Anecdote: What is twitter? And in support of transparent gossip

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15/12/08 |

What is twitter? And in support of transparent gossip

By Shawn. Follow me on Twitter. Filed in Collaboration.

If you haven't discovered Twitter yet, here's a good introduction from the Common Craft show.

I've just started using Tweetdeck to keep track of the Twitterers I'm following. So far it looks great.

A few thoughts on Twitter.

It's a mistake to think Twitter is only for reporting the minute detail of one's life, which by the way is an important activity because it helps up create stronger social bonds. Twitter is also effective for asking questions and getting answers, sharing useful links on the web and getting those frustrations out when things are driving you nuts. But probably the best use of twitter, especially from a social bonding perspective, is for gossip. Now I don't mean malicious gossip but gossip used in its strictest sense of the term which means talking about someone when they are not in the conversation. This is much harder to achieve with Twitter because the convention is to refer to other Twitterers using their @userid, and this enables them to see what you have said. But I think this type of transparent gossip is a healthy practice and one I'm going to apply in my upcoming tweets.

If your looking to follow me on Twitter just follow this link.

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