As I mentioned in my last post, I finally decided to try out Twitter to see what the fuss was about.
So far, here’s what I like about it:
- IM, SMS, and web integration are all great. Wherever I am, I can just dash something off really quick
- The dead simple nature of the service is refreshing
- Compared to blogging, this requires a lot less thought
In particular, I think Twitter delivers on a core premise really well, which is:
Pierce the social veil and get to KNOW someone
What I mean by this is that when you first meet people, particularly in a business context, it’s often really hard to get to know them personally. But when you are reading twitters about them feeling hungry or thinking of random aspirations or falling asleep or whatever, all of these private things suddenly become public. I find that it really humanizes people. Weird :)
What’s missing from Twitter?
I find that while strangely appealing, Twitter still seems to lack some basic functionality.
The main thing is a feedback mechanism for when you do stuff. I sort of expect there to be a action->feedback loop that doesn’t really exist. When I write a twitter, I feel like I’m sending a message off into the middle of nowhere, and who knows if something comes back.
It feels wrong to say something natural like, “What are you guys up to??” Instead, the “right” twitter seems to be a random stream of consciousness.
It would be interesting to get random prompts for information from the service. So, it should ask, “What are you looking at right now?” or whatever.
I’d also enjoy richer functionality than sending “away messages” all day. Maybe something to set me up with interesting people, or ways for me to interact with my friends that are differentiated from a quick text message (like poking, for example).