Where I've disappeared to

[womzilla]

I've fallen into the deep, deep hole that is Twitter. (@womzilla, unsurprisingly.) It reminds me of the good parts of Usenet (and many of the bad parts, yes, but it's even easier to filter those away) crossed with Jorn Barger's original idea of "web log" as "lots of interesting links with some commentary". I can read it in little bursts when my brain is all hurty, even at work thanks to my Pre.

So, sorry I've not updated here in a while. But I'm still out there, and I'll try to be back here soon.

Comments

[firecat]

I never imagined in a million years I would see someone say that Twitter reminds them of the good parts of Usenet. Can you say more about that?

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

I should have said "in some ways, some parts of it remind me of..." I've seen hashtags used to sort of make on-the-fly newsgroups.

Mainly, it's the feeling of a genial conversation, sharing info in small or large chunks, with the explicit idea that there is an audience larger than just whomever is logged in to the chat room that instant. Despite being broadcast, it feels more many-to-many than online journaling (what is now called "blogging") does.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

That said, a lot of twitter accounts, esp. from celebrities or even those prominent in their fields, are more one-to-many. But most of the @users I follow clearly are interested in what other people are saying in response.

So it's a new thing that borrows from the original blog idea, from journals, Usenet, instant messaging, e-mail, pretty much some aspects of everything.

[firecat]

Thanks!

Which Twitter client(s) do you use?

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

I've been using the web site dabr.co.uk--very stripped-down and fast.