Tuesday Article: Twitter making us twits.

Many thanks to the Lesbrarian for pointing me to this article in the New York Times:

The Twitter Trap

Now, keep in mind, I never use Twitter because I can't figure it out. AT ALL. How dumb does that make me?

I'll say this: ever since I deleted my Facebook account a few weeks back (I was primarily on it for work reasons, and due to some of my work changing, I no longer have to be), my life really has been better. Take that, Mark Zuckerberg.

Comments

[Beth]

I love twitter. As a librarian, I've found this enormous gold mine of information and fantastic people out there, that without twitter would be lost to me. Other librarians, info specialists of every kind, news streams, writers, publishers, reviews, tech stuff, and just some cool people, all at my finger tips. And really, Twitter just gives me one more outlet to not shut up. Trust me, it does not replace my social life, but rather extends it a bit.
But no, it is not for everyone. And yes, like everything else, it can become quite the addiction. Everything in moderation, kids. Except reading. There is no such thing as too much reading :)

[Citizen Reader]

Beth,
Can you give me an example of how you started to use it, personally? Whenever I see other people's screens of scrolling sentences with hash tags, I can never figure out who's saying what, or how you're supposed to keep up with it. I don't particularly want to, but I would like to understand it or hear HOW it is useful.

[Beth]

hmmm, well i searched for librarians to start off with, and then found others through them (or people found me in the same way). fridays are a good day to start because there are hashtags you can search like #followalibrarian or #fridayreads and people you follow will do #ff and list others they think are worth following. i just, for example, tweeted three summer book lists i just found, the girl with a dragon tattoo redband trailer, and the article you highlighted in this post. there are a couple good books and articles about how to use twitter, if you're at all interested.

does that help at all? i have about 800 followers and i follow about 1400 people (but i need to go through and ditch some of the more boring/uninteresting ones when i have the time). i don't worry about keeping up. i just read what's on the timeline when i'm there. you can also group your contacts into lists, so if i only wanted to look at news, i'd look at my news list, librarians only i'd look at my librarians list, etc.

if you want to look at my timeline and people i follow or follow me, it's http://twitter.com/#!/Bethazon

[Care]

I enjoy Twitter - it's a fast way to reach out to some of people. I use FB to reach others and then there is regular ol' email for my non-FB/twit friends. I hate to use the phone. I always think I am bothering people and when people call me, I want to say "that couldn't have been sent to me in a email, you HAD to bother me?!"
I've won $50 on Twitter just by sharing what I am reading in the #fridayreads hashtag. But yes, it does take some getting used to. It can feel like you are barging in on someone's convo but it's in public for that reason so jump on in.
Guess I better click over and see what trap I've fallen into!

[Lee / wild mountain]

I have ambivalence about my use of both F-book & twitter. And, might as well add blogger too.

[Citizen Reader]

Thanks for the link, Beth, someday when I'm feeling adventurous I'll figure it out.

Care,
Yeah, I know that certain people only will communicate through FB (and Twitter too). And I don't like the phone either. Still and all though, I just cannot STAND the thought of Zuckerberg being privy to all my conversations with friends. I know Google is privy to all my email, but that I try not to think about.

Lee,
Ha! I know just what you mean. I hate technology...typed on a computer, published to a blog. Irony, thy name is the 21st century.

[Beth]

oh look, a brand spankin new report from Pew Research about Twitter usage. not hugely interesting, but a little fyi.

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Twitter-Update-2011.aspx

[Heather]

There are a lot of librarians on Twitter. I must say that, as a grad student, it's helpful to ask a reference question and taunt them by saying 'oh, if only there was a librarian who knew how to use Twitter...'

It does take a little while to get used to Twitter, but it can be quite useful. And not just for teasing librarians into reference action after hours. :)

[Citizen Reader]

Beth,
Thanks for the link (as always)!

Heather!
Yes, librarians are surprisingly up on this sort of stuff. Taunt away--librarians love a good challenge, especially a cheeky one. They're kind of perverted that way. Which I mean as a compliment.

[Beth]

perverted and cheeky. yes, that's me.

[Sarah]

I'm having enough trouble keeping up with my email and all of the blogs I want to read. Sigh. We won't even mention my print TBR pile.

[Nan]

I am, I'm afraid, a FB fan if not outright addict -- it seems to suit me as a relatively social introvert -- but it took me awhile to get Twitter. I resisted for a good long while since it seemed to be populated mostly by celebrities and everything-adopters -- but I finally gave in when the 1 book 1 Twitter thing launched with Neil Gaiman's American Gods (which I'd been meaning to read anyway). My conclusion: Twitter is not a great forum for a book discussion. But ... Twitter is awesome as a totally customizable newswire -- this is most easily done through lists so I have lists of books (publishers, book sections, etc.), book bloggers, writers, people I know in real life -- and then lists for other subjects like cycling, comedians, etc. Many tweets are simply links to longer pieces; that's how I sometimes use it and I maintain an account for our library, too. I'm not on there everyday but I'm never sorry when I check it. The #fridayreads hashtag is tons of fun, too -- it's cool to see so many people reading so many different kinds of books. And Twitter is also great for following a specific event in almost-real time via hashtags -- I was "watching" the National Book Awards last year; the commentary on the food and people's outfits was hilarious.
On the other hand, if a social media timeout has improved your life, then go for it. The one aspect of all this that I find REALLY irritating is the assumption that one MUST do these things. You can choose. Really.

[Citizen Reader]

Beth,
don't forget--perverted and cheeky, in the best possible way.

Sarah,
You and me both. I am starting to lose control of both the actual and the virtual TBR pile.

Nan,
Well, most people I know are all over FB, so you're in the majority. But I find I'm still too much of an introvert, social or otherwise, to hand over all my personal correspondence to Mark Zuckerberg. Plus, there's only about four people from high school I'd ever need to talk to again, and for the most part, I think I could track them down through alternative means.
And oh my, a book discussion on Twitter. I wouldn't be able to follow that at all. Especially about "American Gods," which, if I remember correctly, is a fairly complex book, isn't it? Thanks for the tips on using Twitter--one of these days I should figure it out.

[Nan]

I take a weird "knock yourself out" approach to privacy -- ie. if Mark Zuckerberg or the Google folks want to read my stuff and try to sell me stuff, well they're welcome to try. Maybe it's because I used to be a journalist and figured if I asked other people intrusive questions, I had to be willing to open my life a bit. Or because I live in a small town that is both gossipy but nonjudgmental (my favorite saying about Key West: We don't care what you do. We just want to know about it.). I do update all my FB privacy settings like you're supposed to (most recently to prevent them from doing facial recognition on my photos (!!!!)). But I figure it's my choice to use it -- or not -- just like it is yours.

You're right, American Gods was way too complex for a Twitter book
club. But really, I think almost anything would be too complex for a Twitter book club. It's essentially an alert/linking service, with occasional funny hashtag memes.