Corporate Refugees

As a person with too many email addresses and a growing number of vertical market websites to manage,  I, of course, decided to add another twig to my bundle of time fragmenting Internet activities.  That being Twitter.  (www.twitter.com/DigitalDocent)  After a couple months of Tweets, I have the following observations.

1.  Some of the followers of my comments, are in reality folks just fishing for me to follow them.  When I take a look at their Tweets, I find that we have nothing in common.  How they found me is a mystery, unless there ia a public list of new accounts that they troll for new followers. MLM’s out to gather followers are among the most agressive.

2.  I have chosen a few folks to follow, and denied many others from following me.   Specially those that have hundreds (if not thousands) of accounts they profess to be following.

3.  How many accounts can one person follow at a time?  Dozens? Possibly.   Hundreds?  Doubtful.  Thousands?  Certainly not!   So why are Twits so consumed by the numbers game?   Getting a large number of followers may be the end game for most Twitterers, but that creates this artificial promise, that “if you follow me, then I’ll follow you.”  Impossible to scale, and of improbable value to both sides of the equation.

4.  I have read and shed more than a hundred “followed” Twits.  I try to read every Tweet of those I do follow, evaluate the time-versus-value of the relationship, and then dismiss those that are just a waste of time.

5.  So why do I Tweet?  Not really sure, although it’s a great exercise in limiting my AD mind to one succinctly expressed topic at a time.  It’s sort of like doing crossword puzzles. A challenge when successfully completed,  giving me a small sense of accomplishment at the end of a frustrating day dueling with technology.  It’salso  similar to my muttering when I’m working alone.  No one is listening, and if overheard, I’m not embarassed by what I say.

6.  So why do I read Tweets?  I suppose its a bit like looking for a shiny penny in a pocket full of change.  You never know what to expect each time you dip in.  Once a day I look look through Tweets from those I follow, and always find something of interest.  Often a link to an URL, and instead of a few minutes reading through Tweets, I’m off on a one hour Internet journey pursuing new ideas stimulated by a 140+ character Tweet!

When I’m on Twitter, I also enjoy watching birds drink at my solar powered fountain, and flying around the bird feeders.  Now those are sweet Tweets!