The latest news from Cafestudy

To twitter or not to twitter?

The latest news from Cafestudy

Posted by: Caféstudy

23rd Apr 2014 10:47am

Recently we asked you your thoughts on twitter. We wanted to find out if you use it, and if so, what for?

Twitter is a mystery to many of you. You ask - what is the point of it? The most common reaction is to just brush it off as ‘just another social networking site.’....’I don’t have any reason to go on it’.....‘what is the point of it.’ It would appear that plenty of you have set up a twitter account and then don’t really know what to do with it. After a few vague attempts at tweeting you give up and revert back to Facebook.

Several of you say that the reason for not using twitter is that you don’t want your thoughts out there for everyone to read......but interestingly you are OK with sharing personal stories and photos on Facebook . And unlike Facebook, twitter profiles only show one side of the conversation. The limit of 140 characters also puts some people off. And your overwhelming perception of twitter is of a self-promotional tool used by extroverts and attention seekers, or those with too much time on their hands. Paul says “I find it to be a vain expression by a lot of insecure people intent on expressing uninteresting facts about themselves.”

Of course there are those who do use it. Hamfish says “twitter is great for getting news as it happens I find – be that sport or breaking news.” bomber_drum says “I use twitter regularly to follow celebrities, mainly AFL players. It gives a look into the players personalities.” Those with their own businesses also find it useful as a promotional tool.

Yazzie8686 makes a good point. “Unless someone’s views are so important to you in a particular sphere, like politics or a cause, it’s kinda boring.” Perhaps Twitter is not just another social networking site, but is more about communicating with and staying informed about specific things, whether it be a good cause, political party, sports team or celebrity, or something else. Those of you who are using it regularly almost always are using it in this way.

Comments 11

margaretjulia
  • 4th Feb 2015 05:37pm

I think social media accounts distort the way we live our lives. We all should be more in the face to face contacts and think about what we are saying

sirrius_au1
  • 3rd Aug 2014 10:09pm

It's fine for most people but not for me. I don't want to follow celebs, pollies or the like and if I want to chat with my friends I will do it in person or on the phone, that way I find a little more personal than a hash tag.

AnneLMcArthur
  • 23rd Jun 2014 03:43pm

I use twitter and I also use facebook.
;-)

socker
  • 17th Jun 2014 01:08pm

I joined Twitter just see what it was about but personally can not see the use of it. To me it is ridiculous. Just a lot of people airing their thoughts over the system most of which make no sense.

Anonymous
  • 3rd Jun 2014 10:58pm

I don't use twwiter but I use facebook

dim
  • 14th Jun 2014 07:58pm

I do not use twitter or Facebook I believe in the telephone email or how ever many other devices we have to communicate there are so many!!! Also I believe Facebook can be used in a lot of negative ways

myrmale
  • 16th May 2014 03:06pm

I was a HUGE fan of Twitter years ago and was ranked in the top 100 users. It got a little crazy (time consuming) so I took a break and never went back. I much prefer to use Facebook these days when I get the urge :o)

evandijk
  • 8th May 2014 10:08am

With running a business I find all social media platforms are essential, but personally I cannot see the point of Twitter. Generally Twitter is the easiest of the platforms to have people follow or like you, they are not essentially interested in what you are doing but gives a big number of followers on the profile. The word limit is an issue with not being able to get the message across as clearly as you would like.

Anonymous
  • 5th May 2014 03:05pm

Twitter is good to use, unlike Facebook it has a minimum of how many characters you can have and in doing so means a lot less problems. Plus its a great way to keep in up too date with everything going on in the world and can be interesting.

Anonymous
  • 29th Apr 2014 01:18pm

I don't actually have a twitter account but I follow my 3 children on twitter. I like the immediacy of twitter and the brevity!

ANIXDUTJ
  • 24th Apr 2014 10:55pm

Twitter is good to share your thoughts.