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I look forward to the time when there is one central place where all conversation takes place, but considering the constantly changing and adapting web universe, chances are good we'll never see that day, as there will always be something new to try.
After reading this, I might just try those other ones though.
I look forward to the time when there is one central place where all conversation takes place, but considering the constantly changing and adapting web universe, chances are good we'll never see that day, as there will always be something new to try.
After reading this, I might just try those other ones though.
Great post and I have to agree that Twitter has its shortcomings when it comes to conversation (and not to mention its outages) since yep, you're right, it isn't really designed for that purpose. It was designed to be a "What are you doing" tool, which is what I use it for mostly.
There are great alternatives out there and many for that matter with even better features than Twitter. But to get people to change to use one of these alternatives as their main online presence tool is difficult. I am sure that people who have a huge influence and online presence like Jason Calacanis and Leo Laporte will have some influence to affect change since they have a huge number of followers, but in the end, I personally, don't want to monitor ANOTHER presence tool and I doubt that current Twitter'ers will change to another tool in one foul swoop very easily.
Pity though, you've tried most of them and there are other tools that are far superior then Twitter.
Great post and I have to agree that Twitter has its shortcomings when it comes to conversation (and not to mention its outages) since yep, you're right, it isn't really designed for that purpose. It was designed to be a "What are you doing" tool, which is what I use it for mostly.
There are great alternatives out there and many for that matter with even better features than Twitter. But to get people to change to use one of these alternatives as their main online presence tool is difficult. I am sure that people who have a huge influence and online presence like Jason Calacanis and Leo Laporte will have some influence to affect change since they have a huge number of followers, but in the end, I personally, don't want to monitor ANOTHER presence tool and I doubt that current Twitter'ers will change to another tool in one foul swoop very easily.
Pity though, you've tried most of them and there are other tools that are far superior then Twitter.
The BIG problem is I think a technical one ... and many users simply don't understand just how much traffic Twitter is generating as it grows, and connections grow with it. Check out http://twitter.scripting.com/spewage.html ... which gives a graphic illustration of the problem.
ALL Twitter alternatives are going to have this problem, if the application is about getting ALL of your messages to ALL of your contacts/friends. Even Google struggles with this. Don't believe me ... check out http://www.splitbrain.org/projects/gbrain ... this Firefox addon was creating Twitter-like traffic problems, which impacted on Google's own services.
Bottom line ... communication tools might come and go ... but REAL conversation still remains 1 on 1 ... if its '1 to many' it isn't really about conversation, is it! Is it?
The BIG problem is I think a technical one ... and many users simply don't understand just how much traffic Twitter is generating as it grows, and connections grow with it. Check out http://twitter.scripting.com/spewage.html ... which gives a graphic illustration of the problem.
ALL Twitter alternatives are going to have this problem, if the application is about getting ALL of your messages to ALL of your contacts/friends. Even Google struggles with this. Don't believe me ... check out http://www.splitbrain.org/projects/gbrain ... this Firefox addon was creating Twitter-like traffic problems, which impacted on Google's own services.
Bottom line ... communication tools might come and go ... but REAL conversation still remains 1 on 1 ... if its '1 to many' it isn't really about conversation, is it! Is it?
I don't buy the argument that people don't want to monitor yet another service or that everyone is using Twitter so why change? Twitter wasn't always around and probably won't always be around. People will move to a new service. Granted it is a fantastic service and provides a simple way to publish short posts and even engage each other in unthreaded and difficult to track conversations but Jaiku was there first and FriendFeed and Pulse can do pretty much the same thing. Given the incentive Twhirl would support Pulse too.
Anyway, this rant is probably more akin to me shouting into a strong wind. It isn't going to change the wind's direction and nobody will really hear me anyway. Just thought I'd get it out there anyway. At some point in the future the trend will shift away from Twitter. It is the way Web services work. It is just a question of when and where it all goes.
Or perhaps secretly, in their heart of hearts, people would rather yell about themselves in a crowded room than really listen to what anyone else is saying? ;)
Or perhaps secretly, in their heart of hearts, people would rather yell about themselves in a crowded room than really listen to what anyone else is saying? ;)