Hi, my name's Joe and I'm an addict.
Wow, it's been a minute since I've posted a blog around these parts. If this blog were in a house it would be in the attic behind dad's retired wooden duck decoys, old Christmas decorations, and covered in dust and cobwebs. Well I'm getting some solvent and getting the cobwebs off of this baby and bringing it back to life.
So they say the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. Well, I may be an addict, but I don't have a problem. What am I addicted to you ask? Well, I've become quite attached to a new social networking website called Twitter.
At first glance Twitter seems completely ridiculous, but as you start to get acquainted with the site, the usefulness of it's feature-set becomes more apparent. It took me a little bit to get completely used to using Twitter, but now that I'm used to it I use it more than Facebook or Myspace. In-fact, these days I only go to either of the aforementioned sites to see if there's anything important going on, and if not, it's right back to the Twittersphere (the more I talk, the more I feel the cool-points drop).
So by this point you're doing one of two things. You're either asking what Twitter is, or you're trying to leave this blog as quickly as possible before you're infected with the uber-geek.
Well if you're of the former group, Twitter is a very simple social networking site and asks you one simple question, "What are you doing?", and in 140 characters you answer that question. Pretty much a mini-blog system that your friends can follow in a very quick and easy format. That's it! It's a great concept. It's a quick and easy way to keep up with the people you care about, without having to go through the hassle of picking up a phone or sending an IM and getting involved in a long conversation. It's all the joy of being social, with all the joy of being anti-social as well ... a true geeks dream. You can also send quick messages to any of your friends by typing in @screenname, and the comment will be directed to the person of choice. They've also made it possible to update Twitter from your cellphone. Which is also very nice. If you're going to get a drink and you don't feel like calling everyone, send a quick message to Twitter that all your friends can see, and if they're interested in joining you, they'll show up.
One of the other nice features of Twitter is that it doesn't have the in-depth profile set ups that Facebook and Myspace have. It doesn't ask you to go into every detail of your life and tell everyone your favorite movies, music, books, people etc etc. All they ask is for a quick one line bio, and maybe a website that people can visit which can be your company, myspace or full blog. The reason for this is because Twitter is more about the people you know ... so if you know them, there's no need to tell them much about you, because they're your friends they already know those things about you. They just want to know what's going on with you in realtime.
Overall Twitter is a much more enjoyable experience, if all you want is a quick update on what's going on in the lives of people you care about. I enjoy it quite a bit, and if you check it out and like it, look me up. I'll tell you about how I'm going to get a cup of water because it's hot as death in my office ... good times indeed.