I didn’t really get Twitter at first and I thought that it represented all the worst things about blogging (navel gazing, echo chamber)…. Eventually, I came around. My family, who are generally far away, have a much better sense of what is going on in my life (even though sometimes I forget to call).
—Randy Stewart (comment on http://www.commoncraft.com/Twitter)
That’s a typical quote from anyone who hadn’t previously used Twitter, the microblogging service that left many, including myself, confused as to where it fit in the whole Web environment. It was touted as a micro-blogging service–writing down a post in 140 characters or less–and though it’s an accurate summation of what Twitter does, it presented a public perception that was well short of its true potential, which we’re seeing some 2 years after it launched.
I know. I was in that category of people aware of Twitter’s existence early on, but could not, for the life of me, figure out its importance. Being a microblogging service, the first thought that came to my head was “Do I need another blog service?”, as I struggled to keep up to one blog. This was a time when Tumblr started to gain buzz, and all I could think of is how this is another flash in the pan web fad that will fade away.
Question the relevancy of Twitter these days, and you’ll get a stare that says: “You n00b. Twitter’s awesome.” Just a couple of days ago, TechCrunch talked about Twitter’s “Hockey Stick Moment, in terms of its growth just shooting up”, where since January, the site experienced a 16-fold growth in the U.S, and may have posted its billionth tweet sometime last week. Read the rest of this entry »
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