@tomhollander just doesn’t get it
I tried. I really did. For five months I’ve chronicled my daily thoughts and activities for all to see. But despite my efforts, this really only confirmed what I suspected right from the start: that Twitter is really pretty pointless.
Now before you all flame me, I realise that some people do get a lot of value out of Twitter. I’m just not one of them. When I first dipped my toes in the water it became clear that Twitter suffers from a typical “chicken and egg” problem – it’s no fun if you don’t have anyone following you, and it’s hard to get people to follow you when it’s no fun. But I stuck at it, eavesdropping on the veterans and occasionally replying when something interesting came up. Over time this approach has brought me a few followers and the odd interesting conversation – but not enough to justify the investment it’s taken to get this far.
Looking at the people who sing Twitter’s praises, I think I know why. These people get value because they have thousands of followers. And they get thousands of followers by tweeting all the time. I’ve got no problem with people doing this, but frankly I’ve got other things to do (and besides, while I am geeky, I’m not that geeky :-).
I’m curious about the much-discussed surge in Twitter usage over the past year – how many people are really finding it valuable, and how many are, like me, giving it a go but yet to find the point. In any event I’m not throwing in the towel just yet – I’ll keep an eye out on what’s happening and may even contribute the odd tweet. But from now on, it’s up to Twitter to prove its worth to me – I’m done with trying to prove my worth to it.
So for at least a little bit longer, @tomhollander is happy to continue the conversation, just as long as interesting and not too much hard work.
