"I wouldn't know a twitter from a tweeter but apparently it is very important"

[jefferson_dem]

- Secretary Hillary Clinton

http://twitter.com/anncurry

[incapsulated]

1. She's wrong. It isn't n/t

[jefferson_dem]

5. Tell that to the Iranian protesters...

Or those who now know of their story - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x325830

[incapsulated]

12. No, I won't for the one group that is using it for something other

Than updates on the status of their cats.

[Critters2]

22. That's what I use facebook for.

You think Twitter makes a better cat updating device, huh? I'll have to check it out. :)

[camera obscura]

27. People use this message board to update about the status of their cats too

obviously it's not worth your time ;)

[Vidar]

33. Been to the Lounge have you?

[GodlessBiker]

2. My parents still don't use ATM cards. They have no idea how they work. It happens.

[incapsulated]

3. Don't really consider the latest facebook/twitter/twatter/plurk

Rubbish on the same level as an atm card.

[sandnsea]

7. An ATM card is rubbish? n/t

[incapsulated]

8. I believe I said the opposite. n/t

[sandnsea]

15. Ah, okay

Although I'll say it again, they're absolutely no different than DU.

[GodlessBiker]

9. That's what they said about cashing checks when ATM cards were brand new. Change happens.

[incapsulated]

10. New?

MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Tweet, Plurk...

Glorified blogs/chatrooms.

[dbonds]

16. I'm with you, they are all vanity tech.

But they are the fad of the moment. You are already starting to see people with twitter-update overload though, so I don't think it will last as a fad. It will fall to the wayside with all the other tech-fads that have come and gone.

[GodlessBiker]

17. These technologies are being used to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people in Iran.

For those who use them, they can be very powerful technologies.

[dbonds]

18. I realize their use has been co-opted for a good purpose for the moment.

But situations such as these are very rare, and really this is nothing that could not have been done with a blog or forum if they has set the routers up for that.

[GodlessBiker]

19. Not very rare at all. For those who need to mobilize people for even small "gatherings,"...

they are invaluable. Anyway. History will decide whether these technologies will have more lasting value than they already have or if they end up spawning other technologies which do.

[dipsydoodle]

20. But they remain the minority

the majority , Iran's working class who live below the poverty line, probably cannot afford the necessary gismos.

[democraticinsurgent]

21. sorry, you are wrong on this

Twitter is a lot more than glorified facebook status. Unfortunately, that's what everyone who doesn't use it thinks it is.

It's a great tool to connect people and ideas in real time. You may, or may not, want to use it. But saying it's useless is like saying radio or television is useless because you like books.

[dbonds]

23. Help enlighten me.

What can you do on twitter that you couldn't do with a forum post right here in DU, except be limited to 140 chars per post. DU has a search engine just like twitter, except you can search by word combination, not just one keyword. People have to know about you to find you or you have to post something with one of the top search words to get noticed and attract followers. I just don't see it as anything other than a highly marketed sms in a public searchable database. Where am I missing it?

[democraticinsurgent]

24. so many reasons for Twitter

it's a way to build a community or connect with one, not unlike DU. It's just a different platform and more in real time than a bbs or forum.

i don't think it's the world's salvation, though it has come in handy in Iran.

I personally use it to connect with like-minded people in my area, learn from others' ideas and share my own. it's been very useful in combination with other websites and face to face networking as I build a new business.

it's also been a fun way to meet new people.

It is a waste of time if all you do is report your latest location or your current meal. Rather, an intelligent way to use it is to promote interesting news, blogs, websites, or other information, including your own thoughts.

There are some pretty amazing uses that people are coming up with for twitter, such as sensors that send you a message when your plants need watering. The possibilities for this simple technology are endless.

I am just really tired of people bashing Twitter because it's fashionable to do so. People bash every new technology mostly because they don't understand it.

[dbonds]

25. I didn't know it was fashionable to bash twitter, I wasn't trying to be fashionable.

I have played with it and didn't find anything I couldn't do in another method, but I did see it heavily marketed - so I assumed that was the appeal. Of those things you mentioned the only one I see somewhat unique is in advertising blog posts or sites, where it is used as a new channel.

So let me try to get some more specifics because I really would like to understand why people find it useful (I'm am very much about progressing technologies, that is my job). How do you meet and connect to people that you wouldn't through email/blog/forums/or facebook? It seems most of the conversations between people are done in public, is there a way to make that private. The times I tried it out it was a very low signal to noise ratio on searching for subjects.

So for example on the app that you mentioned. I could have computer sms me, or email me, or instant message me on the same condition of my flowers, I just don't see what is unique about that.

[question everything]

29. For a start, you need followers.

You cannot just twit into a vacuum, you need followers to feel oh so important.

I feel sorry for the ones constantly on their cell phones, chatting, texting, sexting, or with facebooks and twitter. People who are afraid of the silence, afraid to be alone with their thoughts, afraid to be alone in the world with no one to chat or to twit such important things like: oh, I really need to take a shit right now.

OK, done, barely had enough toilet paper

and so it goes, in 140 clicks or less.

[PVnRT]

31. You can't access most web pages on a mobile phone

Twitter was made specifically to work with mobile phones.

[sandnsea]

4. She knows Youtube and texting

or at least somebody in IT does. They've implemented a number of great tools and I think use them in a more intellectually respectful way than the White House.

http://www.obama-mamas.com/foreign-affairs.html

[jefferson_dem]

11. Indeed.

To be clear, I was not intending this OP to be a snark at the Secretary. On the contrary. It made me giggle...because I can totally hear this coming out of her mouth. I heart Hillary.

[sandnsea]

13. Oh I know, it was funny

I'm not surprised that State is trying to keep up considering how much they have implemented already. It's kind of peculiar that more of her supporters don't post her texts, Youtubes, etc.

[Beacool]

14. She texts all the time.

Chelsea taught her. I think that she was just joking.

:D

[Forkboy]

6. Good on her.

Though not knowing what a tweeter is frightens me a bit as a music junkie. ;)

[JuniperLea]

26. Woofers and Tweeters...

I hope they haven't gone the way of the turntable!

[Forkboy]

30. Vinyl sales are actually up the last few years.

Now that they have USB turntables people are rediscovering albums. Personally, I don't care what medium the music gets delivered by as long as it reaches my grubby paws. :)

[JuniperLea]

34. My daughter has discovered vinyl...

And my old vinyl stash. And places like Amoeba Records... she's on a Janis jag... Joan Baez too.

[Beacool]

32. I confess I went and looked it up.

Tweeter: small loudspeaker designed to reproduce high-pitched sounds in a high-fidelity audio system.

Woofer: a loudspeaker usually larger than a tweeter, responsive only to the lower acoustic frequencies, and used for reproducing sounds of low pitch.

:-)

[Clio the Leo]

28. To her credit....

... Twitter only REALLY became cool five days ago ..... it went from being a tool for the vain to a tool for the oppressed overnight.

[Bucky]

35. Thank you, Madam Secretary! Truly, u r no NAIL!! U r hamer.