Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Steven, Dayton OH on January 18, 2009:

Very nice summary of something I've had issues explaining.

Though I'd add one thing that's missing. One can - under "Settings" and "Notices" - control whose @ replies you see. I only see those where both people are those whom I'm following. So, for example, if you @replied to your neighbor I'm not following, then I wouldn't see it. If, however, you replied to @ScottSigler, then I'd see it (since I'm interested in both of your updates). That allows (IMHO) the conversational aspect of Twitter to continue without it becoming solely a push medium.

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I couldn't explain it all, since I'm mostly addressing the people who "don't get it", so thanks for making it clear there are advanced ideas available to users too. -rc

Posted by Lee LeFever on January 18, 2009:

Thanks for posting this and sharing the video. A small point of clarification... Twitter didn't ask us to make the Twitter video. We made it on our own and shared it with them.

I think the uses of Twitter have changed since the video was made, but I don't necessarily agree that no one cares what you are doing. It depends on your goals and the people who are a part of your network.

While the business power of Twitter may lie in links and brand building, etc., I think for people who are close in the real world (family and friends), Twitter offers a unique way to share one anothers lives. I surely don't care about what a stranger is doing, but if it's my brother, it makes sense to me and gives me a window into his life that didn't exist before. I follow a lot of my best friends and endless real world conversations were started by a "what are you doing" tweet.

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Thanks for clarifying your video, Lee. And it's a good point that it's been around for awhile, and things have changed since Twitter's early days. -rc

Posted by Jodie, Canada on January 18, 2009:

Thanks for the reminder to look at others' lists for people to follow - I took a peek at yours and was happy to see a lot of old friends I'd love to re-connect with!

Posted by Lauren, Chicago, IL, USA on January 19, 2009:

I think Twitter is like any other medium: 5% power and 95% fluff. The thing is, though, the fluff is what supports the medium so that the power can exist.

It is Jerry Springer and People's Court and HSN and Smurfs that makes a home possible for John Adams or House, MD, or The National Geographic Channel. It is endless episodes of Saw and Friday the 13th that make a home for Milk and Frost/Nixon and Gran Torino.

Ninety-five percent of Facebook is fluff, but I just used it to reconnect with a childhood penpal in Finland.

When the telephone was first introduced, people weren't sure what to do with it. In some areas, popular music was broadcast over the phone for several hours in the afternoon. (I believe Bulgaria was still doing this into the 1970's.) Telephones are now ubiquitous, and 95% of their use is probably fluff. But it is not the telephone's fault that millions of teenagers are using it to say, "No way!" and "Way!" to each other.

When the personal computer was first introduced, manufacturers were explaining how the woman of the house would use it to store recipes.

YouTube is full of fluff, but you can also find tutorials on handcrafts, on solving math problems, and on issues of the day. Do not criticize YouTube because you do not have anything to say worth videotaping. And do not criticize Twitter because your bologna sandwich is not noteworthy.

Posted by Carly, Rhode Island on January 19, 2009:

I think it's a bit of a broad generalization to say, "No one cares what it is you're doing," and that people who do use Twitter to answer that question have "no respect for their friends' time." I do care what my friends are doing, and my friends do care what I'm doing. The beauty of Twitter is that it is something different for everyone. I'm not using it to promote a business or build a brand; I use it to stay more closely connected with the people I am separated from by geography (whether that geography is a couple of miles or a couple thousand miles). That doesn't make MY way of using it wrong.

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I think you missed the conclusion, that noted "Of course, you can follow Twitter's original model and only see what 'friends' are having for lunch." -- and, as it continues, miss the real power of the platform. The point is, you can make it work for you, no matter what your preference is, and it doesn't have to be rejected by the masses as "useless". -rc

Posted by Phil, San Antonio, TX, USA on January 19, 2009:

All you've managed to do is further convince me that Twitter (how can you take anything seriously with "twit" in the name?) is just one more thing that I have absolutely no time or need to deal with. I barely have time to keep up with my Facebook page!

In my opinion, all this "Social Networking" is just another means of thumping your chest and saying "Look at me! Look at how many friends and followers I have! Look how self-important I am!"

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Yes, it is time consuming; all real work is, in fact, work. And indeed some are keeping score by the "Huge number of friends!" metric, rather than the "How can I add value?" proposition, which is hugely different. In my opinion, the former will have diminishing impact as people ignore their puffery, and the latter will be respected for what they bring to the table -- and inflated raw numbers ain't it. -rc

Posted by Claudia - Thousand Oaks, CA on January 19, 2009:

Thanks Randy - wouldn't have looked at Twitter without your article.

Posted by Amancay, Hood River on January 19, 2009:

Ugh! It's sincerely frustrating to read a rather well written article, that is so far off base.

mostly the sadness comes from the fact that you are basically pigeon-holing twitter to specifics that are not necessarily the case. time has proven that people DO actually care what you are doing: proven by the mass response of facebook's now commentable status updates, & the growth of blogs/personal online journals that surged through the net in years gone by.

depending upon your industry, people often want to know that the people they are dealing with are, in fact REAL PEOPLE with REAL LIVES. and will flock and stay with blogs and such that reflect that mix.

I, for one, update my status nealry every hour... or MORE! Sometimes noting that I'm a dweeb and spilled tea down my shirt the moment I walked in the door. Other times sending out a shout out to a friend for their birthday, or simply announcing my need for coffee every stinking monday. The amazing thing of it is, it's not JUST my face-to-face friends that follow me, in fact daily more folks do... and they respond, react, and interact regularly.

Oh, and every now and then you'll glean random photog or tech info off me... but mostly, it's just my life.

few and far between have been my qwitters, and I've networked intensely in my industry thanks to le twitter.

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Different strokes for different folks, of course. But that's exactly why busy people are blowing Twitter off, rather than grasping its true power. -rc

Posted by Cory, Topeka, Kansas on January 20, 2009:

You are right in that people don't want to know what I'm up to. However, my friends seem to be pretty receptive to the idea.

I'm one of those guys who posts the mundane things that I'm up to. I'll post that I'm going to lunch, and more often than not, somebody calls and wants to join!

I'll admit it is a bit odd, but for some of us, posting the mundane can make the mundane a little more fun.

Posted by David, Canada on January 20, 2009:

I don't see much of a difference between it and Facebook - the only reason I have a Facebook account (well, primary reason that I got it in the first place) is playing the odd game. I have several "friends" on there (including yourself), but that feature doesn't serve me much good (and indeed, I only have a few really good "friends" in real life on there, most are people I went to school with 20 years ago (who I didnt' even hang out with back then, but it's interesting to see them now) and "work acquaintances") - so it's mainly just a fun tool for me that I rarely spend more than 5-15 minutes a day on (and, as I said, mostly for entertainment). I'm not a "leader" in many fields (well, one, anthematology, but it's such a rare and specialized field that I don't know of any other anthematologists who are on Twitter, and less people on Twitter who'd be interested in that field), the only person I know who is on Twitter is you, and I already get plenty of updates through the newsletter and Facebook on you.