Thirteen months ago this weekend, Social Media Today co-founder Jerry Bowles wrote a provocative article leading to 43 comments in response to Twitter as a conduit for idiots.
Love or hate his thoughts, which he later amended, I single out a paragraph near the bottom of his rant:
What I do care about is ideas and the power of the written word to change the world for the good. There are only a handful of people on the planet who can say something worthwhile in 140 characters. The chances are good that you’re not one of them.
For my first Satisfying Saturday installment of 2010, I point you to seven articles I enjoyed reading over the past week about Twitter — and I end with a video surprise.
First: Vered DeLeeuw wonders why a mother tweets about drowning her toddler, opining about the intersection of privacy and too much information. The comment section is tremendous and I urge to click over and share your thoughts, if inspired.
Second: Aimee Giese lists the 50 funniest tweets of 2009, from unemployed Americans causing a rise in blogging, to reaching James Cameron’s ego in “Avatar,” to someone’s face covered in cocaine despite the box of powder donuts on the desk. You have to see them to understand the context.
Third: Blaine Bullman expresses what I think is a load of bull with 21 tips to increase your followers. If you want the world to stalk your tweets, he offers some useful suggestions. But maybe you’d rather share my perspective to focus on who you follow more than who follows you.
Fourth: Julio Varela offers a clever counterpart to the above, albeit unintended, that Twitter numbers are meaningless, emphasizing the importance of focusing on quality over quantity. Stop measuring up. You’ll be respected more if you tweet organically.
Fifth: Mark Ramskill suggests the people and organizations you follow can get overwhelming at times, and that’s when you should purge your inbound stream. By reducing the clutter and noise, you can focus on engaging with those who appeal to you more than others.
Sixth: Ayelet Noff lists her top 10 wishes for social media in 2010, wherein I pay homage to her number one:
May more tools focusing on citizen journalism and real time updating services enable us all to be more aware of what’s happening in the world around us and bring us all closer together.
Seventh: Twitter co-founder Biz Stone reflects on Twitter in 2009. In The Sunday Times, Biz recalls a day in the life of Twitter when the U.S. Department of State asked him to delay server maintenance so their analysts could track real-time information on the ground in Tehran, Iran, when mainstream media were kicked out.
Biz writes:
My co-founder Evan Williams and I have spent the past 10 years developing large systems that allow people to express themselves and communicate openly. We are united in our belief that software has the ability to augment humanity in productive and meaningful ways.
Although we are already a few years into our latest collaboration, this has been the year the world took note of a simple service that has profound promise. For us, it has been a year during which we realised that no matter how sophisticated the algorithms get, no matter how many machines we add to the network, our work is not about the triumph of technology, it is about the triumph of humanity.
Many people have assumed that Twitter is just another social network, some kind of micro-blogging service, or both. It can be these things but primarily Twitter serves as a real-time information network powered by people around the world discovering what’s happening and sharing the news. The Iranian election was the most discussed issue on Twitter in the final year of a decade defined by advancements in information access.
Kudos. I presume Jerry would agree Twitter usage and style has changed in the months since his rant.
Finally, I share with you this screencast I created Friday night about increasing Twitter.com productivity. If you’re seeking a way to do some stuff that the normal interface doesn’t provide, I share two Greasemonkey scripts you may enjoy:
Related posts:
Learn more about Ari and AriWriter by visiting 
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Ari, this is one of the most thoughtful articles I’ve ever read about twitter. In a world of recycled pap, you’ve managed to say something interesting – and important.
Twitter mystified me for a long time, despite having been one of the very early adopters. I think I’m getting a good handle on it now.
For anyone else undecided about twitter, just use it best you can, pay attention to what’s coming your way, be thoughtful and considerate about what you put out there, and give it some time. You’ll figure it out too.
New from Dave Doolin @ Website In A Weekend: Happy New Year! (Now make something happen)
I love it: ‘unshoosh’
“Yes, you the gentleman at the back of the room – what’s your question? Speak up please, yes, you sir – unshoosh.”
Hey, Ari, thanks so much for the trackback: hopefully my post serves as a counterpoint to the Twitter number-mania. All the best to you, Julio
Dave Doolin – Thanks! I’m trying to get away from the echo chamber. There’s a time and a place for saying what everyone else is saying, especially if readers here didn’t read it there; but there’s also a time and a place to echo without echoing and being, as you say, thoughtful.
David: Shoosh up more this year. You have valid thoughts.
Julio: You got it. Thank YOU!
Ha. I LOVE the “50 funniest tweets.” Thank you for pointing me to that one – I tend to take Twitter too seriously.
Thank you for the link love.
New from vered@blogger for hire: MomGrind: Best of 2009
You bet.
Great Twitter round up post. I had a chance to read some and will head back and read the others. I read Blaine’s post before and I enjoyed that and it is a great Twitter post to include. I also enjoyed reading about Biz’s thoughts. All the other bloggers that you linked to are new to me so I will be happy to explore all of their content further.
New from Tycoon Blogger: Getting To First Page Of Google
This is nice screencast Ari, mmm I like the idea of Shoosh! it will work find when you want to Shoosh some people when they are tweeting too much for a while with out having to unfollow them!
New from Hesham: Have any one Joined John Mayer and Matt Cutts on Digital Cleanse?
The only problem with that is 1) you may forgot who you shooshed since it seems it’s only discoverable by clicking onto a profile and/or by deactivating the script; and 2) if the UI changes and the script doesn’t, you’re back to square one.
You don’t have to read people’s content, however if you do, there may be a connection between you and the writer, even if the tweet is not about a grand idea.
Jerry wasn’t saying that twitter is all bad, he was just bemoaning the type of content people post.
That’s okay for Jerry and other social media participants that don’t want personal content. But the important point to make is that there is value in personal content, even if its not relevant to your industry or without ideas.
Humans are social beings and some times the filler stuff is actually the content that connects us to others.
I’m not saying you have to read the filler stuff, but I do suggest there may be value there even if not apparent initially.
Ari you list some examples, and most of those examples are about ideas and community. Not sure if you were trying to demonstrate that filler is good but can you find some examples of filler that was valuable?
New from John Cass: The Mechanics Of Social Media Dialogue
Unsure what you mean by filler being good vs valuable. Can you elaborate?
Jerry’s post was about idiotic content, and its lack of value, any examples of seemingly irrelevant content, such as “I ate lunch today,” that was also valuable.
New from John Cass: Social Media Monitoring Research Process
I still tend to agree that most twittering is a bunch of twat and I agree that not much can be said in 140 words that is critical. Unfortunately, people now-a-days in the rapid fire world of information do not embrace much depth and thus they like the idea of contributing a tweet here and a twat there. It makes them think that they´re thinkers…though the reality is that one thought does not a thinker make…unless it´s my thought of course
New from Richard@How To Videos: How Do I Figure Sales Tax