Hey Scott,

I'll join you in your ADD challenge: to add value before retweeting.

A.D.D. (Attention Delivering Dimensions)

Ask | Debate | Delight

Ask:

Ask questions that add value to the topic:
e.g.
- What's your opinion?
- Do you agree?
- What's your experience?

Debate:

Challenge the topic. Add a counter-argument.
e.g.
- I have a different experience….
- I disagree because…

Delight:

Delight the readers.
Add a fresh twist.
Have a bit of cheeky fun.

With practice and lateral thinking, you can ADD value when retweeting.

Just a few ideas to start the thinking on this topic.

Best, Robin

Hey Scott,

I'll join you in your ADD challenge: to add value before retweeting.

A.D.D. (Attention Delivering Dimensions)

Ask | Debate | Delight

Ask:

Ask questions that add value to the topic:
e.g.
- What's your opinion?
- Do you agree?
- What's your experience?

Debate:

Challenge the topic. Add a counter-argument.
e.g.
- I have a different experience….
- I disagree because…

Delight:

Delight the readers.
Add a fresh twist.
Have a bit of cheeky fun.

With practice and lateral thinking, you can ADD value when retweeting.

Just a few ideas to start the thinking on this topic.

Best, Robin

It is wonderful that you care so much about your Twitter community.
I feel that Twitter has had a major shift in the past couple of months. In large part because the wider world has woken up to the potential of the medium. Many of these people are just looking for quick gains, traffic, income etc. and as the overall nature of the communication stream changes the rest of us change to fit in shouting louder in the noisy room.
Change is inevitable and we can control how we handle the changes. I think that the concept of value is very useful. Adding value to any community is a positive thing and will have an effect of some kind. We can only take responsibility for our own actions, other people will do as they wish, but Twitter is a large enough forum for many things to happen.

It is wonderful that you care so much about your Twitter community.
I feel that Twitter has had a major shift in the past couple of months. In large part because the wider world has woken up to the potential of the medium. Many of these people are just looking for quick gains, traffic, income etc. and as the overall nature of the communication stream changes the rest of us change to fit in shouting louder in the noisy room.
Change is inevitable and we can control how we handle the changes. I think that the concept of value is very useful. Adding value to any community is a positive thing and will have an effect of some kind. We can only take responsibility for our own actions, other people will do as they wish, but Twitter is a large enough forum for many things to happen.

Robin – great job on the retronyms – I'm right there. Ask, debate, delight. Very, very godo

I would add to 'delight' an important thing I've been mulling over: “encouragement”

Robin – great job on the retronyms – I'm right there. Ask, debate, delight. Very, very godo

I would add to 'delight' an important thing I've been mulling over: “encouragement”

I just feel that there is so much misconceptions about how to use Twitter, and what are the 'acceptable' outcomes of Twitter.

Like you say, many are looking for quick gain, traffic etc – shouting louder in a noise room. We can't make a lot of them stop – but certainly a large group of us can surely unite around ADDing. I think Robin's ADD = Ask Debate Delight provides another helpful dimension.

My hope, as you point out, is that at least the network I'm connected to can learn from this and club together.

I just feel that there is so much misconceptions about how to use Twitter, and what are the 'acceptable' outcomes of Twitter.

Like you say, many are looking for quick gain, traffic etc – shouting louder in a noise room. We can't make a lot of them stop – but certainly a large group of us can surely unite around ADDing. I think Robin's ADD = Ask Debate Delight provides another helpful dimension.

My hope, as you point out, is that at least the network I'm connected to can learn from this and club together.

There are lots of ways to use Twitter and the potential of 140 character messages is part of the wonder of the medium. The price of that potential is that it will be used in ways we don't like as well as those we do.
The room is noisy but with a decent Twitter client you can set up userlists to focus on those who give you the most value/fun/inspiration. Seth Godin is correct, networking online does have value if you engage in a conversation where information flows in both directions.
Your tribe is where you have the most influence and the most support. If you can tune out the noise and concentrate on them I hope you'll find Twitter useful again.

There are lots of ways to use Twitter and the potential of 140 character messages is part of the wonder of the medium. The price of that potential is that it will be used in ways we don't like as well as those we do.
The room is noisy but with a decent Twitter client you can set up userlists to focus on those who give you the most value/fun/inspiration. Seth Godin is correct, networking online does have value if you engage in a conversation where information flows in both directions.
Your tribe is where you have the most influence and the most support. If you can tune out the noise and concentrate on them I hope you'll find Twitter useful again.

Interesting post – it's nice to read some intelligent criticism of Twitter rather than the rubbish about users having verbal diarrhaea (if that's how you spell it) and self-publishing mania.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I think most of the tweets I get are just noise, and the more people you follow the more difficult it gets to see the good stuff. I sort of get the feeling that other people are noticing too.

Part of the difficulty must be the shortness of tweets – as an ungenius it is incredibly difficult to add value – with a link and an @someone, you've only got about 100 characters to play with. And you want to communicate quickly.

But then adding value isn't impossible – I mean, we can stop ourselves tweeting “mm just got coffee it smells luvly”. Most of the time, anyway. And pointing people to interesting people, interesting blogs and stuff is easy.

Seriously, maybe if tweets were a little bit longer (maybe 240 characters) it would make it easier to post higher-value tweets.

Less seriously – maybe Twitter should have a confirmation button which says something like “Come on – do you seriously think this is helping anyone?” before it lets you tweet. Hmm? (FYI: That idea costs five pounds.)

Interesting post – it's nice to read some intelligent criticism of Twitter rather than the rubbish about users having verbal diarrhaea (if that's how you spell it) and self-publishing mania.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I think most of the tweets I get are just noise, and the more people you follow the more difficult it gets to see the good stuff. I sort of get the feeling that other people are noticing too.

Part of the difficulty must be the shortness of tweets – as an ungenius it is incredibly difficult to add value – with a link and an @someone, you've only got about 100 characters to play with. And you want to communicate quickly.

But then adding value isn't impossible – I mean, we can stop ourselves tweeting “mm just got coffee it smells luvly”. Most of the time, anyway. And pointing people to interesting people, interesting blogs and stuff is easy.

Seriously, maybe if tweets were a little bit longer (maybe 240 characters) it would make it easier to post higher-value tweets.

Less seriously – maybe Twitter should have a confirmation button which says something like “Come on – do you seriously think this is helping anyone?” before it lets you tweet. Hmm? (FYI: That idea costs five pounds.)

The problem you are facing is with who you are following. Followers/followees are like the friends we have in real life, they come and go and we take and give what we can to the relationship until we have satisfied the need we had going into the relationship. Before saying these people tweet junk, ask yourself when was the last time I engaged them and have I gained all I can from this relationship. The chances are the answers are not in some time, and yes.

This isn't too say you should unfollow them. If you have tweetdeck or other such program simply take the person out of your line of direct sight. I keep them in column far off the right side of my screen and only look at the column every hour or so to see if they have added anything I value lately.

Last but not least are you letting the list of people you follow stagnate? When was the last time you followed new people in quantity looking for someone interesting? When was the last time you quit following people because they no longer hold an interest for you?

In the end the value you get from twitter

The problem you are facing is with who you are following. Followers/followees are like the friends we have in real life, they come and go and we take and give what we can to the relationship until we have satisfied the need we had going into the relationship. Before saying these people tweet junk, ask yourself when was the last time I engaged them and have I gained all I can from this relationship. The chances are the answers are not in some time, and yes.

This isn't too say you should unfollow them. If you have tweetdeck or other such program simply take the person out of your line of direct sight. I keep them in column far off the right side of my screen and only look at the column every hour or so to see if they have added anything I value lately.

Last but not least are you letting the list of people you follow stagnate? When was the last time you followed new people in quantity looking for someone interesting? When was the last time you quit following people because they no longer hold an interest for you?

In the end the value you get from twitter is equal to the effort you put into it

LOL @ your confirmation button!

Paul I'll be posted soon how how I use twitter, part of which does contain tweeting what I'm doing at the moment, the other part engaging in conversations, and the other part in promoting what I do by helping people.

I think the 140 characters, for me, has helped refine what I say. I *do* think that they leave enough to say something powerful. An example is Scott Williams who tweeted this the other day:

“Your car doesn’t move while in neutral… Neutrality Is Not Leadership http://is.gd/2vIlr (via @ScottWilliams)”

Very good, IMO!

LOL @ your confirmation button!

Paul I'll be posted soon how how I use twitter, part of which does contain tweeting what I'm doing at the moment, the other part engaging in conversations, and the other part in promoting what I do by helping people.

I think the 140 characters, for me, has helped refine what I say. I *do* think that they leave enough to say something powerful. An example is Scott Williams who tweeted this the other day:

“Your car doesn’t move while in neutral… Neutrality Is Not Leadership http://is.gd/2vIlr (via @ScottWilliams)”

Very good, IMO!

Hi Brad, thanks for the comments. I think it is quite clear that you don't know me too well, as:

1. I put a lot into twitter, work hard at cultivating relationships, have made some incredible connections through it, and continually help people out. Ask any one on at our last tweetup (http://scottgould.me/one-is-too-small-a-number-...)

2. I am continually seeking new people to follow on new subjects and by referral. Daily.

3. I do unfollow people when they become like how I have described – but only after sending them a DM to talk it through before I do

I understand that what you are saying is probably the case with many people – but I spend a lot of time every day on twitter, and it is through this constant contact that I've found these things I've detailed to be the case.

Hi Brad, thanks for the comments. I think it is quite clear that you don't know me too well, as:

1. I put a lot into twitter, work hard at cultivating relationships, have made some incredible connections through it, and continually help people out. Ask any one on at our last tweetup (http://scottgould.me/one-is-too-small-a-number-...)

2. I am continually seeking new people to follow on new subjects and by referral. Daily.

3. I do unfollow people when they become like how I have described – but only after sending them a DM to talk it through before I do

I understand that what you are saying is probably the case with many people – but I spend a lot of time every day on twitter, and it is through this constant contact that I've found these things I've detailed to be the case.

Hey Scott,

So, you may have forgotten but when you first entered into the world of Twitter I had to show you some of the basics – so as a long time user (almost ex-user now though) of Twitter here are some observations.

Twitter has changed, it's changed from a true community & tool for friends to communicate, and people to share meaningful content to a tool abused and exploited for commercial gain. On this you, like many others are guilty, and in some way I do ponder that you are part of the very problem you have described.

There seems to be a general misconception of a “need” to say something. You comment that you were frustrated at the lack of anything to retweet. Perhaps the truth is that the re-tweeting (probably the worst feature of twitter IMO) creates a lot of additional noise, since plenty of people will have likely seen the original tweet, potentially some would be interested that missed it but a hell of a lot won't.

By constantly retweeting (and often your own content!) you engage in the noise creation – it's worse when you re-tweet your own content. I think you once argued that (for example) american followers wouldn't see your first tweet. Only true in some cases, but ultimately many of us are awake/alive/responding during BOTH of the times, so we just see the same things over and over. That lessens the value and adds noise. You pretty much defeat your own objective.

I've said that Social Networking is largely a fad, I resisted things like Facebook for a long long time, and abandon it frequently. I've ignored twitter for a couple of weeks. Have I lost anything valuable? No. Far from it. What has actually happened is I've spent more time with those who genuinely matter to me (If I need and want to interact with people I will already have offline real world relations with them), and I've managed to achieve a huge amount more than normal.

I've had time to develop new projects, services and ideas, I've kept on-time for 2 weeks with all my tasks, I've had time to nurture new customers, and I've managed to remain refreshed. I've gained countless amounts of time and put it to better use.

So, going back to the “add” debate. You won't “add” value by taking a tweet, making a (brief) comment, and sending it. You won't “add” value by focusing on the need to have lots of followers, following anyone who turns up, and by making big statements that sound impressive but ultimately are only of interest to a minority.

You'd be better sticking with the quality over quantity – you'd be better engaging with just 10 people on twitter, posting quality (genuinely useful) commentary to others, and creating micro relationships. The danger for people who have followed too many (and schemes like #followfriday are a great example of this madness) is that they no longer appeal to any of the followers consistency, diluting the message and reducing the effectiveness of the tool.

You'll recall I stopped following you for quite some time, because you had an enormous noise vs signal problem. You've still got it to a lessor degree.

Someone argued in our office that twitter is “too small” to be worthwhile in terms of characters. In 140 characters, “micro blogging” is not meaningful (you say “1 is too insignificant a number”, they ague “140 is too insignificant”). I disagree there as I see a value in twitter. That value is diluting as it is exploited. At 140 characters you have to be short, sweet and concise. That is a strength of twitter – if used properly.

If twitter didn't tell you how many people follow you, and you didn't know, but could still add your friends (e.g. know who you follow), the value may be more because those who believe bigger follower counts are better would not exist to the same extent, and those who use twitter might focus more on making sure that what they tweet appeals to those they follow (whom they may reasonably believe followed back).

Twitter works for “micro” blogging, and would work equally well for “micro” following (and hell, it did when it started!).

The best way to have a worthwhile following is to follow those who post useful content, on a frequency appropriate for the dialogue, to a group of people who have direct, and genuine interest.

Forget “follow fridays”, the “self gratification” routines and the errant belief you need to constantly tweet, be tweeted and retweet old or other peoples content and you have a successful system.

Hey Scott,

So, you may have forgotten but when you first entered into the world of Twitter I had to show you some of the basics – so as a long time user (almost ex-user now though) of Twitter here are some observations.

Twitter has changed, it's changed from a true community & tool for friends to communicate, and people to share meaningful content to a tool abused and exploited for commercial gain. On this you, like many others are guilty, and in some way I do ponder that you are part of the very problem you have described.

There seems to be a general misconception of a “need” to say something. You comment that you were frustrated at the lack of anything to retweet. Perhaps the truth is that the re-tweeting (probably the worst feature of twitter IMO) creates a lot of additional noise, since plenty of people will have likely seen the original tweet, potentially some would be interested that missed it but a hell of a lot won't.

By constantly retweeting (and often your own content!) you engage in the noise creation – it's worse when you re-tweet your own content. I think you once argued that (for example) american followers wouldn't see your first tweet. Only true in some cases, but ultimately many of us are awake/alive/responding during BOTH of the times, so we just see the same things over and over. That lessens the value and adds noise. You pretty much defeat your own objective.

I've said that Social Networking is largely a fad, I resisted things like Facebook for a long long time, and abandon it frequently. I've ignored twitter for a couple of weeks. Have I lost anything valuable? No. Far from it. What has actually happened is I've spent more time with those who genuinely matter to me (If I need and want to interact with people I will already have offline real world relations with them), and I've managed to achieve a huge amount more than normal.

I've had time to develop new projects, services and ideas, I've kept on-time for 2 weeks with all my tasks, I've had time to nurture new customers, and I've managed to remain refreshed. I've gained countless amounts of time and put it to better use.

So, going back to the “add” debate. You won't “add” value by taking a tweet, making a (brief) comment, and sending it. You won't “add” value by focusing on the need to have lots of followers, following anyone who turns up, and by making big statements that sound impressive but ultimately are only of interest to a minority.

You'd be better sticking with the quality over quantity – you'd be better engaging with just 10 people on twitter, posting quality (genuinely useful) commentary to others, and creating micro relationships. The danger for people who have followed too many (and schemes like #followfriday are a great example of this madness) is that they no longer appeal to any of the followers consistency, diluting the message and reducing the effectiveness of the tool.

You'll recall I stopped following you for quite some time, because you had an enormous noise vs signal problem. You've still got it to a lessor degree.

Someone argued in our office that twitter is “too small” to be worthwhile in terms of characters. In 140 characters, “micro blogging” is not meaningful (you say “1 is too insignificant a number”, they ague “140 is too insignificant”). I disagree there as I see a value in twitter. That value is diluting as it is exploited. At 140 characters you have to be short, sweet and concise. That is a strength of twitter – if used properly.

If twitter didn't tell you how many people follow you, and you didn't know, but could still add your friends (e.g. know who you follow), the value may be more because those who believe bigger follower counts are better would not exist to the same extent, and those who use twitter might focus more on making sure that what they tweet appeals to those they follow (whom they may reasonably believe followed back).

Twitter works for “micro” blogging, and would work equally well for “micro” following (and hell, it did when it started!).

The best way to have a worthwhile following is to follow those who post useful content, on a frequency appropriate for the dialogue, to a group of people who have direct, and genuine interest.

Forget “follow fridays”, the “self gratification” routines and the errant belief you need to constantly tweet, be tweeted and retweet old or other peoples content and you have a successful system.

therioman speaks the most sense I have heard in a very long time. It is more important for people to get some real friends than building a virtual world of followers who you can retweet endless comments to. Why don't you try and take a month off from Twitter, focus on your physical relationships and break the addiction.

therioman speaks the most sense I have heard in a very long time. It is more important for people to get some real friends than building a virtual world of followers who you can retweet endless comments to. Why don't you try and take a month off from Twitter, focus on your physical relationships and break the addiction.

Hi 'No Comment'

Thanks for having the guts to be accountable with a real name. I
assume by the vindictive nature of your comment that you personally
know me but are afraid to speak.

I actually have plenty of real world relationships, thanks for asking.
And, I have some great online connections too.

As for the addiction, I don't consider myself to be addicted. I use
twitter to keep in touch with some great connections, share things
from my life, and talk about what I'm interested in and share my
expertise. I use it little and often.

Scott

Hi 'No Comment'

Thanks for having the guts to be accountable with a real name. I
assume by the vindictive nature of your comment that you personally
know me but are afraid to speak.

I actually have plenty of real world relationships, thanks for asking.
And, I have some great online connections too.

As for the addiction, I don't consider myself to be addicted. I use
twitter to keep in touch with some great connections, share things
from my life, and talk about what I'm interested in and share my
expertise. I use it little and often.

Scott

RE: Twitter changing from true community & tool to something exploited for commercial gain: reflection of WWW as whole & most other media over time.

RE: Twitter changing from true community & tool to something exploited for commercial gain: reflection of WWW as whole & most other media over time.

Hi Scott (and no comment),

I must admit it is a bit frustrating that “no comment” hasn't told us who they are, but I only just spotted this now (Scott you'll know this since you should have something in your inbox right now!)

I should probably take a moment to clarify something since there is widespread misunderstanding. Scott made a few points in this blog, and they intrigue me because some of the things Scott has mentioned are the *same things* that Scott does.

Many of you may not know but I know scott, I've known him for many years, and he's a great chap. I've critised him (reasonably often apparently!) in recent weeks on twitter etc. But the misunderstanding is that some assume I want to attack him. The truth is I want to challenge him – Scott could (and likely will) achieve great things, but that cannot be done when you are surrounded by people who won't want to say “you know what you may be wrong” or “here's another view”.

That's not to say I'm right, but taking a word you used “debate”. If you're having a debate, that means that all views (sometimes including those you don't agree with, or want to hear) can, and should be aired. Watch Question Time – that's a debate. Different views, often opposing, and people who don't always agree all have a right to speak.

As for “addiction” – I said how I'd reduced my twittering – I do think there is a value in assessing how much of a role it plays in your life – I suspect Scott and others could all benefit from the “in moderation” concept. Too much of anything is detrimental.

For what it's worth, your blog has more worth (and quite possibly more controversy) than your twitter contribution. Maybe I'm wrong about 140 characters being OK

Hi Scott (and no comment),

I must admit it is a bit frustrating that “no comment” hasn't told us who they are, but I only just spotted this now (Scott you'll know this since you should have something in your inbox right now!)

I should probably take a moment to clarify something since there is widespread misunderstanding. Scott made a few points in this blog, and they intrigue me because some of the things Scott has mentioned are the *same things* that Scott does.

Many of you may not know but I know scott, I've known him for many years, and he's a great chap. I've critised him (reasonably often apparently!) in recent weeks on twitter etc. But the misunderstanding is that some assume I want to attack him. The truth is I want to challenge him – Scott could (and likely will) achieve great things, but that cannot be done when you are surrounded by people who won't want to say “you know what you may be wrong” or “here's another view”.

That's not to say I'm right, but taking a word you used “debate”. If you're having a debate, that means that all views (sometimes including those you don't agree with, or want to hear) can, and should be aired. Watch Question Time – that's a debate. Different views, often opposing, and people who don't always agree all have a right to speak.

As for “addiction” – I said how I'd reduced my twittering – I do think there is a value in assessing how much of a role it plays in your life – I suspect Scott and others could all benefit from the “in moderation” concept. Too much of anything is detrimental.

For what it's worth, your blog has more worth (and quite possibly more controversy) than your twitter contribution. Maybe I'm wrong about 140 characters being OK

Alex, that's a good point. however, the mass WWW environment, television media etc don't really create the “direct” or “personal” links that something like Twitter can. So the issue is that for Scott (and others naturally) to find it appealing, it has to appeal directly and personally. What I get from Scott's post is that he is finding this lacking.

I've suggested some reasons why this may be, but it is important to understand that the WWW, television etc are one-way media. They tell you. Twitter, and “social media” are more interactive, therefore to get something from it you need to appeal to others AND be interested in others. Without that two-way interaction, twitter isn't useful in the main.

(Without it, it has more limited use as an aggregated notification system for RSS feeds and other such, but it's value deminishes fast).

Alex, that's a good point. however, the mass WWW environment, television media etc don't really create the “direct” or “personal” links that something like Twitter can. So the issue is that for Scott (and others naturally) to find it appealing, it has to appeal directly and personally. What I get from Scott's post is that he is finding this lacking.

I've suggested some reasons why this may be, but it is important to understand that the WWW, television etc are one-way media. They tell you. Twitter, and “social media” are more interactive, therefore to get something from it you need to appeal to others AND be interested in others. Without that two-way interaction, twitter isn't useful in the main.

(Without it, it has more limited use as an aggregated notification system for RSS feeds and other such, but it's value deminishes fast).

I have never, nor will I ever “tweet”…. It’s my choice. Remember chat rooms? Are they still out there? It’s all garbage in my opinion…. The world is full of lost souls searching for an internet connection. Why don’t we just walk down any busy side walk or cafe and “tweet” to everyone who passes by? Because people would think we were crazy. We communicate with people “online” who we probably wouldn’t hold a door for or them us…. My problem is, all my friends in the real world don’t share my interests or passions….I need new REAL friends….. Keep up the good work Scott.

I have never, nor will I ever “tweet”…. It’s my choice. Remember chat rooms? Are they still out there? It’s all garbage in my opinion…. The world is full of lost souls searching for an internet connection. Why don’t we just walk down any busy side walk or cafe and “tweet” to everyone who passes by? Because people would think we were crazy. We communicate with people “online” who we probably wouldn’t hold a door for or them us…. My problem is, all my friends in the real world don’t share my interests or passions….I need new REAL friends….. Keep up the good work Scott.

No I don't know you, in fact probably would never have found your blog if I didn't track disqus on twitter. This is one way I grow beyond my traditional follow patterns. This wasn't a specific criticism of you, but of the “I don't get anything from twitter anymore attitude” in general. The questions I posed are for any who feel this way.

After rereading your post I have to say a good portion of your defined problem is how you define “Value”. Blind ReTweets may or may not be of value to you, but value is an end user qualifier only. I am not saying we should never qualify things, especially if we are number 10 to RT and most of the comments are *giggle* *snort* *LOL* with a link. Blind short links should never be passed on without some sort of qualifier. That said It doesn't matter if the RT is of a LoLCat or an NY Times story, not everything needs our addition, the simple fact is we send things on because they add value to our experience, it is up to others to decide it if adds to their experience.

As for Robin Dickinson argument that we lose value with added volume, I think it is pure crap. If I send out a two hundred links in a day it is because I found Two hundred links that added value to my day. If I send out only one link in a day Robin can't say if it added more or less value to my followers and their followers than any of the two hundred I sent out another day. Robin can only say if the link/tweet/pic was of value to Robin, the same as you or I do.

As far as the ADD solution you have come up with it may have value to you, but as I said before adding something to a RT isn't always necessary. Adding to an @ so outsiders know is overkill. The only people who will see the @ reply are people who follow both you and the person you are replying to. There was a time when all your followers could see one side of a conversation in their follow stream, but those days are long gone. I am not saying you shouldn't add detail and references, I greatly appreciate it when I am holding 10 or 15 simultaneous conversations at once, but to always do it is rather pointless and adds no value to me and probably very few other people if all that is expected is a Yes/No. Maybe So answer.

No I don't know you, in fact probably would never have found your blog if I didn't track disqus on twitter. This is one way I grow beyond my traditional follow patterns. This wasn't a specific criticism of you, but of the “I don't get anything from twitter anymore attitude” in general that is being discussed. The questions I posed are for any who feel this way.

After rereading your post I have to say a good portion of your defined problem is how you define “Value”. Blind ReTweets may or may not be of value to you, but value is an end user qualifier only. I am not saying we should never qualify things, especially if we are number 10 to RT and most of the comments are *giggle* *snort* *LOL* with a link. Blind short links should never be passed on without some sort of qualifier. That said It doesn't matter if the RT is of a LoLCat or an NY Times story, not everything needs our addition, the simple fact is we send things on because they add value to our experience, it is up to others to decide it if adds to their experience.

As for Robin Dickinson argument that we lose value with added volume, I think it is pure crap. If I send out a two hundred links in a day it is because I found Two hundred links that added value to my day. If I send out only one link in a day Robin can't say if it added more or less value to my followers and their followers than any of the two hundred I sent out another day. Robin can only say if the link/tweet/pic was of value to Robin, the same as you or I do.

As far as the ADD solution you have come up with it may have value to you, but as I said before adding something to a RT isn't always necessary. Adding to an @ so outsiders know is overkill. The only people who will see the @ reply are people who follow both you and the person you are replying to. There was a time when all your followers could see one side of a conversation in their follow stream, but those days are long gone. I am not saying you shouldn't add detail and references, I greatly appreciate it when I am holding 10 or 15 simultaneous conversations at once, but to always do it is rather pointless and adds no value to me and probably very few other people if all that is expected is a Yes/No. Maybe So answer.

You have a very odd notion of what constitutes friends. I truly pity you if the only sort of REAL friends are those you have seen physically and can run down to the corner bar with.

People do walk down the street, get on a bus/subway, or go to a cafe and physically tweet away. We do it by starting and joining conversations. There are differences such as we have to wear more than our underwear, we have to do it while the cafe is open for business, but on the plus we get more than 140 characters for each segment of the conversation, though I doubt most people use more than that. The only thing people would find crazy is if we showed up to physically tweet unshowered, in no clothes, and if the first words out of our mouths were F-U when we joined an on going conversation.

For the record chat rooms as are BBS, IM, and other ancient forms of online communication are still around and used quite often.

You have a very odd notion of what constitutes friends. I truly pity you if the only sort of REAL friends are those you have seen physically and can run down to the corner bar with.

People do walk down the street, get on a bus/subway, or go to a cafe and physically tweet away. We do it by starting and joining conversations. There are differences such as we have to wear more than our underwear, we have to do it while the cafe is open for business, but on the plus we get more than 140 characters for each segment of the conversation, though I doubt most people use more than that. The only thing people would find crazy is if we showed up to physically tweet unshowered, in no clothes, and if the first words out of our mouths were F-U when we joined an on going conversation.

For the record chat rooms as are BBS, IM, and other ancient forms of online communication are still around and used quite often.

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

I asked a friend of mine the other day to go sailing…..he wanted to stay home and play on the computer……his choice…..not mine……I went sailing…..I wonder if all of our “reaching” out around the internet / world can have a negative affect on our interpersonal communication skills….and even more scarry is realizing that “bradhart” is only wearing his underwear while on the computer…..again, their choice, not mine…..peace…..

I asked a friend of mine the other day to go sailing…..he wanted to stay home and play on the computer……his choice…..not mine……I went sailing…..I wonder if all of our “reaching” out around the internet / world can have a negative affect on our interpersonal communication skills….and even more scarry is realizing that “bradhart” is only wearing his underwear while on the computer…..again, their choice, not mine…..peace…..

Bradm true that friendships are changing, but you don't know M.Scott in context – he has reached out to me and connected with me in a very engaging way.

Well Sir, I do?try to put all “friendships” into perspective.

We do live on other sides of the planet….(which is pretty cool…)…so we can't help each other with yard work.

So in that respect, in my attempt at reaching out for new ideas and new perspectives I enjoy our friendship.

Besides, we share the same?last name, we may be brothers…..haha…

Have you ever heard of Ebeneezer Gould?….sorry, another topic.

There's a song?by Tracy Lawrence titled, “You find out who your friends are”….

?
You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

This is a country song, so nobody has probably heard of it…..

Peace to all…

mscottgould

Well Sir, I do?try to put all “friendships” into perspective.

We do live on other sides of the planet….(which is pretty cool…)…so we can't help each other with yard work.

So in that respect, in my attempt at reaching out for new ideas and new perspectives I enjoy our friendship.

Besides, we share the same?last name, we may be brothers…..haha…

Have you ever heard of Ebeneezer Gould?….sorry, another topic.

There's a song?by Tracy Lawrence titled, “You find out who your friends are”….

?
You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

This is a country song, so nobody has probably heard of it…..

Peace to all…

mscottgould

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Hence – you and I have connected online – a 'friendship' I value.
Funny how it happens.

Scott

Interesting thoughts. I guess we all use Twitter for different reasons. I too am not keen on the links to “Top 10 funniest pictures of a cat” type thing.

I try and avoid looking at my feed on Fridays – I'm don't like reading endless FollowFridays that just contain a list of names with no clue as to why I should follow them.

99% of hashtag games bore me witless.

I don't @reply incessently and only do so when (I hope) my reply will be worth while.

I try and stick with answering the Twitter question “What are you doing?”.

If I do RT I try (like you suggest) to add my own comment so my followers have some idea why I think it's worth RTing the Tweet. BTW did you know there are plans afoot for Twitter to officially support RTs. They don't seem to have any way of adding comments to the original Tweet. Which is good in one way – the RTs will look a lot cleaner (see screenshot in link below) but on the other hand bad as it'll just be a straight copy of the original Tweet.

http://mashable.com/2009/08/13/project-retweet-...

It's always going top be difficult to keep up with one's feed if one is following more than about 50 active Tweeple. I need to go on a Twitter diet (Twiet?) at the moment.

Interesting thoughts. I guess we all use Twitter for different reasons. I too am not keen on the links to “Top 10 funniest pictures of a cat” type thing.

I try and avoid looking at my feed on Fridays – I'm don't like reading endless FollowFridays that just contain a list of names with no clue as to why I should follow them.

99% of hashtag games bore me witless.

I don't @reply incessently and only do so when (I hope) my reply will be worth while.

I try and stick with answering the Twitter question “What are you doing?”.

If I do RT I try (like you suggest) to add my own comment so my followers have some idea why I think it's worth RTing the Tweet. BTW did you know there are plans afoot for Twitter to officially support RTs. They don't seem to have any way of adding comments to the original Tweet. Which is good in one way – the RTs will look a lot cleaner (see screenshot in link below) but on the other hand bad as it'll just be a straight copy of the original Tweet.

http://mashable.com/2009/08/13/project-retweet-...

It's always going top be difficult to keep up with one's feed if one is following more than about 50 active Tweeple. I need to go on a Twitter diet (Twiet?) at the moment.

Sort of a surprising rant from someone who identifies himself as a passionate Christian. Maybe passion and Christian mean very different things to us.

I don't know you, but I don't think one needs to know you well to know what's been said in this video. You called out people who you're following and said that it's all trash with one breath, and then talked about loving people on Twitter with another.

Which is it?

Twitter is what you make of it, on multiple levels. If you're on vacation and it feels like a lot of work to go through your phone updates, then switch to the desktop or turn it off. If it feels like work when you're back from holiday, then think about taking more time off from Twitter or simply unfollow the people who's Tweets you're not enjoying.

If the people you follow have genuinely and truly and consciously changed what and how they use Twitter in a short span of time, maybe it's time to unfollow them.

On the other hand, if the people you liked a few months ago are going through a period of more promotion or Me Too Itis, maybe it's time to do the compassionate thing and give them a break.

For what it's worth, you've been on my radar on occasion so I've peeked at your Tweets every once in a while but I didn't follow you because a lot of the Tweets are the kind I don't enjoy reading.

I like your idea of adding — but isn't value in the eyes of the reader? Or follower? Your Tweets don't entice me (not a judgment, just sayin') because they're usually not self-contained.

I appreciate Tweets that lead me to a good resource, but also Tweets that are clear insights into an interesting point of view that I don't need to research by reading more Tweets you've written previously or tune into whole dialogs.

Your view, I'm guessing, with its focus on “relationships” seems to be more about public instant messaging. I think that's fine and I know lots of people use Twitter that way, but again, I don't see public chat as adding value if one considers the basic unit of communication the Tweet itself. When I chat within the confines of a Twitter stream, I try to make each chat comment self-contained. Not so much adding value as having its own intrinsic value.

As I mentioned, I don't know you or your writing well for the complete context of some of your video comments, but I don't really understand the value for anyone of telling each and every single person off that you're planning of not following.

I think it's simpler and clearer if you simply write an article or page or record a new video putting your follow/stop following policy out clearly and then anyone who wonders or asks can find it all there.

Unless telling a lot of people off in direct messages is gratifying. Maybe it is for you.

It currently looks like you're following a horde of people so I'm guessing a lot of your rant stems from your being on holiday without a desktop based screener like TweetDeck or Tweetie.

As for humanity on Twitter — almost all of it is humanity. The big exceptions are spam bots and people publicizing their post with automated tools, like Twitter Tools — you know, the tool that you used to promote this article on Twitter yourself!

If I were you, next time I'd turn off Twitter while on vacation.

Sort of a surprising rant from someone who identifies himself as a passionate Christian. Maybe passion and Christian mean very different things to us.

I don't know you, but I don't think one needs to know you well to know what's been said in this video. You called out people who you're following and said that it's all trash with one breath, and then talked about loving people on Twitter with another.

Which is it?

Twitter is what you make of it, on multiple levels. If you're on vacation and it feels like a lot of work to go through your phone updates, then switch to the desktop or turn it off. If it feels like work when you're back from holiday, then think about taking more time off from Twitter or simply unfollow the people who's Tweets you're not enjoying.

If the people you follow have genuinely and truly and consciously changed what and how they use Twitter in a short span of time, maybe it's time to unfollow them.

On the other hand, if the people you liked a few months ago are going through a period of more promotion or Me Too Itis, maybe it's time to do the compassionate thing and give them a break.

For what it's worth, you've been on my radar on occasion so I've peeked at your Tweets every once in a while but I didn't follow you because a lot of the Tweets are the kind I don't enjoy reading.

I like your idea of adding — but isn't value in the eyes of the reader? Or follower? Your Tweets don't entice me (not a judgment, just sayin') because they're usually not self-contained.

I appreciate Tweets that lead me to a good resource, but also Tweets that are clear insights into an interesting point of view that I don't need to research by reading more Tweets you've written previously or tune into whole dialogs.

Your view, I'm guessing, with its focus on “relationships” seems to be more about public instant messaging. I think that's fine and I know lots of people use Twitter that way, but again, I don't see public chat as adding value if one considers the basic unit of communication the Tweet itself. When I chat within the confines of a Twitter stream, I try to make each chat comment self-contained. Not so much adding value as having its own intrinsic value.

As I mentioned, I don't know you or your writing well for the complete context of some of your video comments, but I don't really understand the value for anyone of telling each and every single person off that you're planning of not following.

I think it's simpler and clearer if you simply write an article or page or record a new video putting your follow/stop following policy out clearly and then anyone who wonders or asks can find it all there.

Unless telling a lot of people off in direct messages is gratifying. Maybe it is for you.

It currently looks like you're following a horde of people so I'm guessing a lot of your rant stems from your being on holiday without a desktop based screener like TweetDeck or Tweetie.

As for humanity on Twitter — almost all of it is humanity. The big exceptions are spam bots and people publicizing their post with automated tools, like Twitter Tools — you know, the tool that you used to promote this article on Twitter yourself!

If I were you, next time I'd turn off Twitter while on vacation.

Hi Gib,

Thanks for the comment, considering you not a fan of my tweets or writing, It's obviously taking a bit step to come and comment, so thanks for that.

Setting the thanks aside, I'll answer your points in the same tone in which you made them:

1. Firstly I'm not much of a ranter, so this isn't usual. And secondly, I don't see anything I've said being mutually exclusive with being a passionate Christian. Also being a Christian doesn't mean I'm a sucker, nor a passive wimp.

2. Saying that *recently* there has been a change in Twitter and a lot of the discussion and humanity seems to have gone does not mean that I don't still get a lot of value out of Twitter. What I am saying is, as a person who uses it a lot, I've noticed some change. I'm not the only person saying this at all either.

Nor am I saying that it is *all* trash. But I have put my hands up and gladly admit that often I just RT stuff. Some people take to doing this loads and loads.

3. I do unfollow people who completely change, or start spamming. And sometimes if they are someone I've interacted a lot with before I'll talk to them before I do. And I don't do this in a prescriptive “you're not doing it my way” way, but in a way that seeks to understand.

4. True, value is in the eyes of the beholder. But that doesn't nullify one's attempt to make a tweet more valuable. That logic is the same as saying “don't try and make someone feel valued, because value is in their eyes anyway” – doesn't work.

5. Very true observation that Twitter does get used by myself and others as an instant messaging tool – but that is a large part of it's use, and one of the uses by some of the best Twitter users that i know. Since Twitter changed it's @replies rules, you no longer see this discussion in your main feed if the person is talking to people who you don't follow – so in many cases, people won't see the discussion anymore.

You're point of trying to make each tweet self contained is a very good one, and one I have tried to stick too but unfortunately don't do at every turn. However, like real life, often people join the conversation late and don't understand what you're talking about till you explain it.

Twitter is “ambient”, the idea that you don't have to read every person's tweet. Taking a “I must read everything everyone I am following is saying” is a hard way to use Twitter, or Facebook, or anything, because there is so much information.

6. Thanks for the exaggeration of a previous comment and making a dig about telling people off in DMs being gratifying. Perhaps telling them off on their blogs in public is more gratifying? I haven't tried it – perhaps you could advise me?

7. Yes I follow a lot of people, too many. I tried an auto-follower back in March hence the number. And of course, I also seek out new people and talk to them. Believe it or not, however, I don't see the majority of those I'm following's tweets, they don't seem to tweet that much.

I don't use Tweetdeck. I use Tweetie on my phone and mac, hence I skim every tweet. And my rant wasn't about having 'tons of people' making lots of noise, it was about less people, but there wasn't much humanity. And if that's me too then people can tell me – constructively telling me probably helps, rather than plain criticism.

8. Humanity is starting to lack quite a bit on Twitter actually because tons of people believe that in order to be heard and gain more followers they have to turn their feeds into information streams, full of RTs etc.

Spam bots rarely tweet us, they just follow us. And as for me, I promote my blog every time I write a new article, as do all the top bloggers in the world. Are you going to take them on too?

9. I'm quite happy using twitter a few times a day when on Holiday, thank you very much.

Hi Gib,

Thanks for the comment, considering you not a fan of my tweets or writing, It's obviously taking a bit step to come and comment, so thanks for that.

Setting the thanks aside, I'll answer your points in the same tone in which you made them:

1. Firstly I'm not much of a ranter, so this isn't usual. And secondly, I don't see anything I've said being mutually exclusive with being a passionate Christian. Also being a Christian doesn't mean I'm a sucker, nor a passive wimp.

2. Saying that *recently* there has been a change in Twitter and a lot of the discussion and humanity seems to have gone does not mean that I don't still get a lot of value out of Twitter. What I am saying is, as a person who uses it a lot, I've noticed some change. I'm not the only person saying this at all either.

Nor am I saying that it is *all* trash. But I have put my hands up and gladly admit that often I just RT stuff. Some people take to doing this loads and loads.

3. I do unfollow people who completely change, or start spamming. And sometimes if they are someone I've interacted a lot with before I'll talk to them before I do. And I don't do this in a prescriptive “you're not doing it my way” way, but in a way that seeks to understand.

4. True, value is in the eyes of the beholder. But that doesn't nullify one's attempt to make a tweet more valuable. That logic is the same as saying “don't try and make someone feel valued, because value is in their eyes anyway” – doesn't work.

5. Very true observation that Twitter does get used by myself and others as an instant messaging tool – but that is a large part of it's use, and one of the uses by some of the best Twitter users that i know. Since Twitter changed it's @replies rules, you no longer see this discussion in your main feed if the person is talking to people who you don't follow – so in many cases, people won't see the discussion anymore.

You're point of trying to make each tweet self contained is a very good one, and one I have tried to stick too but unfortunately don't do at every turn. However, like real life, often people join the conversation late and don't understand what you're talking about till you explain it.

Twitter is “ambient”, the idea that you don't have to read every person's tweet. Taking a “I must read everything everyone I am following is saying” is a hard way to use Twitter, or Facebook, or anything, because there is so much information.

6. Thanks for the exaggeration of a previous comment and making a dig about telling people off in DMs being gratifying. Perhaps telling them off on their blogs in public is more gratifying? I haven't tried it – perhaps you could advise me?

7. Yes I follow a lot of people, too many. I tried an auto-follower back in March hence the number. And of course, I also seek out new people and talk to them. Believe it or not, however, I don't see the majority of those I'm following's tweets, they don't seem to tweet that much.

I don't use Tweetdeck. I use Tweetie on my phone and mac, hence I skim every tweet. And my rant wasn't about having 'tons of people' making lots of noise, it was about less people, but there wasn't much humanity. And if that's me too then people can tell me – constructively telling me probably helps, rather than plain criticism.

8. Humanity is starting to lack quite a bit on Twitter actually because tons of people believe that in order to be heard and gain more followers they have to turn their feeds into information streams, full of RTs etc.

Spam bots rarely tweet us, they just follow us. And as for me, I promote my blog every time I write a new article, as do all the top bloggers in the world. Are you going to take them on too?

9. I'm quite happy using twitter a few times a day when on Holiday, thank you very much.

I completely agree with your message here Scott. Not only is it all trash, but completely useless and undermining the excellence of Twitter. To my idea all this trash as you call it does clutter homepages so much, that you miss a lot of the valuable tweets. So, I say: do not just avoid the trash and publish to add value, but keep the number of tweets you publish as low as possible. The 140 character limit does improve the tweets a lot, a once or twice a day tweet limit would improve it a lot more.

Jeroen,

I think how you use Twitter will effect frustration levels. If you read every tweet, then yes, it will iritiate you easily. I prefer to think of it like a party – I like everyone in the room, value what they have to say, but can't listen to every conversation at the same time.