August 2008 Archives

This is day 2 of my Twitter experiment and I must say it's not really what I expected. I thought I'd be throwing isolated tweets out into Twitter-space, similar to blogging. Blogging is generally a solitary endeavor. You write a blog entry and publish it. If you're lucky, you get some comments and some interaction, but often not. Twitter is a big group conversation, and it just keeps going and going.... As jbnann said "It's evolving into a gigantic party with brief conversations with interesting people. You swoop in and trade and move on."

Of course, there's a certain amount of pressure. People are following me! I should I think of something witty and intelligent to say! Ummm, yeah, well, some days are better than others in that area. :-)

The tool I'm using to monitor Twitter, Twhirl, was recommended in Stephen Cohen's article "Top Tools for the Twittersphere" in the June 2008 issue of Information Today. I have a twhirl window open right now on my second monitor, and the tweets just stream on by.

It's a little ironic. I've been working hard this month to get some control over my email. I'm diligently unsubscribing from the inevitable spam in my inbox. I'm creating filters to direct email to the proper folder. I'm trying to reduce email distractions. So now I can concentrate on the distraction that is Twitter. I probably need to ration my Twitter-ing.

So, this is fun, but is it useful? I actually CAN see some benefits in an enterprise environment. Maybe you're on a project team, and you follow your team member's Twitter stream, so you know exactly what they're doing, what they need help with, etc. It definitely has potential as a collaboration tool.

If you want to know more about Twitter you can hear Jim Milles talk about Twitter with Richard Leiter on BlogTalkRadio. He also wrote about Twitter and Online Community on his blog Buffalo Wings and Toasted Ravioli.

Only time will tell if I end up with a Twitter hangover. :-)

I've always considered myself a practical person, especially when it comes to technology. I didn't warm to computers right away, until I started to see real benefits. I don't really "play" with technology.

So, that brings me to Twitter. I've been struggling with the idea of Twitter for a while now. I have to admit, I don't really get it. For those of you who don't know, Twitter is a social networking tool that let's you log very short (140 characters) entries. Your friends can subscribe to your Twitter, and know your every move, should you be inclined to post updates regularly. Many Twitter'ers (?) use cell phones and PDAs to post tweats wherever they might be.

Similar to blogs when they first became popular, Twitters are known for being fairly banal. Have a good dinner? Send out a tweet to all your followers. Bored? Let the world know.

I noted my favorite useful application of Twitter during the last fire season. I can see some uses at work, for example, you could use a Twitter like application to let your co-workers and/or boss know where you are and what you're doing every minute of the day. Hmm, that has its downsides, too.

I'm making an effort to revisit Twitter as a result of a couple of blogs on the topic of Twitter and KM: LawyerKM has a Twitter. Kevin at Lexblog claims that there are actually law firms on Twitter in his entry, Twitter use among legal professionals is growing. He claims Twitter grows on you. Okay, well, we'll see.

I'm going to try to Twitter for a week. I promise not to tweet about missing my train, or the sandwich I'm having for lunch. But I WILL try to note various and sundry thoughts that cross my mind about topics similar to the ones covered in this blog. It is probably inevitable that I include a few dog-related tweats. I'll embed my Twitter stream here, and you, my fair readers, can tell me if you think Twitter is a useful tool, or a waste of time.

If you know nothing about Twitter, and are wondering how to get started, here's a Common Craft video, Twitter in Plain English: