Twitter (All in a ...)

[Shawn, the Beer Philosopher]

Okay, I pride myself on being relatively tech savvy. I am generally up to speed on most of the social networking tools available to anyone with a computer and internet connection these days, but unlike MySpace, Face Book, Digg or del.icio.us ... I just don't know if I thoroughly "get" Twitter ...
I have been inundated as of late with notifications in my email inbox informing me that random people are now "following me on Twitter." I don't know whether to be alarmed or honored, frankly. I don't often update "what I'm doing" on Twitter and even if I did, I obviously fail to see the thrill in anyone knowing what I'm doing right now. Let's all face it; I'm just not that exciting.

None the less, people persist and they follow me ... bunched of them! I feel like I'm living the virtual equivalent of that Verizon Wireless commercial with the crowd following me around everywhere led by that annoying squirrely guy with the dark-rimmed glasses. I guess this is really all very cool, but I feel like I'm missing out on the "coolness" of it all because I don't get it. Okay, I admit ... I've not spent much time there figuring it out either.

Someone help me get it! Why should I be impressed with all these folk following me and what do I do with them now that I have them? How do I make the most of my Twitter experience?

How’s that for off-topic??? ;)

[Chipper Dave]

Found an interesting article out on ProBlogger about the many uses of Twitter and how it can benefit bloggers. Worth a look.

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/23/9-benefits-of-twitter...

[Rob DeNunzio]

I think the image in this post pretty much sums up the difference between classical blogging and the new wave...

[Deege]

LOL!!! That is a great post!

[Chipper Dave]

Funny stuff. Sadly though, if that's the future of the web (1 line of text vs a multi-page article) are we really progressing or are we merely getting lazy? I'm loving both da blog and Twitter but I'd hate to see the web boil down to mere text msgs. lol wtf brb k bye.

[Deege]

I think they serve different purposes. I see Twitter as something that is more conversational, and I can stray off topic without too much guilt. I think it's also easier for someone to pop in with a question on twitter than to email or comment. It feels much more casual.

[theBryon]

So I gave Twitter another try, and sorta twitter blogged my way through the American Craft Beer Fest yesterday... Looking at the text messages I sent the following day, I'm not sure if this little service I provided was of any use or entertainment value to anyone who may have checked it out.

That being said, it served a purpose for me. I didn't need to take extensive notes to remember the event. The twitter updates serve as memory joggers for me the next morning. That being said, there's only so much you can say in a sentence or two while typing on your cell phone, especially if you have clumsy monkey hands like me...

I may try to do something like this again, in the future, but I'll need to have some twitter updates planned. In other words, an outline to follow and twitter on. Cover the scene, what is the atmosphere at the event, twitter that, and then check that off my list. What was my first beer of the event, twitter that with a 1 sentence review, and check that off the list. Ask Garrett Oliver something deep, twitter that and his response, then check that off the list, etc.

My free form Twittering amounted to a lot of gibber jabber to someone that was not there next to me. I need to take a more organized approach next time. But all those people, all that beer, it was all very distracting, and a lot to encapsulate via twitter updates... Besides, the more I typed, the less beer I could enjoy...

Next time I'll bring extra video cards and get a couple short interviews as well... It was a learning experience, but over all, still a lot of fun...

[Dan]

I'm fairly into Twitter as well... on the one hand, it lets me indulge my self-absorbed side like mad :)

But I think it has real uses... for instance, Woot and Amazon use it for their deals of the day (Amazon has its Goldbox, mp3 and video game deals). As other people have said, some brewers and beer bloggers use it, and it can be entertaining, useful and/or informative (I was having an internet problem at home that a brewer tweeted the solution to).

I have a hard time explaining why I like twitter... I only know that I do, sadly. (Oh, and I'm Sigafoos)

[Travis]

If all you do is post things like "im getting a cup of coffee" or "im taking a dump" nobody is going to give a crap about it. It's the same thing with a blog. If you blog that you like donuts, nobody really gives a shit. You have to post meaningful content and not over saturate your users with useless crap. For me, it's a great way keep friends updated around the country with the happenings of my life. Some people will say that it's the fall of civilization and it will destroy in person communications. That will only happen if you let it. The world has changed with the internet and is continuing to change with Web 2.0.

[The Beer Babe]

Personally I've seen an increase in traffic since I started twittering. There are a ton of beer folks out there, and they like to hear what you're drinking, what you think. I link to recent posts, discuss beer news. Its a fun time and doesn't take much effort in my opinion :)

My username on twitter is beerbabe

[Rob DeNunzio]

Whatever. I'll play along. rob_denunzio

[Beer Bear]

The only real use for it as a beer geek is the ability to talk about what beer you're trying and see what others suggest. I use it to get home brewing tips and know what other brewers are doing. It can be a real fun tool to talk to people all around the world at almost any time. I use it on my phone via text messages and it works well most of the time. You just have to click to follow them and then you'll know what they're drinking and such. It's a good time when used right.

[Chipper Dave]

There is a fairly new web site called: Twitip.com that's focused in on the best ways to use Twitter. Lots of interesting articles that anyone planning on using Twitter to benefit themselves or just to make friends can use.