Why I use Twitter: An open letter to Jon Stewart
Recently, on The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart said, "Why do I have to follow CNN on Twitter? If I want to follow CNN, I can follow them on CNN. Mr. Stewart brings up an excellent point, and ultimately the big underlying question: What exactly is the point of Twitter?
My wife and I have this same conversation from time to time. She does indeed follow news outlets like MSNBC through Twitter. I do as well, except I follow my local outlet, the Metrowest Daily News. I also follow more eclectic news sources, like NASA. But the Tweets from these sites are simply links to their headlines. Much in the same way I Tweet the location of the articles I write (along with all of the non-sequitors which are obligatory for Twitter-writing). If I really wanted to know what's going on in the world, why wouldn't I, as Mr. Stewart suggests, just watch CNN or visit any one of the websites for the Twitter accounts I've mentioned above?
I suppose I can only truly answer for myself. So here's my answer, and it's not as clever as Mr. Stewart's comment: Because it's there. The same reason we first went to the moon. I use Twitter for a myriad of reasons, all of which cause me to have TweetDeck open all day long. When I check what's happening with my Twitterbuddies, I can also read headlines from what's happening with the news channels I subscribe to. Simple explanation, really.
I am one of those people who resisted using iTunes as it is something of a large program and a bit of a resource hog. (Especially when compared to Foobar 2000.) I tend to resist having more applications open than really necessary, even though my computer can seem to handle everything I throw at it these days (and yes, it's Vista 64-bit). Since I do need to work and can't afford the luxury of surfing all day, I find that one app that I can pop over to that has news, information and my friends' news and information to not only be useful, but allows me to be ultimately more productive. That last line, of course, was for my boss. Insert photo of sheepish grin here.
Incidentally, there's a campaign going around to get Jon Stewart to Twitter.
» posted by mulderjoe
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the relevancy of twitter or jon stewart for that matter
Interesting that Jon Stewart asks "Why Twitter?" because I often ask myself "Why Jon Stewart?" I follow politics/current events through a variety of outlets/pundits. Yet, I've managed to avoid Mr. Stewart so far. What does he offer that hundred of others like him do not? Yes, I broke down and now do the Twitter news-watch-thing and for most of the same reasons as you Joe - convenience, expediency, breadth, etc. Is it just a matter of time until I break down and pay attention to Mr. Stewart?Good POV article, btw.
Right you are, big guy
I'm actually unimpressed by Jon Stewart's point. Why follow CNN on Twitter when you can simply visit CNN.com, or go really archaic and switch on the TV? Well, because I'd rather these various website come to me, rather than my visiting them. Isn't that, for instance, the whole point of RSS feeds?If I follow ten blogs and I get their RSS feeds sent to my Google Reader, would Jon Stewart be all over my ass about it? "Why follow those blogs on an RSS feed when you can follow them by visiting them?" Convenience, my good sir! There are a number of cool tools out there that allow me to keep track of websites, blogs, etc, without my constantly having to check them for updates.
Why are RSS feeds seen as perfectly ok, but following a news outlet on Twitter is stupid? Well, probably because RSS feeds aren't all the rage these days. There's not enough mania or media attention for RSS feeds to sustain a solid, indignant, smug backlash against them from the likes of Jon Stewart.
Sure, there are a lot of knobs who use Twitter who have absolutely nothing of interest to say. In fact, they're the folks who make the rest of us dumber simply for having read their inane tweets. But saying Twitter is stupid because of these people is as brilliant as claiming TV is stupid because of Jerry Springer (though he certainly does lower the bar).
In the end, Twitter is not the be-all and end-all. But it is a useful tool, brilliant in its simplicity, multi-faceted in its use.