To tweet or not to tweet. A call to Twitterers.

[Ted Eschliman]

MySpace, Facebook, JazzMando, and the Café, it's not like I'm in lack of social cyber contact or comraderie, but I can see the merits in using Twitter if approached with some degree of focused philosophy. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seams you can get around the herd mentality of being one of Ashton Kutcher's "1,000,000" or pedantic trivia like your cousin's breakfast choice, and really use this as a communication tool.

I'm trying to consciously avoid the "personality" aspect as I just started an account last night. My goal is daily "tweets" of FFcP tips. I think the 140 character limit is judicious and will be one more way of getting to the fingertips of the mandolin community. I'm curious what other Twitterers use this for, though. Play, Pay, or Time-wasting?

Oh, my Twitter account is in my signature, if anyone is interested.

[mdlorenz]

personally I don't get it.

I just had lunch, should I twitter "this cheeseburger really ain't sitting too good, back in 20"?

I don't use it... personally I'll go out & get information when I need it... I don't need information being pushed to me.

[NuGrass]

When Twitter first came out, I thought it was the dumbest idea ever. Then I signed up for it to see for myself. I eventually enjoyed following musicians and keeping up with them, they post alot of neat pictures too on TwitPic.

I was beyond skeptical at first and joked with my friends and always said if I would join twitter...I would say things like, "I think I've got to use the bathrooom"...."Yeah I've got to"..."Now Im Using the bathroom"...crud Im out of toilet paper"...and so on just to prove how stupid it is. But I do enjoy it!

[EggyToast]

Twitter is fine if you're looking for info that's simply being disemminated. I know some people who are really into it because they've hunted down some people who have similar interests, so they see links and comments about those subjects.

Thing is, I don't really care for hearing stuff 'as it happens.' I figure that in most situations, any tweets that are worthwhile will be incorporated into a better, longer, and more developed (and researched) post on a blog or forum that is significantly easier to locate, as it's static and searchable.

Plenty of people use it simply for entertainment or to keep up with their friends. None of that is wrong, of course, and many people DO want to hear what their friends are having for dinner or planning for the weekend. I used it for a short while, but noticed that all of the people who started following me were actually businesses spamming through twitter. They'd search for anything related to music and add them, hoping people would add them back so you could see Musician's Friends sales and deals.

So I realized that rather than spending a lot of time tracking down people who I normally talk with on forums and in real life, I'd say to myself "I think I'm actually just bored now... time to practice!"

[Chris Biorkman]

Facebook is enough for me. I'm already on there way too much. I don't really get the appeal of Twitter either. My wife loves it.

[mcH]

>>Use FFcP but start them on the 5-8th frets to acclimate. That stretch is a bugger!<<

Ted's twit is so cryptic, I don't even know what he's talking about. What's an FFcP?

[Chris Biorkman]

First finger closed position. Check the Jazzmando website for details.

[sgarrity]

I can barely keep up with email, the 'cafe, the Harley forum, and Facebook!! Are our lives turning virtual or what??

[Douglas McMullin]

I tried Facebook once and didn't care for it. I think I get too much computer time as it is, so I will skip Twitter for now.

[acousticnotes]

Just too much info for me. I'm just getting used to ATM's and cell phones!

Joe

[Santiago]

I used to think Twitter was rediculous but now I love it. Yeah, you can use it for banal chitchat like, my cheeseburger's underdone, but I find it best when you are followig experts in a field, like an academic field, and discussing live news in real-time about it. For my job, I'm into news media criticism and I teach corporate communications, so I follow all the hot media critics, and I comment when I have something to say, and when I'm at a conference, and people are discussing the proceedings. In fact, it's BEST when you're not at a conference you wanted to attend and people are sending live play-by-play minutes from ALL of the sesions. You search for the #tagline for the conference and you can see the full discussion live. Or, if you're at the conference but really wanted to see two concurrent sessions. Or, if you're driving into a new town and you want to know where the good food is hiding. You tweet and people seem to know pretty quickly.

[Santiago]

I bet there's a plug in that lets you tweet with AUDIO from a mandofest.

[Mattg]

My boss can't walk 10 paces to come talk to me and instead uses IM. Tried Facebook for a bit and found it negative and distracting. I would rather talk and listen than type and read. I killed my Facebook account in favor of spending more time playing with and meeting with actual real people face to face.

I don't have much to offer others but someone like Ted E does so maybe stuff like FB and Twit is a good idea.

[pager]

Don't say "Twitter". The entire concept of Twitter makes this girl go all sparky. ERRRR.

[JeffD]

I can see that in some cases Twitter would make sense, but not for the kinds of things I am interested in.

[Jim MacDaniel]

I am not a Luddite nor troglodyte by any means, and am often an early adopter of computing and communication technologies. However, I draw the line at instant messaging, texting, social networking sites, and tweeting, as I already have enough distractions in my workday and personal life without adding these to the mix.

But were I tempted to receive tweets of any sort, it would be an application as you propose Ted, or the professional conference examples from Santiago.

[Ransome]

Followed ya

[Amandalyn]

Ted, I like the idea of daily/ weekly info on FFcp, but would rather have an email- or "newsletter type email" format with the info.
Like many here I don't do texting or Twitter on a cell phone, but why I don't know did sign up for a Twitter acct.

Actually - I thought about starting a network called " Critter"- follow your pets around...

[billkilpatrick]

not for me either ... i can't speak for others but at any given time i probably correspond with about 7 or 8 people, via the facilities provided here at the cafe. people come and go but the number stays about the same. my father wrote me a while back asking why he never hears from me. i told him i've got three things on my mind, of late: money, death and mandolins - tick any of the above and i will gush. talking with 7 or 8 additional people about money and death probably wouldn't be of much good to any of us ... but we could call it "fretter."

i know what i've got to do with ffcp - all i've got to do is just do it.

[OldSausage]

You have to use it for what it does well, and only if you want it. It's not intended to fit in with every lifestyle.

Like, for example, if you just made or found a blog post you wanted to call attention to, you could tweet about it. If you have a posse, you can tweet your location or plans for later to them.

Obviously if you do not HAS a posse, this will not be of much help to youse.

The point is, if you have stuff it would be useful to tweet, tweet it. If not, they won't shed any tears over your absence.

I don't think anyone's realistically going to be rushing to their iPhone hoping for tweets about FFcP, but I've been wrong about stuff like that before.

As Stephen Colbert once said: "I have twatted".

[El Greco]

Hi Ted,

Thanks for opening that up for discussion

I'd go for it. Could couple that nicely with http://blip.fm and add some audio pizzaz.

[Ted Eschliman]

Ted, I like the idea of daily/ weekly info on FFcp, but would rather have an email- or "newsletter type email" format with the info.

Good point Terri. The cyber highway is as diverse as the people who travel it. I have an RSS feed of news articles updated every two days (at JazzMando.com), a "Tips and Tricks" series updated every week, and two user support groups (Cafe group, and a Facebook Group). What's amazing is there is not necessarily much cross chatter within those, each membership seems to gravitate toward one (maybe two) of the formats. Each serves a different kind of attention span, thirst for detail, and ability to reciprocate input. Twitter is different from all of these in that you are limited to 140 characters with each entry. That means information "bursts" or tidbits, but it also affords drawing attention to something outside Twitter for more detail; for example, one my entries was a link to where you can get the whole FFcP index.

Different strokes for different folks. Like I said when I started, I'm not much for the tabloid personality/celebrity consumption. I just want to give (and exchange) a quick tip or scoop. I'm encouraged I might accomplish this within the Twitter format.

[mandopete]

If one uses Twitter does that make you a "Twit" ?

[foldedpath]

If one uses Twitter does that make you a "Twit" ?

John Cleese has a word for it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhH8Btba8Hc

I'm an old geezer who was a very early adopter of 'Net tech (who here knows what "Gopher" means?) and I made a living in that area for a while, but I don't Twitter. I don't know if it's the age thing, or what. I've learned to dip my toe into the enormous stream of info online at my own, comfortable pace. Twitter doesn't fit that style.

OTOH, that's just me, and I think it's a great idea for someone like Ted who has a wealth of information to share, and can find separate audiences this way. Like it or not, it is a fractured audience now, and will stay that way for the forseeable future.... until we get those cranial implants that wire us directly to the Hive Overmind.

[Hastyman]

I'm a pretty avid cyclist and ride with a group of about 15 or so people on a semi regular basis. We started using it as a means of getting together.

Before twitter it was either 30 phone calls, or 30 e-mails trying to get organized. Now it's more like: "Hey, I'm off work early and wanted to ride. Will be at X at such and such time... Who's in?" We all get the text at the same time on our phones and know who all can show up right then. Plus we can respond by phone text as well. Not all my cohorts have smart phones with e-mail updates, but the can all text.

There is something to be said for massive direct communication with a small to medium size group.

As far as what Ashton had for breakfast? I'm really not interested. I only follow my group of friends for my needs.