Monday, June 2, 2014

If Twitter is fading, what's next? (The Atlantic article)


"Eulogy for Twitter" article referenced by Nick Land.  Some readers said I should post a direct link.  Ok, will do.

See HERE.

I see where the article compares Twitter to a new comments section.  Sure, I can see that.  Otherwise, I always found it to be the modern form of public instant messaging.  AOL Instant Messenger for the 21st century.  Buddies have become Followers, that's all.

The article doesn't say this, but when it comes to describing Twitter - the whole "friends meeting by the water cooler" bit doesn't seem like a good comparison to me, due to the fact that the whole office can hear you.

The "cocktail party" comparison doesn't seem to work either, because of the large noise to low signal ratio. It's just too noisy and very little actually sticks or gets through save for celebrity demagogues.

According to Pew (HERE), seniors (age 65+) are jumping on social media at increasing rates (mostly Facebook, though; not Twitter) while younger folks (18+) are leaving social media altogether.

I'm in the lower-middle of that age range, so where doe that put me?