Twitter is often referred to as ‘microblogging.’ I’ve never liked this word that has been created around the format, and I finally realized how to put this distaste down on {virtual} paper. This is a misrepresentation at the service for several reasons:
1) A twitter is really nothing like a small blog post. Blog posts are often very pre-meditated. Twitter posts are most frequently off-the-top-of-your-head blurbs.
2) Twitter has a greater impact on your person as a whole. While blogs were and are a revolutionary medium that allows people to write and be read, as mentioned in my last post Twitter actually changes the way you interact with others around you on a day-to-day basis. I’m more connected with those around me, as well as it providing a window into the lives of people who are geographically distant.
Evaluating these concepts and others similar one thing becomes clear …
Twitter IS NOT SMALL BLOGGING!
They both provide a mechanism to broadcast text on the web. So does IRC.
WADR, twitter is exactly small blogging. Twitter is a way to put your small thoughts out to other people. pre-meditation doesn’t really enter into it. Just as blogs are a way to broadcast your bigger (short essay form) thoughts, microblogging services like twitter allow people to easily broadcast smaller thoughts. Because of ease-of-use, it becomes a way for people to keep up with people distant, but that’s not negating the “bloggy” aspect of services like twitter. Oh, and IRC is not a way to broadcast your thoughts, as it gets automatically drowned out by other people’s small thoughts.
Thanks for your thoughts Matt. There are similarities, to be sure. The original weblog was similar to the Finger of old. But it coined a new name. It’s basic definition is publishing a log to the web.
In turn, Twitters are similar to Fingers or Blogs, but there is enough of a distinction that the concept deserves its own distinct name.