(Report abuse)

http://engage.uk.net/forums

(Report abuse)

http://engage.uk.net/forums

(Report abuse)

Anyway, the spelling distraction worked ‘cos it got me off topic too easily.

Back to Twitter etc.

Initially I was all for the advent of this radicalised minimalist form of communication. But I soon came to realise that there were no sequential threads. Just one-off statements (in the main) by tweeters nee’ bloggers that:

a) potentially and in certain instances diminished their blogosphere credibility as formative and expert bloggers in their chosen field of endeavour

b)is a lazy way to communicate. Why should you be interested in the fact that I am eating a Ponti’s salad while sprawled out on the sofa with my laptop precariously balanced with the salad bowl on my boep? What life enhancing lesson can anyone learn from this inanity?

c) the hordes of late adopters to Twitter (apologies) get lost amid the herds of early adopters and whatever tweeting the latecomers may have regardless of its quality and ability to espouse a view and impart knowledge, gets lost in the mass babbling that surrounds them. In effect it all blends into background noise.

But you have a point. A good one. Selective following may be the way to finally truly enjoy something meaningful at Twitter.

Unfortunately some high profile blogging profile made a silly and unqualified statement which 146 characters is totally insufficient to qualify - he said (and I seem to recall it was Scoble who said it. Could be totally wrong) that the key to obtaining meaning from tweeting is determined by a higher number of Tweeters whom you follow.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that the more you follow the more you need to digest and that is its weakness. You cannot communicate with 10,000+ twitters! Impossible.

So you end up focusing on the good old boy blogging network clique while paying scant attention to the masses.

And if I sound bitter as cats’ pee and twisted, you’d be right! So what. Who cares anyway? It is a fad. And as many times as I have said this is a fad, the silence from the A listers (as in zero response) was deafening, and so the more I became convinced that the game was all about that fine old blogging staple - popularity ranking.

Yes, in my view the more people who you follow or who follow you, the more popular you are perceived to be. How shallow.

So I quit Twitter. And Jaiku. And Pownce. And Facebook. And MySpace. And MyWebLog. And all the hundreds of invites to join this or that new social network.

Suddenly the social networking developer world seems to think we need more and more varients on a social networking theme. New launches sprouted overnight like mushrooms where they’d been nurtured and fed of BS in the dark!

They are popping out new ’social networks where we can do this or that but hold very little conversation because we are too busy sending invites, answering invites, ignoring invites, leaving messages on walls, installing this or that application and joining groups.

What a waste of programming talent and skill.

And finally: - ATTENTION SPAN.

This comment amounts to roughly 22 tweets of 146 characters each. Imagine reading each of the 22 tweets in between all the rest of the twittering detrius that springs up in between?

Difficult to remain focused and digest my message, yes? Let alone respond to each one where the content would be out of context?

So this is also why I elected to stick with blogging and forums. In fact I think I will be launch a new forum soon. Why not?

I think I will call it ENGAGE. In fact I paused typing, went off to Network Solutions and bought a new domain called http://engage.uk.net because that is what I think we need to do more of with each other.

Thanks for letting me rant. If I bored the pants off you - too bad, someone has to do it….!!!

ENGAGE!

RB

PS: will let you know when the ENGAGE forum goes live.

(Report abuse)

Send reards please and apologies for the typo.

It’s just that my thumbs (fingers) and the tiny keyboard built for beautifully dainty and ultra-slim fingertips, are not compatible.

A is closish to E on the Qwerty board innit?! Got to blame something other than my dexterity and spelling abilities.

(Report abuse)

I enjoy Twitter for a quick scan. I’ve found that it’s important to be ruthless about how you follow. The minute it grates, end the stream. By being selective I’ve picked up on some interesting stuff that I might otherwise have missed.

And Eva? Who’s Eva?

And thanks for the comment.

(Report abuse)

This is great!

I deleted my Twitter account last month. After a long while as a Twitterer, the ‘fad’ appeal of it paled and tweeting began to annoy me. As did the inane tweets by most of the twittering community.

It just is not for me. I prefer blogging and forums. Rock on forums and bloggers!

You have a well respected supporter in Eva!

Keep this going please. Good work.

Be well

R

(Report abuse)

(Report abuse)

http://satwitter.pbwiki.com

It is also a great resource for finding new people to follow

(Report abuse)

(Report abuse)