You’re probably not wondering why I’ve not been blogging much lately. I only have a three-person readership after all. Well, part of the answer lies in the fact that I’ve started messing around with Twitter. Now, I did used to lay into Twitter somewhat. In a post which I penned back on the May 4th 2009, I made the point that Twitter doesn’t really do anything which a Facebook status update or a blog post don’t seem to do equally well.

Like I said:

Anybody can write a blog, to which anyone can subscribe. Anyone can have a Facebook page, on which anyone can view your status. Both of these options allow you the brevity of a tweet, and a blog even allows you to elaborate. It is easy to follow someone’s blog or Facebook status à la Twitter. Why, then, is Twitter so popular? I’m genuinely curious.

Broadly speaking, I still agree. (And yes, I did quote myself just then). But then again, I was missing a key point. I’m rather enjoying it precisely because that is all it does. You can simply put a small thought out there, limited to 140 characters. It’s vastly unlikely to be revolutionary, and is probably going to be banal. People don’t have to read it though. It’s just fun to do.

Of course, Twitter offers more functionality if you choose it. You can serve up other’s tweets yourself, via a ‘retweet’, and you can reply to people’s tweets and mention them in your own. You can also tag your tweet with keywords. But, you can just ignore that and limit your usage to outputting minor thoughts and following others’. The only thing which remains to be seen is whether I myself survive the other key point I mentioned in that previous blog post. Namely, the many reports that new Twitter users don’t use Twitter for long. Time will tell…

Incidentally, you can follow me on Twitter on www.twitter.com/ollyfayers or search my username, @ollyfayers. My most recent tweets are also currently appearing on this website’s sidebar. Toodlepip.

Is there much difference me writing this and publishing it as a blog than as a tweet or a Facebook status update? Not really methinks. I still wonder what Twitter’s actually about.

Lately, I’ve noticed a few media institutions calling for you to avert boredom in the workplace by following their content on Facebook or Twitter. Sky Sports were doing this during the Ashes, and the magazine section of the BBC site is currently doing this. Bless their naivety! No employers are kind enough to let their workers within 50 feet of a computer that is able to access Facebook any more. Surely they know this! It’s a fair point – you shouldn’t be on Facebook during office hours, but I’m surprised people still think you can go on it in an office.