molly.com
Tuesday 26 December 2006
Twitter: Best Kvetching Tool Ever
I avoided Twitter for all it was worth. Oh, sure, I’d go over and half fill-in the sign up form. Then, I’d think how insane it was to add yet another diversion to my list of all-too-many diversions.
In fact, I was sitting next to Twitter’s dad, Ev Williams a couple of weeks ago when Dave Shea popped on IM with a tagline proclaiming “Abstaining from Twitter.” Ev seemed marginally amused, and there I was, not twittering, with Ev twittering away next to me, with Tantek not just twittering but IMing and IRCing and emailing on not one but two macs.
I gave in. I joined Twitter. And I’m so glad I did. It’s become my personal complaining tool. Talk about firing my therapist!
To that end, I’d like to tell Dave: Abstinence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, and to Ev, thank you for giving me a place to dump all my woes and have people provide pithy if not useful advice in kind.
Filed under: humor, blogging, society, creativity, innovation
Posted by: Molly | 11:51 am |

December 26th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Yup, I’m with you Molly. I looked at it and rejected it at first — why in the world do I want to say “what I’m doing now?” Who cares? But then, two friends told me they were spending less time on IM and still keeping up with people due to Twittering. Hmmmm… Better look at this crazy thing again.
Likely, people wish I hadn’t signed up last week. I’ve definitely increased the traffic with my blabby mouth. But they were right, it’s really fun to keep a loose eye on folks. I’m lovin’ it. And yea — very addictive it could be. But I’m betting timewise, it STILL beats IMing with a lot of different people. (It was nice to see you appear.
)
December 26th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
I’m yet to be convinced. Like you Molly, I too have sat there, half my details registered, finger hovering over the ENTER button …. but then asked myself, “Why? What makes it any better or different than every other online or offline communication device?”
From what I have seen and read thus far, Twitter is for getting those comments we want/need that people won’t leave on our blogs/journals/online diaries.
December 26th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Damnit! Why must you tell me about another useless thing to twitter my time away on!
What it actually reminds me of is a feature that’s on Facebook (yes, yes, I’m showing my youth here) which lets you put up a status in the format of “I am”.
December 26th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
OMG! I just read your post and realised I didn’t have Twitter open! Crap, I am such a bad person for neglecting my twittering!!1!
*finishes sardonic comment and goes to twitter*
December 26th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
What is the value of Twitter? Isn’t it the same as the status message in any of the other IM systems?
Is Twitter valuable simply because it CAN’T send instant messages?
Or does its value have nothing to do with the technology at all — just a collective understanding that what’s socially acceptable on Twitter is different (e.g.
complaining on Twitter is okay in a way that complaining in IM status messages is not)?
Or is it that — for now — Twitter has a smaller audience of mostly cool early adopters leaving behind the Great Unwashed who are all still on IM?
Hmm…
December 26th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
I’ll stand up and admit it, I’m addicted to twitter, I need a 12 step program.
@Ping its all this and more…but I can’t tell you I’m twittering.
December 26th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
i’ve just signed up for twitter myself and am finding it terribly addictive.
how does it different from status messages etc on other sites? not sure really. part of its appeal for me is the constant feed on the public page which i find so fascinating in a voyeuristic way that is unlike reading longer, thought-out blog posts. it’s a small snapshot, a fragment of time, and for the most part it’s actually one-way. people do sometimes reply to others, but for the most part most people are actually answering the question “what are you doing?” i would be sad if it became more chatroom like
the second thing that draws me in updating via SMS, from wherever i happen to be. and receiving updates via SMS, which can be a bit crazy but i can’t get enough, haha.
and thirdly, since twitter is status updates and JUST status updates, they don’t get lost in a sea of other things (like photo changes, new friendingness, etc) (yes i’m thinking facebook here).
i guess it’s no surprise that the status thing in facebook is my favourite thing about it
so for me, twitter was a natural fit.
(apologies for the ramble, i found your blog via twitter, of course… i think your tooth could fetch quite a bit on ebay, with the right ad)
December 26th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
I think this is interesting partly because, a long time ago (around when AIM was overtaking ICQ in popularity) i thought it would be nice to have a “mood status” window, like an IM buddy list but just showing how all my friends were feeling today, so i’d know who was in need of a little cheering up.
I abandoned the idea after i realized that the status messages in AIM could be used for the same thing and figured nobody would bother installing an extra tool to give them a feature they already had.
December 26th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
Twitter is a one-to-many communication where IM is one-to-one. While twitter is ostensibly suited for indicating one’s “current status” and would hence seem similar to an IM status message, it’s actually more than what you’re doing, it’s also what you’re thinking, who you’re thinking about, what you’re saying, and who you’re saying it to. So in that respect it’s more like a global IM; “This is whatever message I am currently relaying to anyone who cares to listen.”
And if you don’t care what I’m up to at any given moment, well, don’t read it. At least on twitter the noise and clutter I add to the internets while navel-gazing about my meals and moods and sleeping habits is kept to an easily-ignored minimum. Posting random minutiae to twitter is far less obtrusive than blogging it.
Twitter has become my microblog, short thoughts not really worth publishing on my own site, but which I feel somehow compelled to share just the same. It can also be a group conversation, with responses and reactions to what other people are saying on twitter- something that can’t really be done via IM.
What’s more, an IM status message is only visible to those persons you have on your IM list (I have many more twitter contacts than IM contacts), and only when you’re actually online. A twitter message can be seen by anyone (if you choose to make it public) and will persist whether you’re online or not.
By the way Molly, have you been taking ibuprofen for your tooth? Its anti-inflammatory properties can work wonders, much better than aspirin or Tylenol. As my dentist explained to me, the exposed nerve becomes irritated and inflamed so it swells in its restricted space and causes unholy agony. An anti-inflammatory drug will shrink the nerve and relieve some of that pressure. Depends on the toothache, of course.
December 27th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Its interesting AIM never took of in Australia like in the US. So ICQ hung around like a bad smell till MSM took over.
@Craig - yes twitter is the new microblog, but feed all you life feeds into jaiku.com and get your own true life feed.
December 28th, 2006 at 6:37 am
Check also this service from Finland, http://www.jaiku.com. It’s still in 0.3 version, but the actual service and client starts to look very promising. I’ve been using it for several months and looking forward on development.
December 29th, 2006 at 8:05 am
Oh man. You’re making it even harder to resist joining up.
December 29th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
Hello. My name is Giovanni and I’m a twitterholic.
December 29th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
I must admit, I WAS addicted. I had to disconnect myself though, because it just became a major distraction. Not that I don’t like twitter, I just found that - with certain conversations - I felt like I was listening into a phone conversation of someone else. So, while I like it in theory - I got too addicted too quick - hehe.
January 10th, 2007 at 8:15 am
I honestly don’t understand the craze with Twitter. It sounds like such a useless application. I don’t really care to know mundane crap about what my friends are doing every 5 minutes or whatever. I tend to talk to my friends over the phone if I really need to get in touch with them and find out what’s up. I don’t even get on IM except to find people if I can’t get a hold of them by phone.
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:02 am
http://simplify3.wordpress.com/2006/12/10/hello-world/trackback/
Twitter Submitter is a Twitter API access method using only HTML. It unlocks the secret in only 18 lines of HTML code and comes in two flavors, safe (you can use this on a public website) and unsafer (only use on your personal computer). I have an older computer (Win95) and couldn’t use the nifty Mac tools available and don’t know PHP or any of that stuff. Hope this helps future developers!!
February 5th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
http://kudut.freeshell.org/TWTSUB14.ZIP Twitter Submitter for Windows32 (Win95+)
http://kudut.freeshell.org/twtview.zip Twtview for Win32
February 9th, 2007 at 11:15 am
My boss is constantly threatening to cut my legs off for the amount of time I spend reading blogs during work time. A week ago I found this thread and as I had never heard of Twitter before, I investigated it. Now he’s threatening to cut my legs off because I’m never off Twitter!
February 19th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
I love twitter because there is a living and breathing community there. It is always on the move and there’s always something to comment on or someone to gain advice from - or complain to! I rarely visit all the old blogs I used to read regularly, as I’m always twittering - although I still come here!
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:37 pm
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March 8th, 2007 at 3:50 am
Twitter vs. Jaiku
Twitter is great. Don’t get me wrong. I use it all the time, ever since…
March 14th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Very cool article!
March 20th, 2007 at 10:06 am
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March 28th, 2007 at 7:31 am
Great and excellent article t’s realy helpful. Thanks again.
April 12th, 2007 at 1:15 am
I´ve checked Twitter after having found your comment. It`s one of these pages where you ask yourself: What are they doing?
)) I´m not sure if I´d like it. Now I will open my account and use Twitter some time… and then resume.
April 12th, 2007 at 2:09 am
As a librarian I like increasing information. Twitter seems to be quite cool for research. Thanks alot.
April 14th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Interesting comments..
May 2nd, 2007 at 11:54 pm
This site is interesting and very informative, nicely interface. Enjoyed browsing through the site.
May 11th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Why people waste their time on such stuff? Who cares what you or who else do…
May 15th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Hello,
hi Molly. I am very interested on your site. Go straight
May 16th, 2007 at 12:35 am
Hi Molly, i like your site as well as much. greetz from germany. mikel
May 18th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Its a great feature to respond to your site. Molly you are the best
May 28th, 2007 at 7:50 am
Wow, i said what a great site ever. Best regards
June 5th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
super site
June 5th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
weiter so
June 5th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
ok
sehr gute Webseite
June 6th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
muy bien
June 6th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
wahnsinn
June 7th, 2007 at 12:00 am
merci for all
June 7th, 2007 at 12:02 am
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June 7th, 2007 at 2:24 am
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June 7th, 2007 at 2:25 am
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June 8th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
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June 14th, 2007 at 1:07 am
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June 21st, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Hallo Liebe Freunde der Mode, Fashion, Taschen etc.
Wir haben vor kurzem bei Hollywood-Glamour Fashion (ABZOCKE) bestellt.
Nachdem wir die Ware von Hollywood-Glamour Fashion erhalten haben und
die das Kleid und die Schuhe nicht unseren Vorstellungen entsprachen, wollten wir
die Ware zu Hollywood-Glamour Fasion zurücksenden und unser Geld zurück forden.
Die Hollywood-Glamour Fashion möchte aber kein Geld zurückzahlen, sondern
will uns eine Gutschrift ( ist in Deutschland nicht erlaubt) einbuchen.
Frecherweise verweisen Sie auf die Zentrale in den USA.
Finger weg von Hollywood Glamour Fashion
June 30th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Interesting comments…
July 10th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Hello,
great Site.
So long.
July 10th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Hi Molly. Interesting Site.
July 12th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Great and excellent article t’s realy helpful. Thanks again.
July 22nd, 2007 at 5:38 am
My friends don´t like twitter. Even so: I´m a twitter-fan!
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:00 am
Hi Molly, this is a verry good site
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Super Molly
Thanks
August 9th, 2007 at 8:22 am
I also want to thank for Molly hard work!
August 19th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Molly
Vielen Dank für Alles
August 26th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Als Dienstleister im bereich Messebau bieten wir Ihnen individuelle und umfassende Konzepte und Dienstleistungen rund um Ihren Messestand europaweit an.Wir gestalten und bauen im In- und Ausland Messestände für Kunden aus allen Branchen.
August 27th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Great work ! I really enjoyed browsing through this site. Naturprodukte-MV
I will recommend it to my friends. Greetings
September 13th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Happy birthday to your MOM, Molly! May she have many, many more birthdays to come…
September 15th, 2007 at 2:45 am
Hey Molly, great Articel.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Yeah very nice article , good reading and every time i searching some solutions on web your site have always something to say , nice good work
September 22nd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
nice
October 17th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Thank you
October 17th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Fine site
October 18th, 2007 at 6:54 am
I’ll stand up.
October 18th, 2007 at 6:57 am
interessante seite
October 20th, 2007 at 5:51 am
Na hier geht was, da komme ich gern mal vorbei…
Vielen Dank
October 20th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
great job
October 20th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
I honestly don’t understand the craze with Twitter. It sounds like such a useless application. I don’t really care to know mundane crap about what my friends are doing every 5 minutes or whatever. I tend to talk to my friends over the phone if I really need to get in touch with them and find out what’s up. I don’t even get on IM except to find people if I can’t get a hold of them by phone.
October 21st, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Very nice article , good reading and every time i searching some solutions on web your site have always something to say , nice good work
October 25th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
So much spam, really a shame.
October 25th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
why do you dont use a spamfilter?
November 1st, 2007 at 7:58 am
I wasn’t really a fan of Twitter to be honest with you but so many of my friends told me about the advantages of it I had to give it a try, so yes, now I recommend it!
November 11th, 2007 at 8:21 am
..Das ist eine Super Homepage!
Thx
November 17th, 2007 at 7:15 am
verry interesting comments…!?!
December 16th, 2007 at 11:23 am
thanks nice text
December 19th, 2007 at 9:04 am
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January 17th, 2008 at 9:32 am
thanks all
January 18th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Thanks
January 18th, 2008 at 1:26 am
thankz
January 31st, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Those who choose to take the “slights and disappointments” path, meanwhile, are very generously compensated for their trouble
February 16th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
thanks for all of them
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:42 am
Thanks for the article!
March 7th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
tsk ler
March 30th, 2008 at 11:20 am
thanks
March 31st, 2008 at 11:40 am
Hey Molly, great Articel. Good.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Twitter is indeed a very nice service. I felt in love with microblogging instantly.
The link to twitter I came across was in a very critical article about the service, but I was convinced they did get it all wrong: I even proclamed immediately it would becoming a modern way of communicating replacing IM and email.
Pieter Jansegers
http://microblogs.ning.com
April 30th, 2008 at 10:32 am
thanks
May 13th, 2008 at 6:14 am
understand some contributions here was not with the topic have to do
May 28th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
thankyou ..
June 21st, 2008 at 8:54 am
Ugggh! More evidence that Twitter is not for me! I think it’s great that you’ve found a use for it though. I usually just go to the pub to release stress and tell total strangers the tiny inane details of my life. Hey! I just had an idea. Why not name a pub…Twitter!?1 Bunch of self-absorbed useless gits, sitting around spouting nonsense like “i had a ham samwich today” “i just finished mowing the lawn” “i hate my life” “wanna buy viagra?”
I hope my valuable input isn’t censored because I used the “V” word.
:)
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:54 pm
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