Twitter seems to me the biggest time sink since MMORPGs . . . with about the same amount of potential financial return per hour (about 40 cents).
Other than potentially spamming twitter through approved sites and then redirected links, I really don’t see myself ever using it. Log Spam? I guess it could be useful, but as far as using twitter as it was intended, it seems about as useful as facebook status updates, or about as useless as tits on a bull.
If I twittered, you could know instantly that I’m in a starbucks in Miami!
Or that I won / lost money on craps all week!
Or that I had dinner at X restaurants, and ate the Lobster!
All shit that you, frankly, shouldn’t give a shit about.
Twitter is the Internet Geeks solution to reality TV. If you’re not getting enough of your voyeur fix from Big Brother, twitter can fill that void. You instantly find out what any Webleb® (web celebrity) is doing, so long as they twittered it.
But seriously, why do you care?
Shouldn’t you be out there hustling and making money? Building websites, Getting links, and converting traffic?
When I wrote Do it Fucking Now, the IT was most definitely NOT twittering.
Disagree? Think twitter is something more than a pathetic waste of time?
Go ahead then - tell me why I’m wrong.
6 Responses to “If I Twittered . . .”
I signed up for Twitter about a year ago but just started using it recently. I can see how it’s pretty lame the way some people use it - I agree with you about not giving a shit what store someone’s currently shopping at or what someone did in the subsequent two hours before they “tweeted.” Oh and the social whores promoting their who knows whos on there really gets to me as well. But on the other hand, what quityourdayjob said about communicating with potential clients/customers makes sense (except for the bit about using desktop clients…makes no difference at all - a good/free one is Digsby). For example, if a new post goes up on my blog, I’ll “tweet” about and get some extra (good) traffic to it (I don’t have to following you do on your blog Quads so I’ll take what I can get lol). Also, let’s say you have a couple thousand legitimate “followers” on your Twitter account and want to promote a new product you’re selling. Well, you’ve got an extra couple thousand potential customers ready to read 120 something characters of promotional verbiage. Not bad for being free. As far as blackhat seo, what’s the harm in having an extra hundred social accounts to play with. 
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[…] While I mostly agree with SEOBlackhat, Twitter is not completely useless. There are plenty of business models that should engage the service and it definitely plugs into the broader Internet audience strategies of most businesses (yes, I said most businesses). But it’s like Instant Messaging and nobody “got into the IM game” to make money directly. Actually, that’s not true… […]
There are always people that will find value in things like Twitter, they are called twats, right?
I have heard of a virtual team working and using Twitter for keeping in touch when a question came up for the group a twat would send a tweet and hope from an answer. Personally, I’ve done that with email for years, but why listen to me.
I have heard that there is an advertising plan, sending what are essentially spam-tweets to twats. Have at it, not for me.
I signed up to see if I could generate traffic. I did. Test over. Account closed.
Oh geez I should have mentioned this article. Check out the last section (”Twitter rate usage”)…or don’t and just make sure your scripts send less than 70 requests per hour.
LOL, fully agree… plus this was the funniest post since the original DIFN post… cudos man!
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I’ll go ahead and be the first to disagree
First, let me start by saying DIFN was, and still is my favorite post here at SEO Blackhat. You summed up a 500 page time management book in just a few paragraphs.
Now on to Twitter… I have found it to be an invaluable communication tool. I’ve used it to synthesize my own brand, and develop 1:1 relationships with customers, colleagues and friends.
The problem with Twitter, instant messaging, and e-mail for that matter, is that people don’t manage it right. Instead of setting aside specific times of the day to check it - they let it dictate their day. I only login to Twitter at designated times, or when I’m waiting in line somewhere.
One of the worst things you can do is get a desktop Twitter client that integrates with IM, or turning on mobile alerts. At this point Twitter owns you.
I only use the web client. I find that allows me to Twitter on my own terms. That way I reap all the benefits, but don’t let it become a time suck.