Twitter....what is it?

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Thaibebop
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Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:37 pm

Twitter....what is it?

Post by Thaibebop »

Hello all,
Do you guys use Twitter? My very friendly tax guy invited me to be on Twitter, so I signed up and I have no idea what this site is about or how to use it. Why use it, what does it do, is it even useful? It doesn't seem very useful. So, if you use Twitter what do you do? Who do you follow? Who follows you? Is there something for Buddhists on Twitter, that is worthwhile?
Cheers,
Thaibebop
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Aloka
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Aloka »

.

Isn't it some sort of chat/blog -type site where people talk about themselves ? I read in a newspaper once that celebrities talk about themseves and their lives there - maybe like people do in a personal diary or blog ?




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Moggalana
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Moggalana »

It's basically a catalyst for people's monkey minds ;) You'll read about people thinking about what to eat for dinner and so on. It's a waste of time, in my opinion. Most of the time at least. A couple of months ago, it was also used as a means of communication for the people demonstrating in Iran. It's hard to control for the government.
Let it come. Let it be. Let it go.
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Thaibebop
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Thaibebop »

Well, I have found alot of news sources on there already. That seems fun, to get the news right away. Could get old pretty quick as well. Have you guys heard of any scams or anything dangerous on Twitter. I ask because I have not been on long and have not posted anything and some young woman is requesting to follow my tweets. Why? I have protected my tweets from the public although I have not made any. Do people just randomly follow whoever? I could see following people you knew, friends and relatives who live far away perhaps, but why a complete stranger who isn't famous or anything? Seems a little creepy to me, but I am hermit type and don't understand all of modern soceity.
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Ben
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Ben »

Hi Thaibebop
Twitter....what is it?
Another reflecting pool for those who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder.
I avoid it.
kind regards

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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Wind
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Wind »

Twitter gives me the impression of idle chatter.. most of the tweets are not about anything important. That's just my opinion not to offend any Twitter users out there.
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Kim OHara
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Kim OHara »

Wind, you're not alone in that opinion.
It's the only form of communication I know of that is actually designed in such a way that it absolutely must be superficial.
Look at the message length limit: is it possible to say anything useful within so few characters?
Look at the way every message goes to everyone: can you say anything at all meaningful when you have to say it to everyone at once?

Okay, let's not be completely negative:
It has been shown to be politically useful on occasion.
It might be a useful emergency-warning system, if enough people sign up: TWEET cyclone hits in one hour /TWEET.

:namaste:
Kim
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christopher:::
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by christopher::: »

Yesterday a friend mentioned that a favorite band was playing in Colorado and that someone in the audience with a pair of microphones would be streaming the show live via the internet. I went to the link (what's there now is a recording, not live) and sure enough could hear the audience and the music being sent out to the world. It sounded great (especially on headphones) and it was cool to be "sharing the moment" all the way over here, in Japan.

Also to the right was a screen that looked exactly like live chat, with over a hundred people participating via twitter. Some were in the audience, some were sitting at home texting on their cell phones or computers, all listening to and commenting on the music, as it was being played.

Definitely meaningless, lol. Listening and reading simultaneously- it was multisensory junk food for folks with ADD.. but anyway, the point being that there are similarities with live chat... when people's messages are clustered together.

Do you ever do live chat, or instant messaging? For me, it seems to have some of the same limitations (and attractions) as twitter...

It's fun, but probably not very healthy.
"As Buddhists, we should aim to develop relationships that are not predominated by grasping and clinging. Our relationships should be characterised by the brahmaviharas of metta (loving kindness), mudita (sympathetic joy), karuna (compassion), and upekkha (equanimity)."
~post by Ben, Jul 02, 2009
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Thaibebop
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Thaibebop »

Kim O'Hara wrote:Wind, you're not alone in that opinion.
It's the only form of communication I know of that is actually designed in such a way that it absolutely must be superficial.
Look at the message length limit: is it possible to say anything useful within so few characters?
Look at the way every message goes to everyone: can you say anything at all meaningful when you have to say it to everyone at once?

Okay, let's not be completely negative:
It has been shown to be politically useful on occasion.
It might be a useful emergency-warning system, if enough people sign up: TWEET cyclone hits in one hour /TWEET.

:namaste:
Kim
Sure you can say something useful, hello, peace, namaste. :tongue: Just joking.
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Thaibebop
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Thaibebop »

What if you tweeted sutras, or something like that? Giving a bit of Buddhist wisdom each day. What do you guys think?
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RayfieldNeel
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by RayfieldNeel »

I currently subscribe to BuddhistGeeks, SmartBuddhist, aquietmind, and tinybuddha; sometimes a nugget of wisdom or a link to a good dharma read comes through. :)

I also follow the feed of a friend that is battling cancer, cnn headline news, and tech news feeds, and find each to be worthwhile.
Thaibebop wrote:What if you tweeted sutras, or something like that? Giving a bit of Buddhist wisdom each day. What do you guys think?
Mukunda
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Mukunda »

I subscribe to Twitter and it is a valuable source of breaking news from around the world. I also get "tweets" from a variety of spiritual teachers. I don't post much myself, but I do respond to tweets from my elected officials, thereby giving them instantaneous feed back. Twitter worked to get information out of Iran during the recent uprising and has great potential in providing the world with a witness to just about everything going on everywhere, as it provides a way to upload pictures and videos from cell phones in addition to short messages. As a matter of fact, most of the tweets I get include a link to sites providing more info. With Twitter, anyone with a cell phone can post evidence of injustice or atrocities immediately for the world to see.
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Thaibebop
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Re: Twitter....what is it?

Post by Thaibebop »

RayfieldNeel wrote:I currently subscribe to BuddhistGeeks, SmartBuddhist, aquietmind, and tinybuddha; sometimes a nugget of wisdom or a link to a good dharma read comes through. :)

I also follow the feed of a friend that is battling cancer, cnn headline news, and tech news feeds, and find each to be worthwhile.
Thaibebop wrote:What if you tweeted sutras, or something like that? Giving a bit of Buddhist wisdom each day. What do you guys think?
Thanks, I checked out the names you listed, neat! I like these little nuggest of wisdom and beauty. It's good to have such things on hand. I was thinking I might get some enjoyment outta of tweeting some short poems or nice part of songs. Something that might help some else through their day. I know I need that from time to time myself.
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