Am I A Twit?

The latest Internet fad that I jumped on the bandwagon of is Twitter.

But I have to be honest and admit I don't know why.

Several people have told me it's "very good" and "it's the future of communication", but no one has yet been able to tell me exactly why it is.

Twitter allows you to post short, 140 character messages which can be read by anyone who is "following" you.

But if I want to chat with people I know, at a distance, I already have Facebook, e-mail, text and, heaven forbid, the telephone - and these conversations aren't conducted in front of a host of strangers.

Both Rachel and I have found having a Twitter account also opens you up to being followed by total strangers. If this was the real world it would be called stalking. It's not as if we are anyone. If they're fans of my blog that's fine by me, but I suspect 99.9% of the people following me (who don't already know me from elsewhere) are unaware I even have a geeky blog.

Twitter seems almost MySpace-like its ability to allow you to "follow" celebrities, which I guess is okay for getting the latest news on what they are doing, but do I really need to know what they are having for lunch?

And it still doesn't explain why I should Twitter? Besides being another avenue to use to promote HeroPress, I just don't see yet what the use is for me? What am I missing?

As far as I can tell, Twitter is totally devoid of all the whistles and bells that make Facebook so useful (e.g. photo storage, discussion groups, fansites that send out updates etc) that it makes me think I must be missing something.

When people I really respect, like Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman and Wil Wheaton, are such strong advocates and regular contributors, there must be more to Twitter than I can see.

I don't want anyone to think I am knocking Twitter, I just don't fully understand it and that's slightly frustrating. All I want is for someone to explain it to me...

And if everyone eventually spends all their time updating their Facebook account, Twittering and blogging when is anyone going to have time to actually do anything worth Twittering/Facebooking/blogging about?