Why is Twitter?

[Bill Brasky]

It can have a purpose, like texting, it seems mostly pointless when you look at how the masses are using it.  But thats because you hold the typical fanboi dipshit in contempt. 

I'll probably learn to use it because it annoys me to be ignorant of very widely used things. 

[patrickj]

twatter has potential for an adult version

[edvol44]

twatter has potential for an adult version

lol

[Alex Libman]

I don't use any social mega-sites, period.

(I even overcame my Digg addiction.  The one exception is Wikipedia, but it can be forked at any time, and I never contribute - at least until the apologize for banning me for calling global warming a hoax.)

[blackie]

I don't even like having a damn cell phone.

Then don't.

[blackie]

A dude used twitter to let people know he was put in jail in Egypt a while back.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/

James Karl Buck helped free himself from an Egyptian jail with a one-word blog post from his cell phone.

Buck, a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested April 10.

On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the micro-blogging site Twitter.

The message only had one word. "Arrested."

Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt -- the same ones who had taught him the tool only a week earlier -- were alerted that he was being held.

[mikehz]

Here's an idea for a social networking site: A Skype randomizer, where you log on and are connected to some other random person who just wants to chat.

[Lindsey]

It's a trap. 

[gibson042]

I know what it is, but what's the bloody point?

To fill (after creating) a niche between instant messaging and blogging... more open and permanent than the former; faster than the latter.

[miamiballoonguy]

I agree twitter is pointless.

I'm guessing it's a market research tool.
Seems like only a marketing company would find twitter info useful.

it's pointless, yet fun.

[slayerboy]

Twitter is only useful if you have a lot of followers, and that's the problem.  FriendFeed is like an internet forum, only real-time, at least the beta is.  Some of the conversations I've had on FriendFeed have been interesting.  I use Facebook for family and friends I know IRL.  The thing that makes FriendFeed amazing is you don't have to follow everyone like you do on Twitter with their Friend of a Friend system.  http://www.friendfeed.com http://beta.friendfeed.com http://www.friendfeed.com/slayerboy

Needless to say, I dropped Twitter when Oprah found out about it.  I was just feeding all my friendfeed crap to Twitter anyways.

*edit*...i'm addicted to twiiter....reinstated my account today

[NHArticleTen]

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-technology/20090419/Twitter.Million.Mark/

recently Ashton Kutcher and CNN held a contest to see who could get to a million subscribers first...

Ashton won...

Now, imagine how much Ashton's Twitter is "worth"...

Now, imagine how many of those million would strip naked in front of their local post office if "he"(or anyone who controlled or hacked his Twitter) Twittered them to...

Now, imagine what other uses cell phones, PDAs, pagers, laptops, webbooks, etc. might have...

Hmmm....

me thinks it's gonna be one fucking wild ride...

enjoy!

[MacFall]

I don't even like having a damn cell phone.

Then don't.

I kinda need it at this point. They're not novelties anymore. 

[libertylover]

I'll assert it is not useless.  It's a way to get a short message out to a bunch of cell phones in a hurry.

It's like calling that new fangled tele-phone a toy for teenagers.

Not all too different from Porcupine 911 just it is text messages.  The only other thing is that guy who was arrested in Egypt was lucky he was in Egypt.  Cause American cops would have taken the phone before he could sent any twit.

[Dan]

Take porcfest as an example of a potentially useful use of twitter.  If the FSP let all participants know that #fsp09 on twitter will update 5 minutes before the start of any event, then you've got an unobtrusive unidirectional personal messaging system in most people's pocket.

#fsp2009 There is a riotous game of frisbee going on right now at the quad.

#fsp2009 You won't believe who just did/said what at the FTL live broadcast!

#fsp2009 Site #40 needs a cup of sugar for the cookoff.  Thanks!