What Is The Value Of Twitter? For Starters, A Quick Glance Of Ideas, News And Data

I hear these weird statements: Twitter is a waste of time and what's the point and who cares if you are going to the pool. I'm not sure where this comes from... Perhaps because Twitter, the 140 character-limit information tool, is so simple. Quick information, what you need to know, scanable and nothing more. I thought I'd spend this post defending Twitter.

Twitter takes social knowledge and turns it into something simple. Take Facebook, for example, do you really want to play Farmville or MafiaWars while at work? Is this how you should be spending your time? Perhaps you think so, but I'd argue that your boss might have a different view. Twitter, on the other hand, is meta (or data about data, if you will). The people I choose to follow post interesting and important information, I scan and click on what is interesting. Many times, I'll then retweet the information to spread it even further. I also love Twitter's "trending news" features. And that's the cool thing about Twitter. People will be able to report news faster than some news aggregation software. It is as though the knowledge is finding me! 

The next time someone bashes Twitter ask them about the Facebook, user interface or another social network. Go ahead and inquire as to what is easier to read/review/act on... The answer TWITTER!