More trouble with the thinging in Twitterland

So I think that I must be one of the first to have done things 10 and 11 since I could only find Katharine on Twitter.

I had never used Twitter or Facebook before today. In fact I had avoided them like the plague because it seemed to be the narcissists dream. To gaze into my own mundane existence in the 'cyber-world'. To tell the world just how wonderful I am. Just look at my portrait, my friends list. We become enraptured by our cyber-image and cannot but stare at ourselves. Besides who cares if Fry has got up and had eggs for breakfast!

However, I have entered this world and just because it is the narcissists dream does not mean that it can't be useful. In fact, I can see that it may have some real functionality for the library environment. In Twitter you can direct others to posts, keep up with the latest news and keep in contact with people. I think that unlike a blog the twitter stream is more immediate. It is less meditated and so it is also less involved. But it gives one

Twitter then has its uses in being informal and immediate unlike an email but like the telephone. It can be directional because of the ability to link material. And the retweet option allows an issue to remain 'hot' or reignite the topic.

The ability to restrict tweeting to certain people is quite good. I can see this working if you wanted to get any information down as it occurs to you and only to those to whom it may concern. UPDATE: I didn't realise that the Message function was restricted to one person. Every tweet made is viewable by those who follow you or look at your profile. Still the restriction may come in handy in some circumstances.

Will I use Twitter in the future? I will look back over it as more people join the #UoW23 twitter world. And I may find that I have use for it elsewhere. Again though the danger is that ones stream of consciousness can just flow on. We may become as tragic as poor Echo.