Why Tweet? Because Blattman Says So

By Nick Seaver, May 26, 2010

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Chris Blattman, whose blog is a favorite of several of my colleagues, has a post up today on why he tweets (aptly named, “Why I Tweet”).

A year ago I considered Twitter silly. Why would I want to know your breakfast this morning? Who cares about your random thought on the bus? Not me.

Nothing has changed there. But I found tweeters who do something different: send me to places I would not otherwise have gone.

As of this morning, I’m following six dozen people. The common thread: they link to articles and stories I find consistently interesting. Some are bloggers, but most are not, so I wouldn’t otherwise see what they say. And most important: they are forced to sell me on their wares in 140 characters or less, so there’s no blathering. Presumably they appreciate the same from me.

The concept of going somewhere online that you otherwise would not is exactly what I like about social media. We don’t have time to scour the internet, so why not rely on other people who have similar interests to direct us to interesting news we would otherwise miss. Plus, tweeting is a great exercise in communicating in soundbites—you can’t tell the whole story, you just need to make me want to know more.

You’ll never read every tweet, but why not have a place where you can check in when you have a free second? Best case scenario: You find something you would have otherwise missed. Worst case scenario: You’ve lost the amount of time it took to read the first three sentences of Blattman’s post.