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Wednesday conversation: Twitter
Are you on Twitter? What does it do for you?
I'm a fan of Facebook, but although I've been tweeting for almost two years (robinabrahams), I still don't feel as though I really get the strength of the technology. Facebook has a more pleasant graphic interface, and allows for more in-depth, back-and-forth debates or riffing. You can't really converse on Twitter.
Mostly, I use Twitter to follow celebrities and writers whom I like (Andy Borowitz is worth a couple of good cackles a day), and to keep in touch with my readers, since I don't use my Facebook fan page much. I mostly post links to stories on topics that I figure my readers are interested in -- social behavior, psychology, style, pop culture, cooking, and so on -- retweet the witticisms of others, and post the occasional micro-anecdote that isn't quite worth a post on my personal blog. I'm not sure I'd use it at all if I weren't a writer.
As far as I can tell, Twitter excels at the following:
1. Allowing public figures to interact with their audiences in an immediate fashion. And may I say, Rainn Wilson and Mindy Kaling of "The Office" are great tweeters.
2. Following discrete events. I've been at conferences that have been live-tweeted, which is terrific: it's like having a constantly-updated bulletin board right there in your hand. Whose talk is turning out to be controversial, which lounge has fresh coffee, who is looking for a ride to the airport, etc. And of course Twitter has changed the nature of newsgathering for major global events, like the uprisings in the Mideast.
Those are two good uses, but not really enough to make Twitter a part of my life, I don't think. What's your take on it?
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About Miss Conduct
Welcome to Miss Conduct’s blog, a place where the popular Boston Globe Magazine columnist Robin Abrahams and her readers share etiquette tips, unravel social conundrums, and gossip about social behavior in pop culture and the news. Have a question of your own? Ask Robin using this form or by emailing her at missconduct@globe.com.
Welcome to Miss Conduct’s blog, a place where the popular Boston Globe Magazine columnist Robin Abrahams and her readers share etiquette tips, unravel social conundrums, and gossip about social behavior in pop culture and the news. Have a question of your own? Ask Robin using this form or by emailing her at missconduct@globe.com.
contributor
Robin Abrahamswrites the weekly "Miss Conduct" column for The Boston Globe Magazine and is the author of Miss Conduct's Mind over Manners. Robin has a PhD in psychology from Boston University and also works as a research associate at Harvard Business School. Her column is informed by her experience as a theater publicist, organizational-change communications manager, editor, stand-up comedian, and professor of psychology and English. She lives in Cambridge with her husband Marc Abrahams, the founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, and their socially challenged but charismatic dog, Milo.
Who is Miss Conduct?
Robin Abrahamswrites the weekly "Miss Conduct" column for The Boston Globe Magazine and is the author of Miss Conduct's Mind over Manners. Robin has a PhD in psychology from Boston University and also works as a research associate at Harvard Business School. Her column is informed by her experience as a theater publicist, organizational-change communications manager, editor, stand-up comedian, and professor of psychology and English. She lives in Cambridge with her husband Marc Abrahams, the founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, and their socially challenged but charismatic dog, Milo.
