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I hate Twitter. But you know who has an awesome Twitter Account?; Pat Sajak.
Topic Started: Dec 9 2010, 01:01 PM (520 Views)
Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
(HT 89th.)

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Tweeting from set of Wheel during commercial. Having a really great tape session! Hope no one checks my "water" glass.


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Spent an hour cleaning up chew toys, bones and clumps of fur. Wouldn't seem so weird if we owned a pet.

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Just read my nephew to sleep with his favorite book. But shouldn't a 31-year-old be able to read "Mein Kampf" by himself?


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I'm leaking explosive secret Vanna memos to Wheel producers. From October, 1996: "I like the red dress better."


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Thinking about tweeting sober once just to see if it makes any difference.


Those aren't highlights, either. Those are all just from this week.

I cite irreconcilable differences.
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
Sajak's a riot.

Also, my twitter account is pretty awesome!
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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The 89th Key
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I signed up for twitter (never posted a tweet, myself), because I follow literally just 4 people. It's fun to hear their personal updates...but without a doubt Pat is my favorite!

Here's a recent video he tweeted to "prove" his authenticity. :lol:

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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
The 89th Key
Dec 9 2010, 01:11 PM
I signed up for twitter (never posted a tweet, myself), because I follow literally just 4 people. It's fun to hear their personal updates...but without a doubt Pat is my favorite!

Here's a recent video he tweeted to "prove" his authenticity. :lol:

:lol: :lol:

I'm starting to really wish I could see him doing something other than hosting Wheel.






....I also wonder just why in the hell he's only hosted Wheel for so long!
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
So, I follow
NASA, sh!t my dad says, Levar Burton (who wished me happy 6month-aversary on my kidney), Leonard Nimoy, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess, a bunch of ESRD/kidney related accounts, a bunch of developers, and a bunch of friends.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Horace
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HOLY CARP!!!
Aqua Letifer
Dec 9 2010, 01:18 PM
....I also wonder just why in the hell he's only hosted Wheel for so long!
He did have a short lived late night show...
As a good person, I implore you to do as I, a good person, do. Be good. Do NOT be bad. If you see bad, end bad. End it in yourself, and end it in others. By any means necessary, the good must conquer the bad. Good people know this. Do you know this? Are you good?
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Red Rice
HOLY CARP!!!
Aqua Letifer
Dec 9 2010, 01:01 PM
Quote:
 
Spent an hour cleaning up chew toys, bones and clumps of fur. Wouldn't seem so weird if we owned a pet.
:lol2:
Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool.

I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss!

- Cecil Lewis
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PattyP
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Seriously, would someone explain to me what all the hoopla is about Twitter? Isn't it just another way to waste time and engage in voyeurism?

Obviously I don’t tweet/ twit(?) and neither do I know anyone who does. What’s the allure?





A tired dog is a good dog.

"Dogs' lives are too short...their only fault, really."
A.S. Turnbull
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
PattyP
Dec 10 2010, 06:21 AM
Seriously, would someone explain to me what all the hoopla is about Twitter? Isn't it just another way to waste time and engage in voyeurism?



At the risk of pissing off everybody who uses Twitter, I'm going to go ahead and say yes, yes it is. How self-absorbed do you have to be to assume I'm going to want instant 140-character updates on whether or not you are in fact going to use fabric softener with your laundry?

Here's what bothers me the most about Twitter. From their own website:

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At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in length, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can share a lot with a little space. Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media.


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Experience Twitter on your mobile device by using one of our free Twitter apps for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Windows7 and Android.


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Individuals, businesses and social causes can use Twitter for SMS and our Fast Follow program to connect directly to anyone with a mobile phone. Twitter for SMS is an instant infrastructure for mobile communications.


Like everything else these days, the focus is on getting your information out there, not about improving the quality of that information. Blogs, social networking sites and other online services are all very similar in this respect. They stress getting whatever it is you want to say into the ears of as many people as possible, nevermind if what you say has nothing of value.

I mean, look at some of these Tweets:

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@mackenziejayde: people with bad grammer, don't belong on the internet.

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TheSoftwareJedi: What time is it?!


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nickyross11: @jameseconomou why u lettin @illwill3 know when u coming up and not ur dudes from back home #clown #bigguylittledick #wildsoft #ride.a.D


I mean, what is up with this ****? Yes yes I know, some businesses use twitter to have real-time interaction with their customers. Marketing research can be done faster and more effectively, you can build better business relationships, blah blah blah. But I ask you, what's the signal-to-noise ratio here? Would we be better off without all this **** flying around the interwebs?

Yes, yes we absolutely would.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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The 89th Key
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Interesting points, Aqua. I like the emphasis you make on improving information, not just increasing information. :thumb:

What also bothers me, is how a lot of people uses the #pound sign or @at symbols when specifying #keywords and @reference points when writing emails or facebook posts, etc. Maybe I'm the only one. If you don't know what I'm #referring to, it's probably too minor to describe it.

I think there are some interesting uses of such a communication channel, though. Sometimes it's cool to hear directly from a favorite artist or celebrity, instead of what you normally just hear in press releases or at a concert. (Examples Ben Folds or Pat Sajak). Also businesses can use it to give real time updates (see *example below), or to "fill the void" between more robust email or blog updates. Not that I necessarily support that...just thinking of ways it could be useful. But the bottom line is it's waaaaaay overused, IMO, and 99.9% of the time it's uninteresting carp.

*Example: Yesterday I went onto the website of a local beer/wine shop to get their number, so I could call up to see if they had any Dogfish 60min IPA left (there is a national shortage right now). But before I got their number, I saw they had a "twitter feed" update that displayed their tweet from yesterday saying they just received a shipment of 60min! So that was nice.
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Frank_W
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They should call it, "Twatter." Hrmph....
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
AL: Quality of information is up to the content creator - just as it is with print media.
Publishing has tried to find better routes for distribution always - so I'm not against the idea of easier, widespread syndication of information.
It's not up to the content deliverer to vet good content (publishers certainly don't fill this role in the print industry, though they smugly think they do - just look at the drivel out there).

Twitter can be absolute drivel - no argument. Just like facebook, the newspaper, every news website, this forum - etc.
There are also some very important functions that can take place in the twitter environment that can't in a broadcast, or print environment.

Essentially, the larger an event, the greater the number of "embedded reporters" there are. The protests last year in Iran were a great example of the validity of Twitter as a service. As the nation's government shut off all access to the internet and to the world, SMS message were still making it out (text messages) and twitter updates were still occurring. The world got live, real-time information on what was going on across the country thanks to twitter - and from the perspective of those in the streets at the time.

In know - that's rare - so what's useful about it on a daily basis?
For me, my entire development team follows each other on twitter. I send one message from my phone, and my team (in three different states) are all aware of what I'm doing, or where I am. "Stuck in traffic, ETA 15 minutes" - sounds stupid - extremely valuable when in 30 minutes we're getting sign-off on a new product I'm about to build, and delivery dates will be decided - and I'm not in the building yet.
I can also tag my updates with the "#" symbol - this (as silly as it must sound to non-IT people) is very useful on a digital resume. I can in a sense "micro-blog" what I'm working on, and how I'm solving programming problems as I do it - keeping a record that I can easily pull up in the future, in an interview for example. Of course there are other ways to do this - but when you're selling your ability to develop RIAs and your knowledge of social media - this is an awesome way to show work history.

In our business, it's a great way to reach our listeners - even better than the airwaves we broadcast on. We can reach thousands of people by sending out one message. In our non-profit, public radio world the benefit may be minimal, but as 89th shows above, in the retail world this can be huge.
My favorite rock/metal keyboardist, Jordan Rudess is also an iPhone app developer. He's created two very successful apps called SketchWiz and MorphWiz. One takes photographs and makes charcoal/pencil-like sketches of them (also does video - very cool), and the other is a performance level musical "instrument." It's a synth that you control with your fingertips on the iPad, and can do some pretty amazing things (search for it on youtube).
Anyway he has a huge following because of his music career obviously - but he tweets constantly about his apps. His thousands of followers are constantly barraged with ads for his apps, disguised as updates like "check out this improvisation video I just posted of me on youtube" - and you go to see him playing his app on his iPad, and doing some awesome improvisation. He might also tweet 10 "redeem codes" for free apps - people follow him just for that. In his world, Twitter isn't only a way to keep in contact with his fans (and fans, especially of musicians, love getting updates), but it's also a way to sell his product - a very effective one.

Twitter may not be for everyone, I'm not arguing that it is. It certainly has validity though as a medium for delivering information on a massive scale.
It's essentially a huge syndication engine - but it's entirely "opt in." You only see what you want to, from the people you want to see it from, and you only share what you want to. If it's filling someone's screen with useless information, that's because they don't want to admit that they love sitting there watching the live twitter stream.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
AL: If we apply your logic on signal:noise, then the entire internet disappears.
95% of the web is made up of pages with no meaning, and no value. Their only purpose is to push more electrons around the pipe.
Without the noise unfortunately, is no Internet. Again - I, not following the people you listed above, don't see those tweets.
You use facebook - you even occasionally post things on it. So while you may hate it, you use it.
Take a look at failbook.com and see how horribly facebook is used. Seemingly useless site once you look at how it's used by most - but those aren't people in our circles, so we don't see that - and so it doesn't seem so useless to us - same with Twitter.
It's facebook with a limit on how much you can say.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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The 89th Key
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BTW - Trebek strikes again! (another video by Pat)

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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
I love that it's Trebek.
Connery should show up any minute now.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
KB,

Quote:
 
AL: Quality of information is up to the content creator - just as it is with print media.
Publishing has tried to find better routes for distribution always - so I'm not against the idea of easier, widespread syndication of information.
It's not up to the content deliverer to vet good content (publishers certainly don't fill this role in the print industry, though they smugly think they do - just look at the drivel out there).


You make it sound like no one else is even "allowed" to provide services to improve quality of content. It's not about a publisher's "responsibility," because what responsibility do they have in distribution? None. It is their choice to provide those services. Why not they, or somebody else, provide a similar utility to help those that use these new means of communication add value to their message? (Although to be honest, I'm not all that angry with them for not doing so, because it's not really Twitter or other similar services onto which I'm placing the blame.)

And like I said, I understand that Twitter has some legitimate uses. But my point was that when compared to the whole of its usage, we'd be better off without it.

Quote:
 
AL: If we apply your logic on signal:noise, then the entire internet disappears.
95% of the web is made up of pages with no meaning, and no value. Their only purpose is to push more electrons around the pipe.
Without the noise unfortunately, is no Internet. Again - I, not following the people you listed above, don't see those tweets.
You use facebook - you even occasionally post things on it. So while you may hate it, you use it.


Untrue. The internet has a ton of useless content floating around, but the value it does provide -- the ability to communicate quickly and easily -- more than outweighs its level of empty content. Facebook is another matter. Yes, I use Facebook, and that's not really a choice I'm comfortable with. But there are some benefits to Facebook I obviously consider important enough to deal with the problems I have.

But to be precise about where I'm placing the blame, it's not really Twitter I have the problem with, just the mindset the communication age has instilled in all of us. Our ability (and desire) to clearly and effectively share meaningful information has deteriorated greatly, even though access to this information has never been easier to obtain. I think that's a real shame, and in some areas it's not been a worthwhile tradeoff.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
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But to be precise about where I'm placing the blame, it's not really Twitter I have the problem with, just the mindset the communication age has instilled in all of us.

And that's exactly it.
Your problem isn't with twitter, or social media - your problem is with the people using it, and how they're using it. That's what I was hinting at earlier - Twitter's problem isn't quality of content - that's a problem of the people using twitter, not the technology powering it.

When you say "I hate twitter" what you really mean to say is "I hate the mindset that the communication age has instilled in all of us."

Like I said - at its foundation, Twitter is very similar to Facebook. You're ok using facebook because you filter out the crap by not friending people who will fill your stream with farmville requests (or you filter those requests specifically). It becomes usable, and useful.
Twitter's no different. I don't get "noise" from twitter, because I only follow the people I choose to follow (like every other twitter user). I don't get a stream of nonsense, nor does the rest of the world, as I said, unless they're sitting at twitter.com watching the live stream of tweets, and sitting there, utterly fascinated, with whatever's trending today. The vast majority of twitter users simply don't do that - they use the service as a "mobile facebook" - it's something they use while out and about to communicate with the same people they post pics to on facebook when they're home.
Really the only difference between the two, is that when I tweet, it's public. It's probably only seen by the people who follow me, but it is "out there" and can technically be seen by anyone, whereas my status on facebook is only available to friends. Twitter does have a similar feature though, in that you can "direct" messages to specific people, keeping them totally private.

I'm not trying to convince you to use twitter - I understand where you stand on the issue. I just was looking for admission that it's not twitter you hate, but the way people are using the tools of communication available to them.

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Our ability (and desire) to clearly and effectively share meaningful information has deteriorated greatly

I disagree with this. It simply hasn't been the case in my experience.
I am largely more able to effectively and clearly share meaningful information than I ever have been before, because of the tools technology has made available to me.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
Quote:
 
Your problem isn't with twitter, or social media - your problem is with the people using it, and how they're using it. That's what I was hinting at earlier - Twitter's problem isn't quality of content - that's a problem of the people using twitter, not the technology powering it.

When you say "I hate twitter" what you really mean to say is "I hate the mindset that the communication age has instilled in all of us."


Well, Twitter's making it easier and more efficient to spread all this crap around, so I hate them too, but I don't place the initial blame with them. :biggrin:

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You're ok using facebook because you filter out the crap by not friending people who will fill your stream with farmville requests (or you filter those requests specifically). It becomes usable, and useful.


Well, just to be clear, the ONLY reason I'm still on Facebook today is because I have addicted family members who I would otherwise have no contact with, were I to not use the site. So I try to make the best of it.

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I disagree with this. It simply hasn't been the case in my experience.
I am largely more able to effectively and clearly share meaningful information than I ever have been before, because of the tools technology has made available to me.


Well, I should also be more clear about what I mean. It's part of a larger problem I have problem articulating, except to provide examples.

One of my old roommates -- well, all of them really -- was a serious technophile. He was in the IT industry, so that made sense. He could do some pretty damn amazing things with computers, hell even with his phone. I've seen him boot up our home computer, get on the internet, cut and paste and article and print it out, then power the computer down, just from his phone. To me that's amazing.

But speaking of that phone...

We were once having a conversation about bikes and the ways in which people use them. I was trying to explain to him that certain bike brands specialize in more utilitarian models, and as a result aren't sold in the U.S., because here, bikes are heavily used as a sporting tool, not necessarily for transportation. He uses his phone to try to look up bike companies who don't distribute their products to the U.S. It takes him some minutes, so the entire conversation died and I never got to hear his take on the point of the discussion. He got wrapped up in looking the details up online.

This happens all the damn time. I can't count the number of times a conversation has been interrupted because someone reached for their phone to double-check some innocuous fact that had nothing to do with the point being made. Also, instead of developing a sense of geography, traffic flow and temporal changes, people rely exclusively on phones and GPS devices to do the navigating for them. Nobody remembers phone numbers anymore, because we save them all on our phones. In my Wing Chun class, there are a ton of guys who show up, asking about books, DVDs, YouTube videos and other learning materials they can use to help them improve, missing the point entirely, so they wash out after a few weeks because what do you know, they're not improving.

It's a value argument only I suppose, but I really do think that these days we get caught up and focus on the wrong things. And to me, the popularity of Twitter illustrates that.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
I agree that misuse of tools can make the problems more apparent than they were previously. The problem is a human one though (at least, in my opinion).
Even with the existence of technology, had your friend *not* pulled out his phone to distract himself, you would've had a nice, polite conversation and not thought about it.
The flaw was his, not technology's.
I see your point, and I totally concur - I just disagree about the source of the problem perhaps.
"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
KlavierBauer
Dec 10 2010, 10:29 AM
I agree that misuse of tools can make the problems more apparent than they were previously. The problem is a human one though (at least, in my opinion).
Even with the existence of technology, had your friend *not* pulled out his phone to distract himself, you would've had a nice, polite conversation and not thought about it.
The flaw was his, not technology's.
I see your point, and I totally concur - I just disagree about the source of the problem perhaps.
Not to prove my own point while simultaneously being hypocritical, but:

I cite irreconcilable differences.
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blondie
Bull-Carp

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At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in length, but don’t let the small size fool you—you can share a lot with a little space. Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media.

My life is so much better since I've become less verbose. I'm sure your lives have improved too. :snicker: No need to thank me. :hahaha: :D

Speak less. Know More.
I think I've found 2011's N.Yrs Resolution.
:)
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
I can't possibly take anything with a name like 'twitter' very seriously. It just sucks way too much.

:gum:
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KlavierBauer
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HOLY CARP!!!
True - though that works for pretty much every domain name.

"I realize you want him to touch you all over and give you babies, but his handling of the PR side really did screw the pooch." - Ivory Thumper
"He said sleepily: "Don't worry mom, my dick is like hot logs in the morning." - Apple

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dolmansaxlil
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HOLY CARP!!!
I use Twitter all the time. I didn't get it at first, either. But then I discovered that there are thousands of educators out there that have formed a network to share information and ideas. I became involved in that network (I follow several hundred people, only three or four are 'celebrities', and I know only a few in 'real' life). Educators who blog about how they're using techniques or technology in the classroom will tweet out that they've posted. That brief title with a link is enough for me to know whether I might be interested in reading their new post. I participate sometimes in scheduled chats about specific topics (gifted education, math education, a bookclub for educators, etc). It's how we communicated about TEDx when I did that in the spring, and it's how we got the word out to our audience (sold out for our in person crowd, plus hundreds of people watching our live stream). I have met dozens of these educators at various events, and have called upon their expertise often. This is especially nice with gifted ed, as there are so few educators of gifted kids out there.

I get why people think it's ridiculous. I thought it was, too. But if you use it as a resource for a specific hobby or area of interest rather than as a social hang out, it's actually quite an amazing tool.
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

My Flickr Photostream


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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
I've actually considered starting one, in the style of Mr. D'Oh's adventures in alcoholism, but I don't really have the energy or the imagination to keep it going.


I'm sure you're all very disappointed.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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