Twitter getting more and more mainstream

[Kevin]

I've noticed Twitter sneaking into the news more and more in the last few months. A-List celebrities are twittering more and more to promote themselves and promote themselves to fans. I assume many just hire people to Twitter for them but I'm sure many celebrities Twitter personally too.

Infact, I read last week that Jenifer Aniston was splitting up with her boyfriend because he didn't have time to see her but he had time to update his Twitter account several times a day.

So I really enjoyed Alister Camerons post on Twitter last week http://www.alistercameron.com/2009/03/18/twitter-followers-fast/. In the article Alister talks about the double standards Twitter has.

For example, Twitter banned http://tweepme.com/, a service where all members agree to follow each other to increase their Twitter follower count. However, they promote many 'popular' Twitter users on their recommendations page (http://twitter.com/invitations/suggestions). Alister specifically asks why ijustine (http://twitter.com/iJustine) should be getting 5,000 new followers a day.

I know Twitter are in a difficult position but I have to agree that it's a bit of a double standard to penalise those who try to increase their followers count whilst simultaneously promoting their 'friends'.

Have a read of http://www.alistercameron.com/2009/03/18/twitter-followers-fast/ and let me know what you think about all of this :)

Kevin

[sarahG]

It must be mainstream if my Dad's heard of it!

[SteveSe939]

I have no idea what Twitter is, but I hear about it way too much. Seems like it's something that just popped up, and got popular right away. Sorta like Myspace.

[sarahG]

Not really. Twitter has been going for 3 years but only really hit mainstream since Christmas time, at least in the UK, due to certain celebrities using it and mentioning it on tv all the time.

[roseliabubakar]

I believe Twitter will be the "future"...

[pattistafford]

I have mixed feelings about Twitter. When I was only following a few people it was nice because I could keep up with those few people. Then someone suggested the key to twitter was getting and following more people, therein lies my mistake. Now I see Twitter as just another form of Spam--and I've asked for it.

I hate to be considered rude, but I think I'm going to unfollow about half my list. I don't have time to weed through Twits to find the few I have real interest in. It's the same way with email Spam.

I get several direct messages a day now, they are all Spam like messages. I did check one of the profiles yesterday because it was interesting. This person has about 43,000 followers and is following 46,000. Having that many followers may be cool, but how in the heck do you follow that many people? and why would you want to?

I'm just a bit baffled with Twitter right now and need to find the time to cage the monster I've created.
Anyone else feel this way?

[George K.]

I prefer Facebook to Twitter because Facebook is pretty much Twitter with better apps.

[sarahG]

how in the heck do you follow that many people? and why would you want to?

By using an app called Tweetdeck and reducing those that you actually pay attention to, to just a handful of people.

I prefer Facebook to Twitter because Facebook is pretty much Twitter with better apps.

Not really. You can stay anonymous on twitter and still chat to people, some you know some you don't, using it as a realtime chat room where you choose who you want to follow and who you want to ignore, but others can put their 2c in if they feel like it (unless you lock your updates of course). Facebook is typically a private more secluded place where you will probably stick with chatting or commenting on people who you know and who know you, who you've selectively chosen to follow, and no outside influence can add their 2c into the conversation.

Of course you can turn your facebook account into a public, anyone can see it, option, but by default both are quite different. I see twitter as a constant stream of chat where you can drop in, whereas facebook is a more static system where you can write something up and someone may comment on it 2-3 weeks later.

[Kevin]

it's a catch 22 in some ways. The more followers you have the more useful it is to market you and your websites/services. However, the easiest way to get more followers is to follow others which means more spam etc

I would personally remove anyone who was contacting me with ads etc.

I only have a few hundred followers just now but it is growing quick and I can see how this will be a problem so my plan is to place those I like in my favourite list.

[George K.]

Not really. You can stay anonymous on twitter and still chat to people, some you know some you don't, using it as a realtime chat room where you choose who you want to follow and who you want to ignore, but others can put their 2c in if they feel like it (unless you lock your updates of course). Facebook is typically a private more secluded place where you will probably stick with chatting or commenting on people who you know and who know you, who you've selectively chosen to follow, and no outside influence can add their 2c into the conversation.

Of course you can turn your facebook account into a public, anyone can see it, option, but by default both are quite different. I see twitter as a constant stream of chat where you can drop in, whereas facebook is a more static system where you can write something up and someone may comment on it 2-3 weeks later.
__________________
I see what you mean, Twitter is more for talking, while Facebook is more for playing with apps, Twitter is more for adults while Facebook is more for teens.

[pattistafford]

By using an app called Tweetdeck and reducing those that you actually pay attention to, to just a handful of people.


I've been using Tweetdeck and have finally learned how to put people in Groups. It makes it much nicer.

Thanks for your feedback.

[Indyan]

I have been using tweetdeck for a long time..but never used groups (although I am aware of it)..may be I should do it one of these days.

[catastrophie_90]

I agree that Twitter is getting more and more mainstream. Its all over the web and TV. Celebrities are using it, politicians too! It is getting more mainstream, such that it has affected our lifestyle and has also, unfortunately, portrayed a bad side of users. With this, I have three issues that I would like to bring up and put your attention to.

Firstly, quoted from the article, "...that Twitter is not a social network (a category of web app that IS designed for conversation and shared activity)." I believe that a social network is not only for conversation and shared activity. Once the site allows you to connect/communicate to other 'individuals', be it people you know in the real world or not, it may be considered as a social network site. You can reply to tweets, and thus, it is designed for communication too. Maybe, light conversations (a sentence or two) like a shout out. If blogs are considered as social network sites, i don't find a reason for a micro-blogging site to not be considered as a social network site.

Secondly, I find that the Web 2.0 has sub-consciously proved to us how superficial human beings can be. We always want our site to be viewed by many people. We want to see people following our blogs, visiting our Facebook profiles and what-have-you. For the influx of Twitter followers topic that Camerons has brought up, I think it is relatively the same as what I am trying to say. That people are getting more and more 'ridiculously' superficial these days. especially with the internet plus a site where you can choose to be anonymous. Why would you want to follow 400,000 plus and be followed by the same amount of followers? Doesn't it show that the individual could not be that popular to have that much of followers especially if he is not a celebrity. It will impose a bad impression of himself that he is not popular in real life and wants to seek refuge through the net.

Lastly, I would like to comment on the development of internet social network sites. We have seen these medias grow. From MIrc to MSN Messenger to YouTube, and then Blogger and now Twitter. It seems like the world wants to grow 'smaller' and at the same time 'be faster' every minute. Communication which are fast and convenient is the craze right now. We have also moved from big heavy computers, to laptops and now mobile phones. I wonder what is the next step?

In a nutshell, I do agree that Twitter is getting more and more mainstream as a social networking site. Twitter and other similar sites are also portraying superficiality in humans as a result. Also, the development of Web 2.0 is growing sonic-fast, it keeps me wondering about the next phase of World Wide Web.

[MH Vishal]

To be honest, none of this bothers me in the slightest. There's a great leveler for every user of Twitter - You choose how you use it. You follow who interests you and they may do the same back.

With regards the influx of celebrity, isn't it just akin to people reading the likes of Hello or people magazine for all the celeb gossip ? With twitter, though, you actually have a chance to speak with the celebs that interest you.

Fair play and here's to Twitter continuing to be enjoyed the way everyone wants to use it in their own way.

[Poe]

It's quickly changing and getting more annoying. The number of "Get a free $5 gas card" people trying to follow me grows daily.

:(