So have you heard of Twitter? It’s an instant-update social network site, a bit like a cross between a blog and an instant message. You only get 140 characters to say what’s going on with your life right now, and that’s it. It gets posted to your own page on the Twitter site. You can follow other Twitterers, and see what everyone is doing.
I am still unconvinced this is the next Big Thing, but a lot of folks I respect (like Chris Pirillo) use it and love it. I signed up for it, and I’ve been adding some comments on my page. I’m trying to figure out if it’s at all useful for me. Maybe not yet, but it will come in handy when I live blog a launch or something. The next Shuttle launch is in June, and I plan on live-blogging it, but it’s a pain; I have to keep updating the blog and then everyone who reads it via email gets their inbox plugged full of my commentary. Twitter would make that a lot better.
There are mashups too, software mixes that increase the utility of Twitter. So far nothing I see there is more than a fun diversion, and it’s not quite fun enough to hang out a lot. But I’ll keep on with it and see what’s what. I won’t update much during the day due to my job (at least until I move to Boulder and write my book, woohoo!) but I’ll see what I can do.
I’m very curious about folks’ opinions here. Useful? Waste? What say ye?
