Twitter Tracking

Image from pastepotpete.com

This past week, I have followed a lot of people on Twitter. I never thought that I would be typing that sentence. I was one of the most staunch critics of Twitter on the planet. I hated it. I didn't understand the obsession. I hated the idiocy of celebrity "tweets." When I found out that I had to get a Twitter for this class, I was more than disappointed at becoming a hypocrite.

Then I started following people that were of interest to me, as well as a variety of other different Twitter feeds. Twitter is actually a very interesting form of new media. I love reading the random musings of my favorite writer, Bill Simmons (@sportsguy33). I enjoy following the eccentric golfer Ian Poulter. News services provide interesting info and links to match up. Rober Ebert and his twenty million tweets have been somewhat compelling, if excessive.

I was also able to use Twitter to send links out of my own blog. It doesn't do that much good, since I only have 7 followers. Still, it is just another way to try and spread the word. I hope that if I somehow can find more followers, the reach of my blog might grow.

Some of it still bothers me. Random people started following me, and I think it was spam. I was followed and un-followed a lot. Some tweets are too specific or too vague for my taste. I still do not get the whole re-tweeting thing. I am not logged on enough to see every single update. Some of the tweets are very lame. I also don't like how direct tweets can be seen by all of your followers. I guess I have to take the good with the bad.

I won't say that Twitter is the greatest thing ever, but it is definitely not the worst thing like I had originally thought. It can be a useful medium for random notes and small news bits, and funny back-and-forths. I will continue to use Twitter, but not because I have to. I don't believe it, but I want to use Twitter.