Thursday, March 26, 2009

Twitter Away - I'm Not Playing

twitter
I was over at Paris Parfait today and read a post about Twittering. Tara asked people to tell if they Twittered or not and why. The fact that people Twitter or use the likes of Facebook on a daily basis has me beat and here is why:
  • People actually Twitter from their phones which then goes up on Facebook - how many people do they think want to know about what they are doing on a minute by minute basis?
  • I have a Facebook account only so that I can see pictures of my grandchildren which my kids put up there. I wish they would just put them on Picasa or Flickr so I could access them there.
  • It has been said that Twitter is a great place to promote your business - this is a mammoth task, to get the message out there you have to connect to a massive amount of people who may not want to hear you banging on about your business.
  • It is said that you should not be pushing your business in peoples faces but talk to them about a myriad of subjects - oh yes I have the time to do that and blog and run a business.
  • What happened to the art of face to face conversation. I have been in restaurants and bars and seen people texting (is that a word) away and not even talking to the people they are with.
  • Where I live it is difficult to get a signal on a mobile phone unless you are willing to stand on a dry stone wall with your phone in the air, which incidentally makes it bloody difficult to talk into the thing. It is a breath of fresh air to be in the pub where people actually practice the art of face to face conversation.
  • I am a big fan of technology but only when used to make life better. If I used Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and God knows what else I wouldn't have any time to do the things that I was put on this earth to do like appreciate the seasons, meet my friends, play with my grand children or just sit with a good book and a nice cup of coffee.
  • There is an art to communicating which is best achieved by understanding facial expressions and tone of voice. When Twitter and their ilk find a way of replicating this I may use it but then again I may not.
  • Where I come from twitter is a word used to describe boring chatter such as - what on earth is she twittering about? I think on that note I will sign off.
What do you think?

21 comments:

Jan said...

I'm not playing either Di - agree wholeheartedly.
Facebook - the students can have it. (They need somewhere to put their photos of drunken escapades)
Tweeting - is for birds :)

paris parfait said...

My sentiments, exactly Di. Thanks for this. And you're right about that expression, "What on earth is she twittering about?" :) I'm going to add your link to my post. xo

Emma said...

I agree too and I am a student! I'm 23 years old, other people my age are obsessed with facebook, twitter, myspace etc. It's awful because I really do think it's affecting people. I know many people that are scared to use the phone, that wont even txt me to see me but in stead facebook me and wait for a response. I've been invited out before only to check facebook and realised i've missed it! I'm sick of it! x

beauty comma said...

Sums up my feelings, too! Ok, I haven't tried Facebook or Twitter, but it seems really time consuming - especially if you're going to use it to promote your business. English is not my first language, but I got put off by the name Twitter right from the start. It feels like a male chauvinist word to me - you don't ever use it about men talking, do you?
Keeping up with emails and texting (yes, "texting" has become a word, at least here in Norway) takes a lot of time. I never answer work related texts or emails after 8 o'clock in the evening.
Thanks for your excellent outburst!
Trudi

Dallas Shaw said...

I twitter to link my blog posts, and both help me sell my paintings. :) Not sure why you'd want to know what people are doing during the day though. I don't post what I am doing daily- I don't think people would want to know what I do daily?!

dallas
http://dillydallas.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

While I don't twitter much and I refuse to fill facebook with any information (because they make money off of user information. All those interests you fill in? Yeah, they sell those to companies like amazon so they know what's popular). I do find that facebook is good for informing people about big events and twitter is good for finding out about cops and speedtraps in your area.

Linda Merrill said...

I do use Twitter (@Surroundings), Facebook and LinkedIn. But I wholeheartedly agree that nothing beats face to face and anyone who spends their time in a restaurant or at a seminar texting is ridiculous. It's much like tourists who walk around museums taking videos but don't actually look at the art - they are missing the real experience. However, I do tweet (hate the twitter lingo!) on blog posts, or thank you's to other people, and I've been known to announce where I am and what I'm up to. The tweets also flow to my Facebook, so I'm not doing double duty. I've made sales and made contacts through all of these venues and I do enjoy seeing pics of peoples kids too!

But there are limits and finding that balance isn't easy!

rochambeau said...

I'm with you Di!!
No twitter for me. I'm a blogging gal and THAT's where I draw the line.
I have facebook, but don't use it.
Came by to share a good one with you.
When you have time:

http://nihalcrossroads.blogspot.com/2009/03/orientiles.html

xox
Constance

Anonymous said...

Yep, I'm with Constance. I have Facebook but rarely check in. When I do it is full of out of date stuff. Real friends visit me, phone, email, or leave a comment on my blog....at least I look at those!x

Anzu said...

I completely and utterly agree, and was just saying the same thing (in person and face to face!) to a friend yesterday. I write my blogs, and do heaven knows how many emails a day but I think there is something odd about the whole twittering/Facebook thing. I don't like the lack of privacy involved in it, and why not just go for a meal with a friend? Computers just aren't that good company.

Anonymous said...

I love you for posting this!

Paris Hotel Boutique said...

Amen Di! I think it's narcissism at its finest. Do not like! Who cares what I ate for breakfast?

savvycityfarmer said...

I signed up last week and in a fleeting moment, cancelled!!!

Who sits around and tries to think up MORE ways to communicate? someone who's twitterpated!!!


stupid...

vicki archer said...

What's Twitter?? (Just kidding....)

This little birdie is finding it busy enough without another distraction, so Di whenever our paths cross I am happy to have that coffee and a face to face conversation, xv.

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more! Where do they get the time? I can barely keep up with life, the blog and my business! And can't imagine why anyone needs to know what meeting I'm about to walk into or what time I'm going to bed.

Anonymous said...

Oh don't get me started on twitter. By the time I get around to doing all this stuff they will be obsolete anyway. I told my teenager I was on face book at last and he said, mom, nobody's on face book anymore. Oh great.

Gill said...

Now Tara is a friend but we disagree on this! I like Twitter. But I read your list and had to agree with most of your points.
I too, would take the pub over Twitter anyday. I certainly wouldn't let it rule my life.
There is so much junk out there, and some people post way to many things...it's too much to keep up with.
I like technology is what I'm getting at but I'll take the face to face first.
I can't regret technology...I met many great people through it!
xo

Gill said...

And Paris Hotel Boutique is right..it is narcissistic. But I'm a Capricorn and we are famous for having those tendencies. We can't help it, it's in the stars! ;)

Ilva said...

I use both Twitter and FB and like it because it helps me to keep in touch with friends from all over the world and with my friends in Sweden. Because honestly, I love where I live and the people here but I don't find them particularly stimulating. I don't use it much to promote my blog and work, just to see how my friends are. But I agree with you, they have to be handled with care.

parisbreakfasts said...

Zay are talk-ing about ze Twitt-ter right this minute on ze French radio! Vraiment!
I joined Twitter and Linked-in and then never did another thing :(
I do keep getting messages that peeps are twittering & linked-in to me etc.
WE ARE JUST OLD BAGS - That's all there is to it.
I do feel that if Obama Twittered, how bad can it be?
I'm just not up to learning another thing!
Especially when PHOTOSHOP!!! is staring me in the face.
I don't even have a cell yet...
"BEURK", as ze French say...

Ulla said...

LOL! This is a great post, and even better comments! I totally agree! Husband joined facebook a month ago, and I still can't see why he spends so much time on what amounts to nothing in my eyes... And twitter? I am still confused as to what it is, but I know I want no part of it... I have enough trouble keeping up with my blog. At least with blogging I feel like we 'talk' the same language!
Ulla