Friday, December 26, 2008

what's up with the tweets?

Many of you have been asking why my status updates on Facebook always begin with the "tweets:" prefix. It's because I've linked my Facebook status to my Twitter account.

Twitter is a way to keep your friends/followers updated on whatever is happening in your life. You can also use it to share articles, videos, photos, etc. that you think are relevant or interesting to your following. It's a difficult concept to sell, because most people simply retort with the point that you can do all of this and more on Facebook.

All I can say is that Twitter is something you have to try and use for a while to understand. Each post is limited to 140 characters, which means your updates must be concise, succinct, and worth the effort. Believe it or not, this cultivates an entirely different community from that found on Facebook or other social networking sites. Since Twitter is really nothing more than a simple feed (with a few advanced commands like replies and private tweets), the technology can be implemented in a variety of ways and on numerous devices (both stationary and portable). It's perfect for iPhone/smartphone users who want a quick way to keep people updated and get updates from other people. It also means I can link my Facebook status to my Twitter updates via a Facebook app called Tweeter.

For those of you who want to give this service a try, you can visit Twitter.com to set up an account, then visit twitter.com/hijohnmark to follow me! Twitter is becoming increasingly pervasive socially and even corporately. There are quite a few City Church staffers who use the service (including my dad), and City Church even has its own feed to keep followers updated on the latest church happenings. Need more incentive to join? You can even follow updates from well-known celebrities and politicians like MC Hammer, Lance Armstrong, Kanye West, and Barack Obama. Happy tweeting!