Introducing Twitter: a time gainer or waster?

Posted on November 25, 2008

My girlfriend and college friends (Michiel, Mathijs and Joery) are giving Twitter a trial… on my recommendation! It made me wonder whether Twitter is useful or not. I realized that Twitter DOES deliver me value, but it also takes a LOT of time to grow and maintain! For the ones who do not know where I am talking about: Twitter is a web service that allows you to share moments with your friends. Generally spoken: Sharing moments creates closer bonds and with Twitter its possible, even when you are busy working, traveling or at the bar. That way, Twitter connects you to your friends, wherever they are…

You can use Twitter from your cellphone, send a SMS / text message to everyone that follows you at the same time. This creates potential! More people are signing up, giving Twitter more value every day. I started to follow the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, Maxime Verhagen and met him in Seoul because of it!

Different side

When I started using it, I noticed a different side of friends, celebrities and people that I look up to. They all communicate their passion and struggles in life. Online celebrities include Barack Obama, Snoop Dog and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But also people like Tessa Sterkenburg, Marc van der Chijs, Damon Garrett are interesting to follow.

Time waster?

Explaining the usefulness of Twitter to my ‘offline’ friends was hard, since the common idea for new technology is that it’s just another time waster. While technology increases efficiency and provides entertainment, it also isolates us from other people. Technology can both increase our efficiency and entertain us, it can also allow us to become big time wasters.

On one side, Twitter is an awful distraction, but on the other… it could save time too! Consider this:

  1. When I go to a new city and ask on Twitter what’s hot, locals reply I can do that night, isn’t that marvelous? I realized that Twitter beats any cityguide, and it’s quicker!
  2. Sending a tweet is just as fast as sending a text message, irrelevant which country that person is.
  3. Earthquakes and Tsunami’s are discussed on Twitter when they happen, miles ahead of CNN coverage!

What do you think?

This entry was posted in Internet and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.
  • Anonymous

    At first I knew for sure Twitter did not add any value, after I read this post, maybe my opinion changed.
    I started using twitter two years ago as a test. But I still have the following comments on Twitter:

    Cons
    - Knowing news ahead of CNN is only interesting if you are a journalist
    - Costs a lot of time reading and posting messages

    Pros
    - Could let you get in contact with interesting people
    - Gives the millennium generation with all their technology a social side.

    Concluding I must say, the benefits do not outweigh the disadvantages.
    Are there any other reasons to start using Twitter, other than those in this post?

  • http://the-eyrea.blogspot.com http://the-eyrea.blogspot.com

    I first encountered Twitter in Wired magazine, when they recommended it as a way to break free from Facebook (which I hate). I like how lightweight it is, how quick and available it is (I love updating via text message), and how I’ve gained new acquaintances from all over the world just by tweeting once or twice a day.

    I’m still not sold on the “power tweeting concept” where you tweet eight or nine times a day and have to come up with items that are of interest to the general public all the time to “promote” yourself — that takes all the fun out of it! And I am very picky-choosy about which people I follow. But if you take it easy and don’t burn out on it, you can build a nice feed gradually that is fun and informative to read.

  • http://www.fronmark.com http://www.fronmark.com

    Interesting discussion. Let’s see what your girlfriend and friends have to say about it after a while. :-)

    I don’t spend too much time with Twitter and I’m not sure it’s giving me a lot of value. But it’s nice to be able to see what other people are up to and at times also say hi.

  • http://www.martinharing.nl http://www.martinharing.nl

    I’m a twitter user, but not really hooked. As I read Joop met Maxime Verhagen because of twitter, then I get excited about it. So keep on twittering I should say.

  • http://www.urbanlifestylereport.com http://www.urbanlifestylereport.com

    I think the key thing about Twitter is not the actual site but the people on it. If you interact with other people you get value, or if you follow interesting people to see what’s hot right right now you also get value.

    But just by signing up and being there you will not see any real point. So my conclusion is that it is relative and only useful if you take some time building some relations with other twitterers.

    I find it great for staying on top of Internet and marketing related topics and it brings a nice social side to doing research for articles and podcast episodes.

    That’s my two cents anyway. :)