Twitter Up, Blogging Down

Yes, I’m Twittering more than I’m blogging here lately. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Just a few minutes ago, Jeremiah Owyang posted to Twitter:

“Is your blogging reducing due to Twitter usage? It has for Adam Stewart.”

…So I hopped over to see what Adam Stewart had to say. This part of his post rang true for me:

“Generally, one line of thought often turns into a blog post. With Twitter, that one line of thought becomes a small post that speaks for itself, and it feels like old content once I release it into the Twittersphere.”

So I commented:

“Yeah, I’ve definitely noticed this effect re: my personal blog Contentious.com. Hasn’t hurt the blogs I run for clients, but the cobbler’s children has no shoes. Honestly, I generally find Twitter more personally useful and satisfying than blogging. Can’t sum that one up in 140 characters, so I guess I’ll have to blog it. But at least now, while I’m wrangling with a heavy workload, Twitter gives me a way to vent some of my compulsion to converse and share with the people who seem to be the core audience of my blog anyway.”

…As I imbibe more green tea and think this through further, I remember that blogs have always been an awkward tool to satisfy my deepest desires for conversational media. Yeah, I love to write — but I tend to find quality conversation far morerewarding and satisfying than merely writing. Despite all Twitter’s limitations and weaknesses (which are many) I find it to be a superior conversational media tool. In many ways.

Of course, I’m sure that whatever conversational media tools crop up in the next few years will be even more versatile, robust, and usable. I’m looking forward to being part of that evolution. What about you?

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2 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

This deserves a post unto itself rather than a comment. Thought-provoking article, I’ll link back to it.


2. Mark Dykeman on March 20th, 2008 at 6:18 am
I agree – from the writer’s point of view. I enjoy sending out that crisp comment that my brain is bursting to release. After all, I’ve got important ideas circulating between my ears.
But ask readers. I much rather read a thought that is fully fleshed out – one that has been considered, augmented, matured and perhaps altered as a result. Maybe that makes me a poor fit for conversational media.
But Twitter strikes me as something other than conversation. It is a shout out, a eureka moment, a rough draft that may mature into a transaction that becomes conversational media.
I’m new enough to twitter that I’m not yet ready to draw broad conclusions. But to me, twitter is a bit selfish and self-indulgent to be considered conversational media.
Perhaps that’s why I like it.


3. Dave Poulson on March 19th, 2008 at 11:04 am

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By Blogging more or less because of Twitter? | Broadcasting Brain on March 20, 2008 at 6:37 am

[...] Gahran, who I’ve been following on Twitter, writes an interesting post about her experiences using Twitter vs. her standard blogs. Quoting from her post: …I remember that blogs have always been an awkward tool to satisfy [...]