“Twitter” has a high variance. For some people (probably the vast majority of them), the comparison to smoking is certainly relevant; for a few others, Twitter is very beneficial. Here are a few variables that I think have a huge impact on the overall value a user derives from Twitter:
Who are you? What’s your mental state like?
What do you want from Twitter (read thoughtful discussions? participate in them? be aware of relevant news and opportunities? meet like-minded people? influence people? increase your follower count / gain status? escape from boredom? etc)?
Who do you follow, unfollow, mute, partially mute?
When and how often do you engage with Twitter?
How frequently are you reading vs writing publicly vs writing DMs?
When you’re only reading, how fast are you scrolling and how much are you thinking?
What client do you use?
Do you read tweets from your home timeline, from lists or from specific users’ profiles?
Are you continually trying to improve the quality of your experience?
I currently only use Twitter to the extent that tweets are forwarded or posted somewhere I happen to see them. And I’m fully with timot.cool on this—“twitter” isn’t a single thing—it’s a combination of how you use it and what bubbles you’re in/following. For me (and I suspect many others), it’s even less of a thing—it’s an adjunct to other communication channels.
My prediction is counter to mike_hawke’s (maybe). I have no clue if it’ll be called “twitter”, or if it’ll share the same naming or posting mechanisms. But I’d wager that attention-oriented interactive media will continue to be an important part of human lives until humanity changes in fundamental ways. Call it 2 generations (50 years) minimum.
“Twitter” has a high variance. For some people (probably the vast majority of them), the comparison to smoking is certainly relevant; for a few others, Twitter is very beneficial. Here are a few variables that I think have a huge impact on the overall value a user derives from Twitter:
Who are you? What’s your mental state like?
What do you want from Twitter (read thoughtful discussions? participate in them? be aware of relevant news and opportunities? meet like-minded people? influence people? increase your follower count / gain status? escape from boredom? etc)?
Who do you follow, unfollow, mute, partially mute?
When and how often do you engage with Twitter?
How frequently are you reading vs writing publicly vs writing DMs?
When you’re only reading, how fast are you scrolling and how much are you thinking?
What client do you use?
Do you read tweets from your home timeline, from lists or from specific users’ profiles?
Are you continually trying to improve the quality of your experience?
I’m probably missing many others.
I currently only use Twitter to the extent that tweets are forwarded or posted somewhere I happen to see them. And I’m fully with timot.cool on this—“twitter” isn’t a single thing—it’s a combination of how you use it and what bubbles you’re in/following. For me (and I suspect many others), it’s even less of a thing—it’s an adjunct to other communication channels.
My prediction is counter to mike_hawke’s (maybe). I have no clue if it’ll be called “twitter”, or if it’ll share the same naming or posting mechanisms. But I’d wager that attention-oriented interactive media will continue to be an important part of human lives until humanity changes in fundamental ways. Call it 2 generations (50 years) minimum.