Twitter: Too Good for its Own Good?

Posted by Anthony LaFauce on March 25th, 2008 11:30 AM

I am a Twitter lover, I often tweet about where I going, who I am meeting, and what I am doing. I enjoy the conversations I have and have made some very good friends I would have otherwise never meet.

A friend of mine and I were discussing the types of things we tweet about and he had mentioned he didn’t approve of the messages I twittered. He said my messages seemed childish and I should try to be more professional on twitter.

He continued to say how twitter should be used to increase one’s personal brand and foster professional relationships. I countered with twitter being a form of expression and more of a way to stay connected.

We bantered back and forth a few times and agreed we wouldn’t agree. The entire argument left a bad taste in my mouth. I began to see twitter in a new light and it honestly bothered me.

I have to agree with my friend that I do see a good deal of people only using twitter for personal exploitation. Which is fine, but how long will people use a service that only gives them watered down versions of the people they are trying to interact with.

Now, I do use twitter as a very personalized RSS feed, but I can get a service like that almost anywhere. I think the real value in twitter is making real connections, not being spoon feed happy tid bits of information from people around the world.

How do you use twitter? Are you a personal micro blogger like me or more of a human evangelist like my friend? Do you see a turning point in twitter like Facebook, where people are tired of getting spammed? Let me know.

Viewing 6 Comments

Nick O'Neill 1 year ago 1 point
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@Lauren, please read this post:

http://www.socialtimes.com/2008/03/i-have-a-wri...

Anthony wrote this ... not me :)

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Lauren 1 year ago 1 point
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Great post, Nick, and I enjoy your Twitters wholeheartedly. Never take advice from someone who uses phrases like "personal brand". We're not brands, we're humans, and in our real lives, we like to have fun.

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Lena 1 year ago 1 point
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I'd like Twitter to be able to toggle between different groups of streams. I'm following several games or services. I'd like to easily hide those tweets.

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Jennifer Van Grove 1 year ago 1 point
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I use twitter to merge my two internet personas. I've got my work-related blog to address professional subject matters, and my personal blog for purely frivolous dating and relationship discussions, so twitter helps me find a balance. My twitter persona is very me, an amalgamation of my social media, web and personal interests. For this twitter has become the #1 social network in my life. Maybe I offend a few people, but if they want something less raw they can subscribe to my blog feed, or just not follow me.

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http://insidetherabbithole.com

Kady 1 year ago 1 point
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I found that I quite enjoy reading people's Twitter. Like bloging, the content should be up to the Twitter-er.

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http://www.kadidid.wordpress.com

markus941 1 year ago 1 point
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Twitter is meant to be more personal and human - that's its appeal.

Anyone who gets too "professional" or spams me will be off my list.

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http://blog.auinteractive.com/