Monday, February 02, 2009

Twittering - Online Stream of Conscious

I wonder if Twitter is causing a reduction in the amount of blogging. Twitter is called 'micro-blogging' and allows users to publish messages of 140 characters or less - the effect is more of an extemporaneous conversation with the network. Users are able to view comments by members of their network and either reply widely, visible to all, directly - only visible by their recipient or to 'Retweet' someone else's message to their own network.

Some people use twitter to develop contacts with others of a like mind. Businesses like the New York Times or New Zealand Herald use the short form and truncated URLs (available from the likes of BrightKit or TinyURL.com. It is an easily updated way for the firms to advise of content updates.

There are many applications popping up around Twitter to manage and analyse connections. Twirl and Tweetdeck are popular. You can measure your influence and the growth of your network with tools like TwitterCounter or Twitter-Friends

It is an interesting experiment in social media. My feeling is that it will evolve.
The question is whether the pressure on attention is sustainable? Who much time do people have to consume an endless real-time stream of conscious.

Follow me on Twitter