Minimalist Geek

The short answer is no but let me explain why. If you need more proof that the internet technology industry is going through yet another bubble phase, look no further than twitter. Twitter is yet more air pumped into the bubble that is the current internet industry. Pushing more air into an over inflated bubble can only lead to one big fast burst.

My first reactions when I heard about twitter and what it is all about were what’s the point. Why invent yet another medium which facilitates yet more nonsense being written. As if the internet is not already chock full of gibberish and repetitions.

They claim that twitter is a revolution in the way people communicate and is providing a new medium where people can express their views on any topic, from religion to politics, to venting frustration at products or lack of support.

The point is that the majority of users on twitter start of strong, as in the rate of tweets not quality content, and then after a week or two, at the most a month suddenly forget all about twitter. Then there are the A listers, people who where popular even before facebook came around. These follow a few people, maybe a hundred, but have 10K+ followers.

Problem is that in 140 characters not even really interesting people such as Joel Spolsky, Jeff Atwood, and Matt Cutts, who normally publish quality posts on their blogs, manage to say really interesting stuff on twitter. I don’t blame them, who can?

If I am interested in following someone’s thoughts and they have a blog it is easy for me to subscribe to their RSS feed, especially using Google Reader. Setting up a blog is very simple and there are sites like wordpress which make it point and click easy.

So you might say just don’t use twitter and be done, what is your problem?

My reply is, yes I did create an account to see for myself what twitter is all about before expressing my opinion and I have to say I only confirmed my initial feelings. In fact, as of today I deleted my twitter account.

The problem with services like twitter is not with the service itself but with the fact that it actually garners support just because it is hyped, millions of people are on twitter and it is free. What worries is the fact that companies like twitter get funding. The only way twitter can make money is if it starts charging for accounts, or includes ads and charges for them, or charges for official corporate accounts to be used as official support channels.

The first option would result in a mass exodus of users, the second option is not really palatable and I doubt it would work for twitter. The third option might make sense but if I have a complaint about a product I would rather go straight to the source rather than just tweet about it in the hope that someone from the company is following certain keywords on twitter.

So yes personally I think twitter is a big shiny over inflated red bubble and would not recommend people use it. As for the industry, I hope that after the latest global economic experience and the first internet bubble investors used more grey matter before they invest in over-hyped useless technology.