Brain Murmurs

I’ve been using twitter and twitterific for about a week now after prodding from Rands and Alex King. Rands had mentioned it to me a few weeks ago and I admit that I was somewhat slow to try it out. After a few weeks Alex mentioned he was using it as well. Triangulation had been achieved: I got an account and tried it out.

So far, I’ve enjoyed using it a lot. The people in my small group of friends seem closer to me: hearing that a friend is going to go for a run during lunch or getting a timely explanation for a tech rant make me feel closer to my associates. Furthermore, twitter has the impulse-without-commitment value of IM combined with the distribution capability of a mailing list. Messages are limited in size so you don’t have to feel stupid if you send a message that just says “gridbag layout“: your friends will get it.

Another great feature of twitter is its integration with SMS. Once the account is setup you can send updates wherever you are via your phone by just sending an SMS to 40404. You can also receive updates from the people you are following in the same manner, which means that you can easily stay in touch with your group no matter where you are.

In my opinion, twitter is a big win. I have a sneaking suspicion that, unless they stay on top of their game, the people behind twitter may be usurped by a latecomer, as ICQ was by AIM. In the meanwhile, this is a technology worth checking out.

-Daniel

Filed under: Dan by Administrator