Twitter is all the rage now and it seems to be all that anyone ever talks about these days in the blogosphere. So, why should I be any different?
I set up a Twitter account before Christmas and haven’t used it much. I’ll check it out every few days as a curiosity. One or two tweets in a few weeks. But, that’s not really in the spirit of trying something new.
For the past few days, I’ve tried to fully adopt it. I have two followers. I don’t know who they are or why they are following me, but maybe that’s just the way it works. In the first few days of setting up the twitter account, I had several people subscribe to start following me. I think these people troll for new accounts and subscribe, probably so I would reciprocate and follow them. So that put me off a bit–the thought of oportunists praying on me.
But I never gave Twitter much of a chance.
At this early stage, I’m not sure what to expect. I would think that my followers would only be people I know. Like family in the states or people I’ve had passing acquaintances with. Or maybe readers of this blog.
I have to admit, the whole 140 character thing makes me wonder how useful it is. I can’t ramble on (a good thing perhaps) but I’m also limited to things like “Went to lunch. Ate chicken”. But, occasionally I’ll want to write something a little more spur of the moment like “Subqueries are almost always a symptom of bad database design” or “The guy sitting next to me doing Sudoku looks exactly like the guy three seats down doing Sudoku”. Still, not really riveting, but better than hearing about my menu.
I’m only just getting used to Facebook. When I log on, I see the status updates with something like a friend who “is making cookies. Yumm.” This not only bores me to death, but makes me wonder if the social media is going too far. I wonder if Twitter would be the same type of thing.
But, I’ll admit that I started blogging just to see what all the fuss was about and really enjoy it. That was five years ago. I like the idea that I can write whatever I feel like, whether it be a story about my past, an embarassing incident at work, or a bit of code I’ve been working on. I don’t have many regular readers, but most people find the posts via a google search for something or other. It was a fad I latched onto and now really enjoy. Perhaps Twitter will be the same. So many of my favourite bloggers are raving about it. I’ll give it a go.
So far, it feels like sending text messages to no-one in particular.
There are still people who, when finding out I have a blog, say “Oh, Eric! Why on Earth do you need a blog!” I don’t need one, actually. But I don’t need a lot of things. I want one. I enjoy it. What I have to say may only be of interest to the occasional googler, but that doesn’t mean I can’t lend a voice here and there. Besides, I’m the only American living in London– who speaks Mandarin, codes C#, works with offshore developers, is learning Hindi and who grew up in San Diego– that I know. Everyone has a unique perspective on something. No one needs permission to write it.
By the way, on Twitter I’m following the Diggnation guys, Stephen Fry, Scott Hanselman, and Scoble.
My Twitter account is ericwroolie. Feel free to follow and I’ll try to keep it interesting. I’ve got a Twitter section in the sidebar of this blog which lists the last few posts. You can set up your own account so I can follow you. You might enjoy it, too.
See you in the Tweets.
