Chris Brogan posts an article on his blog where he takes a look at his initial thoughts on Twitter and how they’ve changed over the course of 2007.
For those who don’t know what Twitter is, it is a social web service that asks the question, “What are you doing?” Of course, the most beneficial tweets don’t actually answer that specific question. I mean, what value would it provide if we all answered, “Eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” Not much. Chris poses a better question to think about when using Twitter: “What has your attention?” I like that question much better. Perhaps another question to think about answering is, “What are you thinking about?” I’m much less interested in what you’re doing, unless it is uniquely interesting, than I am what you’re thinking. Think of Twitter as a stream-of-consciousness tool.
Twitter has changed the way I implement my offline planning process. Because of my training and experience, I’ve developed the ability to envision several different paths that will take me to the accomplishment of a goal, which of those paths has the most obstacles and which has the fewest, and how to navigate around those obstacles. I don’t often need input from others, and when I do seek input from others, it’s often late in the planning process. But, having delved into the social web in recent months, I’ve found that I actually think about incorporating collaboration much earlier in the process. And what I’ve learned about collaboration is that it doesn’t automatically mean I’m giving up quality control (which is always a concern when more people are involved); it might mean that, but not necessarily. What collaboration does mean, though, is that the outcome is going to be different than you originally imagined. And while that difference results in a product that may or may not be better in your mind, what tends to happen is the process becomes as rewarding as the outcome.
If you’re interested in seeing what Twitter is all about, sign up for an account and use it for a while. At first you might think, “What’s the point?” But the more you hang out at this “virtual water cooler” (as Brogan dubs it), the more benefit you’re likely to gain. And remember: as with just about anything else in life, the more you give the more you get.
It might take a little while to build a list of people you follow, so feel free to get started by following me.
This is nothing more than my opinion,
This is nothing more than my opinion,
