The true meaning of Twitter | Hacker News Reader

The true meaning of Twitter

money.cnn.com

7 pointsdesigntofly12 comments

Twitter drives me crazy, I still don't understand the obsession. I finally tried it after enough people badgered me; it was exactly what I expected: online away messages. I'm baffled how 300 million people seem to love it

Not 300 million - that's Y/G territory.

Twitter had almost three million monthly users as of June,

Er, yeah, I don't know how I managed to type 300 million without realizing that was rather high. I think I was too focused on my twitter hate

There are also other uses. For example, I was planning to buy a new mini-laptop (MSI Wind just for illustration) and following the tweets with this keyword (via Summize search) was very valuable - you see links to new reviews almost instantly, and you can also get good impression about the product from the tweets like "MSI Wind arrived yesterday and my wife loves it", or "I like the keyboard on my new MSI Wind", etc...

In my understanding, the revolutionary thing Twitter did was, that they enticed users to input information, which they didn't enter into digital form before. Lot of those are just unimportant noise, but with proper filtering or searching one can extract valuable information from it.

I think they are obsessed with whale pictures. Whenever I do try twitter (rarely), that's all I ever see.

Twitter drives me crazy, I still don't understand the obsession.

People listen to music I don't like. "I still don't understand the obsession."

Not every person likes every thing. That's OK, though, because you can just not use Twitter.

I picture a new Internet meme. Instead of "Oh, I don't watch television", "Oh, I don't use Twitter" will be the new super-elite condescending remark. rolls eyes.

I'm not saying we should destroy Twitter or something, just that I don't understand why people use it. I understand why people listen to other kinds of music, that doesn't confuse me at all, but I don't understand what Twitter offers that draws people to it when it's essentially a blog with a character limit. greyman had a couple good points above your post

I think part of the obsession is that it capitalizes on people's wish to express themselves. Not all of us have the talent to write coherent essays or draw click-worthy pictures, but all of us have the ability to create short soundbite-like comments, and most of us think we are delicate unique snowflakes with interesting lives.

Furthermore, tweets by its very form excludes the responsibility of having to explain one's thought. Welcome to the Brave New World of communication: No preamble, no annecdote, no characters, no setup-climax-resolution, no redaction of logic, no point and counter point, no analysis, no data, no citations needed. There is no "reason to be" -- there just is.

The "hottest Web startup since February"... what?

I'd just like to mention Blaine Cook, because the press won't. I rather dislike the business press who shape the story to fit their preconceived ideas.

"Yet here I am again, in July 2008, listening to yet another boyish entrepreneur discuss a quirky, compelling - and nearly revenue-less - startup. I ask Dorsey, a 31-year-old NYU dropout whose slender build and mop of hair evoke the pre-psychedelic Beatles."

These "boyish entrepreneurs" definitely seem to be aging, and the metaphors becoming more strained.

It's awesome that Twitter is getting so much press, but I think I would have appreciated an update on the recent technical problems and perhaps a reference to Friend Feed.

Only in the tech business are companies born with neither a clear reason for being nor a clue as to how they'll produce profits.

Only in tech media are articles written that tease with a question and provide no answer whatsoever nor a clue as to how they'll produce anything resembling journalism.

(After reading this article, is anyone any closer to knowing "the true meaning of Twitter"?)

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