Twitter in the Middle

I hate Twitter. After years of hating it, I finally got an account. I still hate it.

So why do I use it? Because I can connect several things together using it and get extra exposure. But I don’t like using it as a primary communication means, I find it too clunky and awkward. It is also time sensitive – if you aren’t there when something goes past, you miss it. I can’t see staying glued to it all day just to see if something interesting goes past.

But… I do use it. I have Facebook and my blog connected to it. This means I can post in one of three places, and have it go to everything else, depending on what I want to accomplish.

Twitter reaches people that other methods don’t reach. It also interfaces with many other things. I’m able to use Twitter as more of an aggregator – a means of tying several things together. And I prefer to use it that way, rather than spending a lot of time with it.

The Twitter lingo typically leaves me feeling a bit nauseous, like I feel after having something too oily and sweet. So I don’t get into the whole environment of it. I doubt I ever will, it isn’t my style.

I much prefer the threaded style of FaceBook status and comments, as far as effective communication goes. Much easier to actually see and grasp an entire conversation.

I deplore time wasters. When I got the account, I determined that it had to be a tool, not a toy. I use all of my networking accounts that way – they are not playtoys. I don’t do the cutesy apps and games on FaceBook, and I don’t trawl Twitter all day. I use them as tools for my business. About half personal, half professional, because that is what seems to work best to promote a business and develop business relationships.

And I still despise it.