TIME’s last issue had a big photo of an iPhone on it that showed….you guessed it….Twitter. The title of their article was “How Twitter will change the way we live” and author Steven Johnson goes on to take a short sentence to (still) jab Twitter, followed by a pretty decent synopsis of some of the general benefits of Twitter.
Back in March (over on the Other Side Group blog), I wrote a response to Lev Grossman’s “Quitting Twitter” write up in TIME, where he essentially bashes Twitter through and through. I pointed out several ways in which Twitter is not only just useful, but world-changing (and trust me, there are more).
I only bring this up because this shift by TIME points to something basic in the way new technologies emerge (and something I wish weren’t so). Nothing profound has happened on Twitter since March. What happened is that a reporter took little to no TIME in actually reviewing the product (read: get insider info).
Anyone interested in learning more about the value of Twitter has for some time had their fair share of users that could have added a lot of insight. Heck, I would have (and did) tell you what I thought.
I know I know. Lev’s piece was an opinion piece. Let’s try out this “Twitter” thing for a few days.
Maybe this is the academic in me, but I’ve always learned that a little-researched opinion invites (a lot of) criticism. Just ask. All of these things TIME has listed in the latest issue were all there in March. Dig around a little. Heck, just do a Google search!
On that note, as a supporter of Twitter and what it can do for you (a big one at that), I will tell you that the new article is great for the lay person who was wondering why Twitter isn’t all that silly afterall.
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I'm a Twitter user, and think it will be around for the long haul, but I'm not 100% sold yet. It seems like every couple of years, the masses move from one online social media tool to the next. With Twitter's scaling problems, and the recent study that showed how many users create an account and then abandon it soon thereafter, the landscape could be different in a few years.
Evan –
Very great points, and I do agree. I feel there will reach a point at which Twitter's “usefulness” will diminish quickly. Until then, I still think it remains a valuable tool in the toolkit.
The bigger point here would be look beyond the tool that's being used, and look more closely at the function it's performing. In this case, Twitter was used as a way to disseminate information rapidly and broadly. Those capabilities of Twitter have been known from the get-go. It will become increasingly important to identify which tools are being used to achieve these functions, whether it's Twitter….or the next Twitter.
Thanks for visiting,
Kate
Evan –
Very great points, and I do agree. I feel there will reach a point at which Twitter's “usefulness” will diminish quickly. Until then, I still think it remains a valuable tool in the toolkit.
The bigger point here would be look beyond the tool that's being used, and look more closely at the function it's performing. In this case, Twitter was used as a way to disseminate information rapidly and broadly. Those capabilities of Twitter have been known from the get-go. It will become increasingly important to identify which tools are being used to achieve these functions, whether it's Twitter….or the next Twitter.
Thanks for visiting,
Kate
Evan –
Very great points, and I do agree. I feel there will reach a point at which Twitter's “usefulness” will diminish quickly. Until then, I still think it remains a valuable tool in the toolkit.
The bigger point here would be look beyond the tool that's being used, and look more closely at the function it's performing. In this case, Twitter was used as a way to disseminate information rapidly and broadly. Those capabilities of Twitter have been known from the get-go. It will become increasingly important to identify which tools are being used to achieve these functions, whether it's Twitter….or the next Twitter.
Thanks for visiting,
Kate