More Twittering

I went through the typical Twitter experience. I tried it, sent a few messages, connected with a few friends, and then turned it off on my phone as I was getting killed with text messages.

I think the best way for me to use Twitter is text my updates in and use the web to display them to all of you. I’ve put a twitter badge on my right sidebar and have set up the system to nudge me for an update once a day.

I realize that updating once a day sort of defeats the instant gratification aspects of the system. Maybe I am just too old to communicate that way. Or maybe if I start doing it once a day, then I’ll gradually start doing it more often.

I was sitting with Jason Calacanis the other day in his office and he posted to Twitter that we were having coffee. I would not have thought to do that. Maybe in time I will.

But regardless of how I use Twitter, I do see a lot of benefits of a communication system like this. Dave Winer has written thoughtfully about what Twitter might turn into over time. And this Technology Review piece suggests that developers are already building on top of the Twitter API:

But at least a few independent Web developers are still enamored with
Twitter, and they’re using the programming interfaces provided by
Obvious to build mashups that give messages more context.

I think there’s a lot of merit to the idea that Twitter can be a part of the Internet infrastructure like Google Maps or FeedBurner. And so I intend to keep trying to use it.