Twatter

Twitter just suspended the client I use (Twidroyd) and sent me a notification suggesting I go download the official Twitter client and use that instead. I guess that's one fewer reason to use Twitter.

I used to think Twitter was pretty pointless, but having used it for a few months, I think I am more qualified to offer a question based on experience.

Twitter is pretty pointless.

At least, it is for the individual user. I can see how it would be useful for corporations or famous people that actually have some sort of following. In short, any entity that needs to worry about public relations. The unilateral "follow" system on Twitter is useful for these people/groups because they don't have to follow back when someone follows them. The Facebook "Pages" system works on the same principle but just doesn't work quite as well.

The idea of <140 characters seems like one is much more likely to get a response to an inquiry or comment on Twitter than it is through Facebook pages, and especially so if it's a complaint. To the user, it's also much easier to fire off a quick complaint tweet instead of a structured e-mail. It also helps that the interaction becomes public, as corporations feel more pressure to rectify the situation and maintain a positive image.

But for the average individual? Having a regular Facebook account makes more sense. If you don't want to connect with someone, you don't have to accept them as a "friend." The only thing you can do on Twitter is make all your tweets private. It's much easier to manage comments to something you've posted; the threaded view allows easy interaction between more than two people, instead of the back-and-forth conversation that crowds up the Twitter feed when two of your friends engage in a heated discussion. Should your Twitter feed become engulfed in a conversation between @PersonA and @PersonB, you really need to tweet "@PersonA @PersonB THIS IS NOT THE APPROPRIATE WAY TO USE TWITTER"

And then there are the people that link Twitter and Facebook to pots the same thing on both. They are hopeless.