Social media rations: a query
My brother and I were talking (online) about Twitter, and he said something that struck me:
I feel like the more I tweet the less I want to blog. Like Twitter steals all my good ideas.
("Tweet" means "post to Twitter," if I haven't covered that before.)
So there's the idea that "Twitter steals all my good ideas." I've found the same thing: why stretch out an idea that I was just able to sum up in 140 characters? If I've already distilled an idea down to its most succinct form... what more do I need to say? It has made me a more haiku-like person, I can tell you that.
But the thing that really snagged my attention was the first part: "The more I use (social medium 1), the less I want to use (social medium 2)."
Do you feel that you have an allowance? For instance: "I have x amount of energy/time, which I can either spend uploading pictures to Flickr, updating my Facebook stats, or writing a meaty blog post."
Have you ever experienced this? Which social media take precedence for you?
("Tweet" means "post to Twitter," if I haven't covered that before.)
So there's the idea that "Twitter steals all my good ideas." I've found the same thing: why stretch out an idea that I was just able to sum up in 140 characters? If I've already distilled an idea down to its most succinct form... what more do I need to say? It has made me a more haiku-like person, I can tell you that.
But the thing that really snagged my attention was the first part: "The more I use (social medium 1), the less I want to use (social medium 2)."
Do you feel that you have an allowance? For instance: "I have x amount of energy/time, which I can either spend uploading pictures to Flickr, updating my Facebook stats, or writing a meaty blog post."
Have you ever experienced this? Which social media take precedence for you?
Labels: twitter
9 Comments:
perhaps we'll just see more blogs looking like twitter. Just lots of little messages (kind of how you do already) about people's views-when something happens. Since twitter is more accessible offline than blogging, maybe it'll start taking over more traditional blogging.
August 26, 2008
Great post.
In my case, I have been "tweeting" for 8 days and it has taken my time from longer blog posts or longer responses to discussion topics on a marketing focused social network.
Parker
August 26, 2008
For me, Twitter has filled a gap - often I had interesting things to share, but since they weren't enough for a whole blog post, I would delay posting them and eventually forget about them entirely. Now I can tweet the short stuff, and blog the long stuff - it makes me feel more organized.
August 26, 2008
I was just thinking about this yesterday. I definitely blog less now that I Tweet regularly. I used to blog when I had pent up thoughts and ideas. Now that I can release them, I don't have the strong desire to blog it all out. I still blog, but I've definitely noticed a trend toward brevity. Good spot, Bradley.
August 26, 2008
I don't tweet. I won't tweet. I don't blog. I won't blog. I don' t sit behind a monitor and hide. I'd rather be interacting with real people..... outside.
August 26, 2008
What an ironic comment to leave on someone's blog, eh?
August 26, 2008
sharing in google reader and twitter have replaced my shorter blog posts as well, which means I'm not blogging as often.
August 27, 2008
Often, the more I use (social medium 1), the more I want to use (social medium 2).
A series of tweets or flickr uploads or facebook updates motivates me to start a new blog post (or even a new blog) that develops a deeper idea or creates a new one.
Simply, it's about finding balance, not equality.
August 27, 2008
I don't use my phone or any other device to connect to online sites while I'm away from a computer. I could, but I already waste too much time online. I think because of that, the things I have to say tend to be less short-thoughts-of-the-moment and more long-bloggy-things. I haven't tried Twitter, though. (I'm a little afraid of becoming addicted to a completely unnecessary service.)
I do find that certain websites are more vital to me. When I'm on vacation or not on my home computer, I skip reading the webcomics and blogs, but do check my e-mail, livejournal friends page, and Facebook account. These three are the ones where I interact more frequently with people I know in real life, so I guess that says something about what I find most important and valuable when I have to ration my time online.
August 27, 2008
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