing about Twitter is that I no longer have to listen to clueless journalists prattle on about Second Life. That was embarrassing for everyone involved.On this, we can agree. SL was interesting but it was never going to 'change the world': too many people with cash took their copies of Snow Crash way too seriously.
it's mostly noise aside from the famous and the interesting.Humanity is mostly noise aside from the famous and the interesting. It's worth considering, though, that who you consider interesting depends on what you're looking for. Intellectually stimulating conversation about the latest Ian Banks novel? A peek at what people think of a new video game? Info on what your friend Jim is doing this weekend? Feedback from your circle of acquaintances about a movie you're thinking of seeing in a couple of hours? A list of the top-grossing records for 1967? All of those things are mind-numbingly dull if they aren't what you're looking for.
I know it's in vogue to hate on Twitter but you don't have to fucking try to eradicate anything that might even slightly resemble a twitter message. What's next, making sure every comment you leave is over 140 characters?posted by flatluigi at 2:03 PM on December 26, 2009 [3 favorites]
Yes, people that are so narcissistic that they assume others are interested in their every waking thought are annoying as fuck. This is the same for any media they use, whether it be Twitter, blogs, vlogs, texting, endless cellphone chatter, or just shouting at the top of their lungs. The important thing about twitter is that it's completely opt-in -- if you don't want to hear the one-in-a-hundred person who actually does only talk about their meals you don't have to. Only follow people you're interested in and you'll be free from all banality (except your own).
I agree, it's also fucking annoying to hear newspeople chatter endlessly about Twitter, but as I'm sure you're aware this is the same for any cutesy thing they pick up and focus on. "People like twitter," they think, "so we should let them know about it!" Get your ire up at the fact that our media would rather spend time on little things like that than on actual news. (Note: since the time I wrote this message newspeople have dramatically dropped their Twitter chattering. It's become commonplace and less interesting.)
Now, onto the actual issues: The vocabulary's certainly twee as fuck but you can't actively change that. It's part of the culture of the site and for better or worse it's going to stay. The 140-character format may be limiting but it can't be changed or they'd lose the major text-messaging facet of the service. Besides, a 140-character message can easily fit a sentence or two; three such messages can fit an entire paragraph. If you want to share something, you can.
So, what's left to be angry about Twitter? Nothing. Get over it.
There's a strange contigent on Metafilter that freaks out when Twitter gets any kind of criticism. I'm trying to figure it out. I think it has to do with something that, for lack of a better term, could perhaps be called the "Bareback Andy" effect: Lazy people don't want to be on the outside looking in on the Next Hot Trend, so they latch onto something like Twitter like a parasitic zebra mussel onto a shipping boat.That's the ticket. If people disagree with you, play armchair psychiatrist and say they're just trying to be cool. Slag on Arrington and the Mashable hype addicts if you want to, but there are boring, normal, everyday people who use Twitter for interesting things every day -- just like blogs, IRC, email, and so on.
So, again, people who disagree with you are just part of a mob?I don't think that's what BP is saying. I could be misreading him, but I really don't think that's what he's getting at.
It is also a prime example of people on the outside trying really hard to be on the inside from the ground floor--to be "cool".Huh.
So, yeah, twitter can be used for all kinds of things, but saying it's used solely by Smart People Thinking Important Thoughts is idiotic.Yes. That is correct. It is a pity no one has said that: if they had, your post would be a well-timed rebuttal! In the context of this discussion, though, it comes across as a bit of a straw man/cheap shot.
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posted by mpbx at 4:44 AM on December 26, 2009 [7 favorites]