Micro vs Macro Production

So I feel really very remiss about not blogging so long. Oddly enough, its not how I used to feel. "Back in the day" ...like a year ago...when I'd have a couple week hiatus from my blog for whatever reason, I'd feel guilty in a production sense - like I hadn't been kicking anything out and just letting ideas pile up and not get to them. Its different now.

I have really become quite addicted to Twitter (see graph, courtesy of Tweetstats). It didn't start out that way for me...when I first looked at Twitter, I Saw a bunch of "going to the store" and "I'm sad" kind of Tweets (that's what you call the micro-posts you put out on Twitter) and I really didn't want to keep track of all that. Now however, Twitter really seems to have hit an age where it is incredibly interesting. To be sure the "going to the store" crap is still out there but I have a higher tolerance for it and a better understanding of how to filter it. I say I have a higher tolerance for it now because it is usually mixed in with really great, thought-provoking posts from people I respect and I'll take a couple of "store" Tweets from them - its a positive ROI. On the filter side, I'm also learning the gentle art of the "unfollow" - that is electing to stop getting updates from a particular person in Twitter. "Follow" is what you do when you want to track what someone else is tweeting. There is a whole emergent layer of behavior that is being mapped out in real-time as people explore and probe at the edges of this new social environment. What is acceptable? What is not? Is it rude to unfollow? How about "locking" your Twitter account so you actually have to approve people who want to follow you?

Back to my feelings...Twitter is both a powerful and dead-on simple intake and output medium. 140 characters...that's it. Gotta love constraints for forcing creativity. So instead of blogging, I have been pusing a lot of stuff out via Twitter - stuff that I would be hard-pressed to make into a whole blog post. I've also been getting a great deal of feedback from that stuff that I sent out too. So much more feedback than blogging...I think that's really a key to the addiction is the immediate feedback...the feeling of actually being "in" a conversation instead of the monologue that blogging can feel like. 

So I am going to try to blog more again...there is ROI in the longer form but if you really want to jump into the conversation, then follow me on Twitter. :-)

P.S.

I've posted before (1,2) about the insane number of Twitter tools that are now available - with more and more coming online and a ridiculous pace. There are even a number of Twitter "How To's" coming online like this one from Webware.

Comments

[Clark Quinn]

Mark, my experience is similar, but I'm really trying to keep blogging. I see them serving different needs: Twitter is more STM: in the moment. Blog is more reflection, deeper thought. And I find valuable outcomes from the latter that are different. Hope you keep up both, as I've found value in your contributions in both channels!

[Blanche Maynard]

This post resonates with my own experience. My last blog post dates back to October... when I started becoming really addicted to Twitter. Twitter has become so much more interactive since then. People are sharing resources and ideas, and that's what I love about it. And I don't mind the "went to the store" tweets: it makes me feel closer to these folks. It makes then more humans.

[Wendy]

2 trends have gotten me more involved in Twitter than previously:

- increase in conversation between the tweeters. Esp among folks I have already talked to either online or in person or both.

- Retweets and link sharing to things I wouldn't run into otherwise.

Strangely - when I tweet, I am now getting my personal facebook friends involved. Even in the education discussions. My comments to my status in Facebook has increased dramatically. Who knew...