twitter and privacy
I've been watching twitter blow up over the past couple of months. Some smart things are being written about it already. And I just got my first email from someone who wonders why I'm not already twittering.
I’m the sort of person who doesn’t leave my cell phone on because I don’t want to be easily reachable. (Well, that’s slightly less true since we jettisoned the land line.) I never remember to sign on to IM, even though I understand the value of presence, and I can’t bring myself to make sign-on automatic. So it follows that no, I don’t want to provide the world with multiple soundbites about my life each day. I really can’t imagine what I would say.
This stance bothers me a bit, because it seems strange for someone who hasn’t minded blogging the past four years of her life and who dumps almost all of her photos into flickr. But in those spaces, it feels less like the world looking over my shoulder and more like a book that I’m making.
The only time I can see myself using it is when I’m traveling and don’t have the time to regularly blog. I was intrigued by the way Maggie Mason used it (and flickr) to keep the masses updated during her labor. The idea of twitter fiction has a lot of possibilities, and no doubt people will find business applications for it. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops in the next few months.
Comments
I think you are right about twitter and fiction -- it's probably a matter of time before somebody mashes up twitter and ficlets. And there are twitterers like Darth Vader.
For business purposes, I can see how it will be good for time management/time tracking. I'd love to see a really talented project manager embrace it. I work remotely most of the time, so it could mean certain "presence" benefits if more of my coworkers start using it. (I really want to combine twitter and one of those ambient bunnies -- my blog post about it behind the firewall was titled "I want my bunny to twitter").
I get why someone wouldn't want to use it, and how it might seem like an invasion of privacy. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that I'm so into it. I don't quite get it, I just know there is something there for me to get.
Posted by: jspad | March 14, 2007 7:43 PM
I'm surprised you're into it, too -- after all, you are the sole proprietor of Hermit Labs!
I hadn't thought about the possibilities for a team who are all working remotely. But what does it give that Im doesn't? It lets you make observations without others feeling obligated to reply, so that's helpful to an extent. What else?
Posted by: Krista | March 15, 2007 2:06 PM
Heh. I am pretty social, for a hermit.
Most folks aren't using IM apps that archive chat, so you can lose good ideas when you close the window if you aren't careful. Twitter gets around that, and even better it makes the archive accessible from any web browser. Web Worker Daily has a post on professional uses for twitter -- but really I think we're still in the figuring out uses cases phases. I suppose it is a solution in search of a problem, but I have a hunch it will solve problems for me.
Posted by: jspad | March 16, 2007 7:41 PM