On #givingitanothergo

In the past, my experiences and impressions with Twitter have been low, to say the least. I guess Twitter's first impression doesn't appeal to me - it's too fast-paced and ADD for my taste. Also, paying attention to trending topics make me wonder if there is hope for humanity - often the keywords and hashtags people use are so stupid, ignorant or pointless that I can't help wondering what the hing is wrong with people. Finally, I saw the best and worst of Twitter during the recent crisis in Japan when it was an instant source for new developments, but it was an equally unreliable source - people seem to care less about whether what they retweet is true or even likely than if it will put them on top of other people's searches.

However, I still like the concept. Twitter is a very informal arena for connecting with people with similar interests to you. I feel it is far less committing to follow someone on Twitter than it is to friend someone on Facebook. Plus, the likelihood of finding kindred spirits randomly is far larger on Twitter, as Facebook is primarily based on connecting with people you already are in contact with. On Twitter, on the other hand, you can make a new friend because you both happened to tweet the word "shaddock" that day.

Thus, I decided a while ago that I wanted to give it another go. I created an account, wrote down a few essentials, uploaded a photo to my profile, and was set to go. Following was easy - I clicked on the "usual suspects" - Stephen Fry, Obama, Neil Gaiman, HuffPost and so on - plus the majority of the Norwegian "cultural elite" (and if there ever was a doubt that the cultural elite hangs out on Twitter: I've recently been followed by Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. So there). Then I hesitated. It was easy adding these far-away, random people, but what about people I'm already connected to through blogging or Facebook or whatnot? They already have an impression of me - and now I was about to contribute to this by connecting on yet another arena, one I wasn't all that comfortable about.

I waited. Tweeted my first tweet. Felt like a twat. Couldn't keep up the pace, and I didn't even want to. I don't have enough opinions for Twitter, it seems. Or perhaps I'm more of a bird-watcher (listener?) than a tweeter? A couple of times I tweeted a shout-out about my blog, earned a few hits, but nothing big. Not that I expected that - I wasn't really connected to anyone yet. Well, a few. I had a few random followers of the "I'll follow anything to earn followers myself"-variety; perhaps one or two who genuinely were curious of what I might tweet (which so far have been nada); and then those whose policy it is to follow back anyone who follows them. One in particular cheered me up:

Still, given Sheldon's poor social skills I probably shouldn't rely on him alone. So I eventually started following some actual friends, who in turn followed me. I have briefly started connecting with new people. I will eventually learn the whole hashtag/retweet/mention thing. It's not all that complicated, but I am also not all that motivated.

If you're a Twitter-enthusiast, I urge you to show me what's so great about it. As of now, I'm still a skeptic. But at least I'm a skeptic with a Twitter account. As shown in one of my very first twitversations (I'm just making up words now - I've no idea if that's what they're called...):

HartJohnson: @Stacy_Gail_ @CruellaCollett is NOW in da house...

CruellaCollett: @HartJohnson In da house 'cause I got tired of peeking through the window... But I haven't taken my coat off yet!

(And just to be incredibly clear: I'm CruellaCollett, and if you follow me on Twitter I've learned that it is proper twittiquette to follow back...)