How Very Meta

Today I'm blogging about Twittering. (And afterward I'll be Twittering about blogging about Twittering. You are getting v-e-r-y sleepy....)

I am loving Twitter. If you are one of the last 8 people on the planet who aren't Twittering, I say this: Join us now! Resistance is futile!

So, what is Twitter? It's sort of a cross between blogging and IMing. You post little (and I mean little: 140 characters maximum) updates meant to answer the question, "What are you doing?" Anyone who's following you on Twitter sees these updates, and you see the updates of anyone you're following. Not surprisingly, the updates end up going far beyond "What are you doing?" and into links to interesting web sites or blog posts, requests for information and advice on everything from software to restaurants, one-liners, and more. You can also reply to another person's tweet (sorry, that's the only bad news: "tweet" is the word for Twitter update), either publicly or privately.

Here, for example, are my last few tweets:

Most Twitterers are just regular people like you and me, but there are also lots of Popular Kids on there (Ira Glass, Ze Frank, Merlin Mann, Guy Kawasaki, Stephen Colbert, etc.) as well as tons of commercial sites (NPR, CNN, Apple, JetBlue, Zappos, etc.). Tony, the Zappos CEO, is the most Twitter-addicted person I've ever encountered, but he channels his obsession into intermittent free shoe giveaways to his followers! Tony Twitters almost exclusively from his mobile phone. I've done this a few times, and it's way cool. Talk about feeling connected!

If you aren't sure about all this, just give it a try. Go to Twitter, follow me, and then follow some of the people I follow to see what it's like. Then join up and see what happens. People will start following you, really! I for one promise to follow you. If you like it, I suggest you download Twhirl, which makes the whole Twitter experience smoother—it's easier to post replies and direct messages (a reply to a tweet that only the recipient sees) and, most importantly, it refreshes itself automatically so you don't have to keep refreshing the Twitter web page. (Twhirl's updates are a wee bit delayed, but I can live with that.) I also occasionally visit Twitter Karma to see who's following me.

Hey, are you following me?

P.S. here, the main pointed I wanted to make when I wrote this post but then forgot to mention....

Comments

[Jennifer James]

I've been on Twitter for exactly one week today and I cannot believe how great it is to meet people, join conversations, and build one's network.

I tried MySpace and Facebook but I never "got it". Twitter is so easy and as everyone predicted, it is very addictive. I love it.

Awesome post!

[Amy]

ahhh!! I'm confused, but I'll try it!

[Nancy]

I got dragged into Twitter by you and Kelly P., and--okay, okay, I'll admit it--you were right. Twitter is fun, it's hardly a time-waster at all, and it's excellent discipline. (Because I am All About The Discipline!) In fact, I'm going to recommend it, as tactfully as possible, to my more verbose clients.

I'm not really into the what-I'm-doing aspect. I like my little aura of mystery, thank you very much. But I do like being able to broadcast my latest blog post or web find, or capture a thought too small for a full blog post.

I do wish I knew how to grab the screenshots (Twitpix?) of your tweets. Looks very nifty.

[James]

The slang I have seen for your Twitter friends/followers is "tweeps." You may consider this additional bad news.

[Debra Hamel]

I've enjoyed watching your metamorphosis from a normal person to a Twitter convert to an evangelist. I'm proud, almost a little teary here....

[LA Blogger Gal]

Count me as one of the many folks happily Twittering along. For the most part I'm enjoying it and getting some great information from links folks are posting. I still don't get all that many great responses to questions that I pose, but I'm still new and don't have a gazillion followers.

I will say, that I've fallen in with a bit of a crazy crowd. Very interesting to watch from the outside looking in. I mean some folks out there really think they're the end all, be all of the Twitter/blogging world. But aside from them (even with them, since I find them sociologically entertaining) it's all fun.

Feel free to follow away: kat_taf

[Daisy Olsen]

Twitter is the best and the worst. It's a place full of great people to meet, things to learn about, and a dangerous opportunity to lose track of the real world. I love it! :-)
http://twitter.com/DaisyOlsen

[marciamarcia]

Just joined Twitter but not sure what to say? Consider edu-Twittering: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog-post/latest-learning-fast-edu-twittering