
If you don’t “get” Facebook and Twitter, read this NY Times article  - lemonysnicket
http://lsvp.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/if-you-dont-get-facebook-and-twitter-read-this-ny-times-article/
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axod
"In essence, Facebook users didn’t think they wanted constant, up-to-the-
minute updates on what other people are doing. Yet when they experienced this
sort of omnipresent knowledge, they found it intriguing and addictive."

OR they got bored and spammed to death such that they stopped using facebook.
(My personal experience)

~~~
ken
Thus the core of the problem: if you don't "get" Facebook/Twitter, it doesn't
help to read about other people who do.

The article explains _how_ it works -- ambient awareness and all that -- but
it doesn't explain _why_ I'd want that, if I'm not one who already "gets it".
Why do I want 1000 asymmetric "weak ties"?

I have noticed that the people who use twit/book the most are those with cell
phones. If you don't have a Blackberry welded to your hip, tweeting "I'm
making a sandwich" has way too much overhead.

~~~
hhm
I like Twitter, but I think Facebook is horrible, a terrible waste of time,
it's like LinkedIn for teenagers imo. This comes from a guy that has also
stopped using chat tools (excepting for the days I might need them), so please
excuse me for being on the very unpopular side.

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louislouis
This "ambient awareness" thing is a phenomenon that exists only in the bay
area... the rest of the world still lives in a twitbook free world. Maybe this
article is slightly out of touch with whats really going on.

And why would you want to "constrain your identity"? The ability to revinvent
yourself is a great gift.

~~~
unalone
Ah-ah-ah. It also happens on every last college campus in America.

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danw
Why not directly link to the actual article?

~~~
ars
And he quoted quite a lot from the article too - too much to claim fair use I
think.

~~~
danw
He might have reproduced that much content due to the NYT registration nag
screens

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crowbar
See, I just use my twitter account for random nano-fiction. Same for more
facebook profile. Far more interesting than what I normally do, which usually
boils down to "Still haven't conquered world. Damn."

Also, it gives people a conversation starter with me, usually with the word
"What the hell?" beginning it.

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maxklein
I finally gave in and made myself a twitter account. Now what?

~~~
unalone
Twiddle thumbs... whistle a bit...

On a more serious note, there was a link here to the "best" 100 Twitter
accounts. That might help. Or not. I dunno: I stopped using Twitter.

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vaksel
oh I get it...I just don't feel like broadcasting to the world every little
thing that happens in my life

~~~
redorb
I understand but the counter point is, how big is your ego? to think that the
whole world would follow?

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orib
The way I use it is by not logging in at all. I've set it to email me on
events, and I click the links in the mails. Other than occasionally looking at
event pictures, I don't even look at Facebook pages.

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DenisM
Oh. I get it now. So obvious when it's laid out like this...

