Comments on: is writing about Twitter

By: Jack (twitter marketing) Sinclair

Jack (twitter marketing) Sinclair — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:21:59 +0000

Hey James,

It really depends on who is following you - if the people following you are responding to questions, that is awesome!

Some follow for no reason at all, and do not even login to twitter, or use any of the tools to keep connected - these folks just login once in a blue moon and twitter something, and if this describes your followers, then don’t sweat it.

Adding value is always key when you are twittering if you are using it for business or relationships.

By: The wisdom of the (Twitter) crowd - blog - James Cridland

The wisdom of the (Twitter) crowd - blog - James Cridland — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:55:08 +0000

[...] my brother, the famous XMPP and IMAP specialist Dave Cridland said recently, “I’ve no interest whatsoever in following James’s Twitter feed, and I’m his brother. [...]

By: Dave Cridland

Dave Cridland — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:51:24 +0000

The thing I find weird is that I’ve no interest whatsoever in following James’s Twitter feed, and I’m his brother. Surely, it cannot possibly be more interesting for anyone else?

By: MB

MB — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:07:03 +0000

Heh. Thanks for writing this; I have 160-odd twitter followers — people I’ve never heard of — and I couldn’t figure out why (I’m a small-potatoes blogger). Nor could I figure out why (or how) someone would follow thousands of people, as many of my Twitter followers do.

So I googled my question and landed here. Thanks for the insight!

By: Frankie Roberto

Frankie Roberto — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:24:13 +0000

@James interesting, I didn’t know that. I still found them to be different audiences and styles of updates though. Maybe that’s just coz not many of my non-geeky Facebook friends have made it onto Twitter yet though.

By: James Cridland

James Cridland — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:45:01 +0000

Hi, Frankie - @replies don’t make it to Facebook, only general “is” information does. True, if I put a name in the middle of a standard update it’ll make it, but I think my friends are savvy enough to understand what’s going on.

By: Frankie Roberto

Frankie Roberto — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:01:51 +0000

I think your trying to make Twitter work on Facebook is a mistake. I went along with that for a while too before I realised. They’re different audiences, and different forms of communication. @-replies and @-references don’t make any sense on Facebook.

By: The URL shortening anti pattern « Derivadow.com

The URL shortening anti pattern « Derivadow.com — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:53:13 +0000

[...] tinyurl, URL Along with others I’ve recently started to grok Twitter - it took a while - but I now find it a [...]

By: Stilgherrian · links for 2008-03-17

Stilgherrian · links for 2008-03-17 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:24:53 +0000

[...] is writing about Twitter | James Cridland This guy asked why his 122 Twitter followers followed him, and there’s some interesting answers. (tags: twitter) [...]

By: Richard Sambrook

Richard Sambrook — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:25:43 +0000

And Twitter is a conversation where Facebook or a blog is a noticeboard

By: Richard Sambrook

Richard Sambrook — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:24:22 +0000

Reassuring is a good word to use…Twitter is like having a backchannel on life.

By: Llia

Llia — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:19:55 +0000

It’s interesting that you address this, I’ve found that Twitter is one of the hardest website concepts to explain to non-users. I almost look at it as a very, very cut down blogging tool. Tiny weeny mini-blog updates!

I believe that it links into ideas I looked at behind the reasons that people blog and the reasons people read blogs. (In particular when the subject matter is merely their everyday lives, not for example a blog about a certain subject such as politics.) In my opinion it’s a mixture of narcissism and voyeurism. However, it’s not unhealthy narcissism and voyerism, I think it’s just human nature for people to take an interest in what you’re doing and for you to want them to!

Also, I notice you have a QR code in the top left-hand corner of your site. I noticed it before but I never realised what it was. They’re quite fun!

By: Memex 1.1 » Blog Archive » Why follow?

Memex 1.1 » Blog Archive » Why follow? — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:01:15 +0000

[...] ‘follow’ him on Twitter. So he asked them (via Twitter) to tell him why — and wrote about the answers. As you’d expect, they’re varied. I saw his tweet too late to respond, but [...]

By: Annie Mole

Annie Mole — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:47:21 +0000

Nosiness pure and simple. I have met you in the flesh now and you were not at all how I imagined you would be from just seeing your photos and reading your blog. And the few emails we’ve exchanged over the years. Now that I follow your tweets it makes much more sense. You’re more like your tweets than you are like your photos (if that makes sense).

By: Alan in Belfast

Alan in Belfast — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:40:10 +0000

And it helps fill out the background to who you are and what interests you when you post on your work blog!

By: almost witty

almost witty — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:26:43 +0000

I actually think Twitter updates tend to be much more fascinating than blog entries, precisely because of its shortness and omnipresence. There’s a sense that the world is moving, it’s doing things. It’s the digital equivalent of looking out of your window and staring at your world.

By: Tony Moorey

Tony Moorey — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:44:46 +0000

Why do I follow James?

A mix of A (a pal), B (respected former colleague) and C (one day James, you might just be a Scoble!).

More than anything else though, Twitter has made me wish I was at SXSW.

Maybe ‘09.

By: Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:16:57 +0000

Spooky - was blogging about twitter at exactly the same time: http://www.fabricoffolly.com/2008/03/it-started-with-tweet-my-twitter.html (well, one minute earlier to be exact)