Sunday, August 10, 2008

Does this make me a twit?

I've started twittering. I'm not exactly sure why, or for how long, but I'm giving it a try.

For those who'd like to follow me on twitter, my username is jugglingfrogs.





I've agreed to try this as an experiment, but plan to quit if/when it becomes burdensome or addictive. Okay?

==== Twitter Links: =====


UPDATE: Anyone looking for more Twitter resources should read Jaffer's excellent comment below. It's full of links and resources. Thank you so much, Jaffer!

11 comments, so far. Add yours now!

Post a Comment

Phyllis Sommer said...

it's a little addictive but if you don't take it too seriously, it will be fun:-)

mother in israel said...

"plan to quit if/when it becomes burdensome or addictive."

We've heard that before. . .

Anonymous said...

I've started twittering. I'm not exactly sure why, or for how long, but I'm giving it a try.
Sounds very much like me!

Leora said...

You plan to quit once you become addicted??? But isn't it already then too late?

I'm only addicted if you other folks are addicted. It's no fun twittering to yourself.

Juggling Frogs said...

Rabbi Phyllis,

It's yet another gentle guilt stream... Do I reply to every tweet? If I do, am I wasting bandwidth for everyone else and perpetuating an infinite small talk conversation (like teenagers on the telephone: "You hang up first." "No, you hang up first...")

If I don't reply, is it rude?

Also, if I leave the window, it clears anything it showed before, so I'm starting to feel bad that I've lost track of replies.

Less than 12 hours into membership in this thing, and already I'm both twittering too much and feel behind in my homework, LOL!

Mother in Israel,

There are too many different streams of communication already. Not sure this won't be a big distraction. It's hard enough to keep up with blog comments and real life email.

Also, after a dozen or so 140 character tweets, I'm already noticing a tendency to write in clipped sentences.

I feel like a CB radio user, trying to adjust to using a telephone. Over.

Ilanadavita,

See, this is the problem. I'm having this conversation with myself that, if my kids tried it with me, I'd just laugh in response.

I'm telling myself, "Please, please? Can I sign up for Twitter? EVERYONE *else* is doing it? I'll be good about it and not let it interfere with anything else. I promise..."

Leora,

I can quit any time I want to. I just don't want to. Tweet, tweet.

If I do decide to quit, maybe I'll tweet about that. You know, "Thinking about tweeting but holding off..." "I haven't tweeted in three whole hours... Doh!"

Unknown said...

I joined twitter a few weeks ago, but don't really 'get it' yet. I'll try and remember to follow you when I get home.

Anonymous said...

Quit ? Ha ! You are under the spell of the little blue bird. There's no escaping now !

All you need are the right tools.

One thing you can do on twitter is have your followers be the first know when you have a new post.
Since you are on Blogger, let me point you to TwitterFeed. Simply add your RSS feed and it will check for updates every half hour.
WordPress users can use the Twitter Tools Plugin which will update instantly.

I've also added the "Shared Items" feed from my GoogleRader and another feed to share pictures I fav on Flickr on TwitterFeed.

If you find a random page on the web you'd like to share try TwitThat.

If you are on a Windows or Mac, my favourite desktop app is TweetDeck. You can sort your contacts into colums and it fetches updates from the last 48 hours. So you never have to worry about missing updates.
Linux users rather wait until AdobeAir is out of alpha.

But if you are still worried, @steverubel has some tips on how to stay productive with social media on Lifehacker.

Leora said...

I found these cute toys:
http://www.twitterlocal.net/
And so I followed someone with my own zip code for a day. A kid probably not much older than my eldest son got on, wasn't particularly interested in anything I had to say, nicely answered my questions, and hasn't been back on twitter since.

http://search.twitter.com/
Used to be called summize.

Yancey Grantham said...

Thanks for your comment on my blog.(topgreenblog.com) I followed it and now I'm following you on Twitter. I've got my blogs automatically twittering so mine can get a little busy. But I'm on Twitter as YanceyG.

Hope you are having fun with your worms.

Suzie said...

I twit too

Anonymous said...

Tweet! Tweet!

Thought I'd add my 2 cents worth.

But seriously as a conversation tool I think Twitter sucks. As a marketing tool and for building your online presence it couldn't hurt.

If you liked this article, congratulations! You have great taste. Please brew yourself a cup of coffee.
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