So, just how useful is Twitter?

A lot of people have asked me about functional uses for Twitter in recent weeks and I think I really just found one.

If you look to your right you will see a list of my recent ‘tweets.’ They are fairly underwhelming. Except in the instance of extreme emergency Twitter is mostly useful as a ‘what are you up to’ sort of service. Twitter is very similar to a magazine in that readership is self-selecting, much like this blog. You don’t HAVE to read my Tweets. Whereas if I called you up to tell you something you would pretty much have to listen to what I was saying at least until you hung up on me. The same goes for IM. If I IM you and say “OMGWTF! You have to look at this link!” and then sit there anxiously while you judge me on the relevance of the link I sent you, you are forced to evaluate that link.

You know those type of people who just absolutely have to, can’t wait to tell yous something? If you’re reading this you do because I am one of those people. As of this writing there is a tweet about my love of Honey Nut Cheerios. Okay, I like them, a lot. Get over it. I had a need to share that, don’t ask me why, but I just had that need. So I used Twitter. Rather than sending an IM to people I had to guess who would share in my love of Cheerios or broadcast it to my office, I merely tweeted it. I have satiated that need to share that thought. The same goes for a link, anecdote funny quote, vent etc.

Not everyone cares where I’m going for lunch or what I’m doing tonight. But per chance there is someone who needs/wants to know the goings on of my life, twitter fills that need. I, and all other twitterers, supply en masse the information for consumption. It’s up to the audience to decide on demand for individual tweets.