MyMediaMusings

Love it, hate it or have no idea what the hell it is, Twitter seems to definitely (kinda) finally making some ripples outside the early-adopter society.  That means that everyone must now ask whether or not Twitter will become the next ubiquitous web “thing” like Google, Facebook or email (ed. note: not actually convinced Facebook is here to stay…).

Over on the “yay” team we’ve got folks like Graham Langdon blogging for EntreCard claiming Twitter will overtake Facebook:

“Sure, Facebook might be the highschool yearbook, but Twitter is the club, the movie theater, the bowling alley where you hang out on Friday night and socialize. It’s where you meet new people. See Facebook was never about meeting new people. It was about reinforcing relationships with, and shaping your image for, people you’ve already met. So tihis alone makes Twitter 100x more valuable than Facebook to anyone who is goal-oriented and recognizes the need to network and actively meet new people in your industry.”

AdRants agrees:

“He’s right. Twitter is many things but it lacks the baggage and some of the “creepy” aspects of Facebook. All within 140 characters, Twitter is IM, email, mobile app, chat room, focus group, news source, a wall on which to bounce ideas, a research resource, presence indicator.”

CNet tried getting “scientific”:

“Out of curiosity, I drew up a list of 55 technology journalists to find out how many use Twitter, arguably one of the most important social-media technologies on the scene. I included names of some online reporters–including colleagues from CNET as well as TechCrunch–but in the main, the list is comprised of people employed by A-list newspapers and periodicals…Out of the 55 names I randomly came up with, 14 were found on Twitter while the remainder were missing in action. When I pinged one of the reporters asking why–sorry, names of the innocent are being withheld–here’s what he answered:

“I don’t have a Twitter account, because I think it’s silly,” the answer came back. “Twitter is lame.”

All of which led SAI to offer:

“What are our deep, personal thoughts about Twitter? Thanks for asking. We’re still on the fence. We opened up a community Twitter room almost immediately after launching the site last summer, and continue to hear from people who want to join. But we haven’t really figured out what to do with said room. And only one SAI staffer uses Twitter with any regularity, and that appears to be primarily out of social obligation/experimentation.”

As for me, I don’t really think Twitter is anything like Facebook.  I don’t find much overlap in my use or in the people I exchange with on the two services.  Facebook is largely passive (even with all the nagging invites to bite people) while Twitter requires a kind of constant monitoring. For some this is heaven but for many it is just about the most horrible fate imaginable.

It is this factor alone that I think will keep Twitter a much-loved app for those who love it and an afterthought for those who don’t.