digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

101 Everyday Uses for Twitter

insidecrm.com — The simple dictionary definition of "Twitter" is "microblogging/social networking platform that places a 140- character limit on each individual post/tweet." However, describing Twitter thusly would fail to encapsulate the power of this new omnipresent medium. So, instead here are 101 examples of how Twitter members regularly use the service.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • psogle, on 05/21/2008, -8/+25This is awesome. Basically a list of people that will spam you on Twitter, for some reason I still follow Calacanis and Scoble
    • LazerPotatoe, on 05/21/2008, -3/+1It's not spam if you subscribe to it, and can unsubscribe whenever you want...
  • darkchild82, on 05/21/2008, -11/+80Am I the only one on Digg who still doesn't have Twitter account?
    • natertots, on 05/21/2008, -3/+62i thought i was the only one
    • MrBelding, on 05/21/2008, -3/+23I have a soc media friend that was floored when I told them I don't have a twitter account. I'm probably the only guy still roaming around with a cell phone that doesn't have internet or bluetooth capability. Of course my car has a broken tape deck with a Lionel Richie cassette looping 'Penny Lover' but thats a different story for a different time.
      • stoperror, on 05/21/2008, -0/+17It is good to know we aren't alone, but that Lionel Richie thing is just creepy.
        • jbettineski, on 05/21/2008, -0/+4Agreed. I dont have bluetooth, a twitter account, and I do find that Lionel Richie thing creepy...
          but then again, I do have Duran Duran's greatest hits in my car for those 'special' times.
        • halobender, on 05/21/2008, -0/+7Special times?
      • FredFredrickson, on 05/21/2008, -3/+11My phone's got internet, but I refuse to use it. I'm not paying $50 more for slow-ass cell phone internet, just so I can tell people when I'm taking a dump on Twitter.
        • xino, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2You don't need Internet access on your phone to use twitter. Text messaging is all you need.
      • PleaseJustDie, on 05/21/2008, -0/+4Hell I don't even have a cell phone... I had one but canceled it when my contract expired. Couldn't justify spending 60 bucks on a device I used once every 3 months. If people need to get in contact with me they can call my landline and leave a message. I might even call them back.
    • Farik, on 05/21/2008, -3/+7I've recently created an account and it works great with Twinkle for the iPhone. When I'm not at a computer, it's nice to keep those I'm usually in contact with up-to-date on what I'm doing (sounds quite sad now that I think about about it).
      • dpcamp, on 05/21/2008, -3/+10and quite narcissistic to think they even care
      • Farik, on 05/21/2008, -1/+2Using the logic of narcissism could be applied to any blog or bio that is online. I should have said I also use twitter to keep up-to-date with my friends.
    • iamgreg007, on 05/21/2008, -3/+16Not only don't I have a twitter account, I've never even been to the site.

      How do you like THEM apples?!

      (though, well see how that changes after my POS computer finally loads this article)
      • halleyscomet, on 05/21/2008, -0/+5Dude! Me too!
      • ziromix, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1i thought -i- was the only one. i didn't even know twitter was a site! i thought it was an iphone program!
    • Stomper622, on 05/21/2008, -1/+21No, you're not.

      If anyone can honestly give me a valid reason to "microblog", I will give them a gold star.
      • ArmandoM, on 05/21/2008, -11/+2If you can't think of a reason, then you aren't interesting enough for anybody to follow you, and therefore you will not be able to find a valid reason.
        • StaticThunder, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3Oh, this is a good argument. Because lots of people care what everyone on twitter is doing every second of their beautiful unique interesting lives.

          Please, pull the other one, its got bells on.

          Best joke I've seen lately is two guys talking, one says I have nothing to say, the other says, "you should blog about it."

          Most people aren't that interesting.
        • Stomper622, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3LOL @"Follow you".

      • halleyscomet, on 05/21/2008, -4/+12Sad, pathetic, narcissistic little children desperately seeking ways to stroke their fragile, attention hungry egos?

        The derive their personal self worth not from accomplishment, but from high school notions of "popularity"?

        It's a way to feed obsessive-compulsive disorder without using up thousands of paper journals and gallons of ink?
        • Commodore13, on 05/24/2008, -0/+1Aren't you on digg? You do know that most of the people running this show use this service right?
      • stalky14, on 05/23/2008, -0/+1I think it's so people who don't know anyone willing to give them their phone number will have somewhere to send text messages to.
    • CodeCobalt, on 05/21/2008, -1/+5got you all beat... I consider myself to have my finger on the pulse for the most part, but i've never even heard of twitter. and I'm perfectly content.
    • tombonneau, on 05/21/2008, -3/+11Sign up for yet another trendy social service that basically acts as the "Status Message" on any IM program?

      No thanks.
    • Mier, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3Yes just another doodad on the internet to tell someone what you're up too.

      Although like the other guys I got it cause I wanted a shot at Alex's 360.
    • lamiaconfitor, on 05/21/2008, -1/+3the funny thing is, I think the idea of twitter could be applied to a PC application in a practical manner... in-so-far-as... if you place a specific status message to your personal social networking sites, why should it not apply to any/and all other(s)? would it or would it not be an application that has many specific macros applied with specific exceptions/rules with login names??
    • ProjectGSX, on 05/21/2008, -1/+7PA summed up my opinion of Twitters value here: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/4/23/
    • SkoGoody, on 05/21/2008, -2/+8I don't even know what Twitter is. I'm being 100% serious. From what I've heard and kinda gathered... I don't want to either.

      I can't spend the rest of my life coming to this stinking internet every ten minutes to pore over the, excruciating minutia, of every, single, daily event.
    • majorca, on 05/21/2008, -4/+5What's Twitter?
    • proverbs17, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1Wow, I thought I was the only one.

      I have been to the site, and I have been to sites that constantly show what is coming up on Twitter.

      The ONLY thing I haven't figured out is what GOOD is it? I thought I was just old and out of touch. My guess is that it's a 13 - 21 year old kind of thing???
    • golvin, on 05/23/2008, -1/+0You are not alone. Me too ;)
  • msaleem, on 05/21/2008, -9/+15Summize has to be one of my favorite third-party Twitter tools.
  • scoreboard27, on 05/21/2008, -6/+36Twitter = biggest timesuck ever but there ARE people who find utility and productivity in it.
    • TalSiach, on 05/21/2008, -2/+14Agreed, Twitter can take a lot of your time but you can get a lots of value out of it! I personally love it!
    • n8o8, on 05/21/2008, -0/+14Digg = biggest timesuck ever but there ARE people who find utility and productivity in it!
  • cyber49, on 05/21/2008, -5/+14I agree that twitter has been a big timesucker for me too, what I've actually found some remarkably useful tidbits there, that have inspired articles I've written myself, and even purchasing of domain names and spawning businesses.
  • thewordisberry, on 05/21/2008, -4/+16Just getting into Twitter myself. Like any social media it can be useful or a timesuck depending on how you use it. :)
    • Bukowsky, on 05/21/2008, -2/+4It took me awhile to really get into it and like it... But, now I love it. I use it constantly. It really is a great way to stay up to date with whats going on in the Blogosphere / Social Media world.

      I subscribed to Twitter-Feeds like CNN & Associated Press.. and they twitter out any breaking news. Which is also pretty nice.
  • lekahe, on 05/21/2008, -4/+6I have found it is really efficient for teacher's networking. Useful tools spread all over in no time :)
  • dimmerswitch, on 05/21/2008, -3/+10An entire beer section - well done my friend, well done.
  • decepticrat, on 05/21/2008, -3/+14I use twitter for so many different things beyond just microblogging my bowel movements. I mean their TRACK function alone makes twitter a worthwhile tool for customized paging.
  • obeezy, on 05/21/2008, -5/+7Thanks! I just recently got active on twitter. Perfect timing :)
  • jasonnazar, on 05/21/2008, -2/+23Use #102 - "test the limit of ruby on rails"
  • eminiguy, on 05/21/2008, -7/+34"Am I the only one on Digg who still doesn't have Twitter account?"

    No, there are two of us, actually. It takes an IQ of at least 50 in order to dismiss Twitter as, well, twitter...
    • Waiting2awake, on 05/21/2008, -6/+19Count us three. I don't see the purpose of it.
    • romistrub, on 05/21/2008, -1/+7Me too! Me too!
    • lekahe, on 05/21/2008, -1/+4I thought so for a long time, but finally decided to join. I have found many advantages... not 101 but anyway. Besides if you have the account, you are not obliged to use it all the time.
  • PolarExpress, on 05/21/2008, -3/+10And this is just Twitter 101. There are so many more ways to use Twitter. I've found it useful to find good articles, tell about my bbq, tweet the birth of my son, meet new people, find bloggers to invite to Iceland, exchange water cooler stories, get inside stories, eye witness accounts from natural disasters, learning about what people are eating for breakfast ... you could go on and on.

    (ok, I admit, I am a Twittoholic)
    • natertots, on 05/21/2008, -0/+14i thought you said it was useful
    • FredFredrickson, on 05/21/2008, -2/+2I think you're just a twit.
    • lintmonkey, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3I've never used Twitto. Is it any good?
    • martin77, on 05/21/2008, -1/+6 " learning about what people are eating for breakfast."
      ....on that note Your Honour regarding the usefulness of Twitter the prosecution hereby rests its case.
  • Emma1989, on 05/21/2008, -7/+3In particular I like twittering with my friends ;-)
    • FredFredrickson, on 05/21/2008, -1/+4Are your friends a bunch of parakeets?
    • lintmonkey, on 05/21/2008, -0/+5I only twitter with my enemies.
  • kukon, on 05/21/2008, -5/+6I love it
  • maxyRO, on 05/21/2008, -3/+7+ cure buredom
  • thebuggalo, on 05/21/2008, -8/+26what's a twitter?
  • nemock, on 05/21/2008, -4/+4Twitter is fun, but it is a major timesuck.
  • jealousjulie, on 05/21/2008, -4/+3It can be entertaining to follow certain key words and you can turn the tracking on/off with a quick text.
  • Atsumori, on 05/21/2008, -5/+5Twitter is cool and all, but this is just lame.
  • alecrose, on 05/21/2008, -6/+10Twitter is great. I love letting the government know exactly what I'm doing all the time.
    • CrackyJSquirrel, on 05/21/2008, -5/+3This is Crazy Mikes Tin Foil Hat Emporium! We are slashing prices, cutting the bottom right out from our own feet. Buy one tin foil hat and get the second one half price! But two, and yes you guessed it, get the third one FREEEEEE!!!!!

      All hats are inspected before sale to ensure they did not pass through government agencies, compromising your inner thoughts. We take pride in caring for our customers, because if the government gets ya, we have no return sales.

      YEEEEEEEHAWWWWWW!!!!
    • jabelar, on 05/21/2008, -2/+2Well, it could also be useful as an alibi ... "I couldn't have done THAT crime, cause as you can see on Twitter I was ..."
  • Wuss, on 05/21/2008, -10/+36I recently got at a twitter account, mostly just to confirm my suspicions on how pointless it is.

    I may be cocky sometimes, but I'm not going to assume that anyone in this world really gives 2 cents what I'm doing every hour, and quite frankly, I don't care what anyone else is doing.

    Spare me the "you don't get it" 's. By my definition, I get it better then those who think they get it. ;P
    • ralphthemagi, on 05/21/2008, -0/+6It's not really about what you are doing every hour. That's how they chose to market it originally, but that's not really how it's used.

      Twitter is really just a public IM client with a text message gateway.

      Look at a lot of people actually use it. It has nothing to do with micro-blogging. It only becomes micro-blogging for those outside of a circle that follow others.
      • yoblin, on 05/21/2008, -0/+8you're the first person that made me understand the useful purpose to twitter....

        if a regular text message is unicast, twitter is just unobtrusive multicast
    • topgigmedia, on 05/21/2008, -3/+3I couldn't agree with you more. This may sound offensive (and I do not intend to offend), but Twitter to me is perfect for the self-absorbed, self-important, socialphobe. It has this "look at me - I am so cool and important!" aspect to it that is a little annoying. Curious, when Twitter users (or "Twits" as I like to call them), meet up for coffee/beer, what do they talk about? It isn't like you need to tell each other what you have been up to lately.
    • dlsspy, on 05/22/2008, -0/+3I care by topic. If someone talks about a project I'm working on, I can hear about it and perhaps help them, or learn more about how my project is being used and how I can help make it better.

      I also just pick up new information about stuff I'm interested in or events I'm attending (such as seeing what people were talking about in areas of shdh I wasn't paying attention to).

      I also use it to find out why (and when) the train is late.

      And sometimes, yeah, I use it to find out what my friends are doing.
    • Auryn, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1least you can talk without a constant 140 character limit..
  • mattus, on 05/21/2008, -3/+3I can't say I see the point of Twitter. Isn't it just Facebook's status feature... and nothing else? Then why not just use Facebook?
    • Drakonik, on 05/21/2008, -0/+5I guess because Twitter is a stand-alone status feature. With Facebook, you need a special app, or you need to log in to the site, to see that statuses of your friends. With twitter, it's just...there.

      With that said, though, I have trouble believing that anybody, even people who really like me, would care to read "driving to mall","at mall, buying food","driving home","making poo","eating supper","having sex with neighbor's wife","sleep time, good night" and the like.
    • dlsspy, on 05/22/2008, -0/+2Well, firstly, no, it's not. You can use it via IM and subscribe to words (if you speak the name of one of my projects on twitter while I'm logged into my computer, I will hear you). It's a great specialized feature.

      And secondly, that's just it. By focusing on this feature primarily, they can do it better than just a side feature of facebook. Is facebook the best blogging platform you've seen? Best photo sharing site you've seen? Best video sharing site? It's OK at a few things, but not *great* at any of them.

      It's...the mall.

      If you shop around some, you can find things like twitter for the quick statuses (and global tracking with history and all that). You can pick your favorite blogging platform (I've written my own, but I use tumblr some, too). You can share your photos a way that suits you the best (I wrote my own, again, but lots of people tend to dig flickr). And you can use something like friendfeed to make it harvest all that information and bring it together in one place.
    • Auryn, on 05/22/2008, -0/+1why not just use Google calendar? Or connect the two? Why just facebook? Why not myspace? Why not plaxo? Why not aol?

      Anyways. Regardless of the reason people choose this or that network, the point I'm trying to make is, that not everybody's needs are the same.

      What might work for one person, might work better for another person based on their needs.

      And what might not work for everyone, may work for someone else. Or a group of others.

      Personally, I use it to connect it to my Google calendar, because though Google calendar is wonderful, I find the third party apps quicker to use 'for me'.

      I, personally like to keep a record, as sort of a diary, of my life so that I'm able to recall certain events later, about this or that, or 'when' i bought something. I'm sure nobody could care less what I'm up to. I care. Maybe one day i can share certain events with my children one day.

      I wish my grandmother had things like this in her day. I would have loved to read about what her life was like. her thoughts at my age. etc. My grandfathers too. My Parents too.

      That is not for the case for everyone I'm sure. That's just me :)
  • dpds, on 05/21/2008, -2/+5Twitter - drop micro turds on the internet instead of ***** on it in big lumps. Reduces the risk that your blog might contain some worthwhile content.
  • sjmorton, on 05/21/2008, -1/+5102. Just lost 2 minutes of my life reading useless article about 101 uses of Twitter
  • winmywii, on 05/21/2008, -1/+4My eyes are bleeding from that text.
  • liadah, on 05/21/2008, -5/+1Very cool post.
  • DCstewieG, on 05/21/2008, -3/+21Hmm. This article further proves to me that Twitter is useless. Am I the only one who just doesn't "get" it? I'm not sure who seems more lame, the people posting on Twitter, or the ones reading it.
  • TBagwell, on 05/21/2008, -3/+9psst... I'm about to take a dump
  • kmr2, on 05/21/2008, -5/+0Found another great use the other day - customer and market research. Use www.tweetscan.com to search the public timeline for specific problems/pain points/needs. Great from a product management or marketing perspective. I just blogged this morning about an example where this helped us: http://blog.paybackable.com/articles/2008/05/21/ho ...
    • mCanada, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Apparently "spaming the holy ***** out of digg" is another use for it too.
  • Phrase, on 05/21/2008, -5/+1J-J-J-JAIKU
  • NJPENSO, on 05/21/2008, -4/+12#102:
    Pretending people care about what you do every ten minutes.

    Get a grip, no one cares what you're doing. This is like myspace bulletins for old men.
    • tombonneau, on 05/21/2008, -0/+0Exactly. I joined only because I'm in marketing and had to see what it's about, and when I imported my address book the only people who were on it were other marketing professionals who are 40+. (I'm 31.)
    • jpinsonault, on 05/21/2008, -1/+2It's not about telling people what your doing.

      I've seen it transform a normal audience into the borg. They all start twittering and suddenly they have a collective consciousness. It's pretty amazing in action.
  • FredFredrickson, on 05/21/2008, -4/+4Who actually reads this Twitter *****? I don't care what people are doing every 5 seconds... and the people who update that often spend too much time on Twitter to actually enjoy / get anything out of whatever the hell they are doing.
    • halleyscomet, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1Half of them just use a freeware program that posts random actions to their Twitter.
  • MissAttitude7, on 05/21/2008, -3/+1Wait, I can brew beer on Twitter? Another reason I love it!
  • Aidje, on 05/21/2008, -1/+1Twitter is in the dictionary?
  • cmdrNacho, on 05/21/2008, -4/+24Am i the only one that thinks twitter is completely pointless and useless, and for some reason can't figure out what the big deal about it is. would love to know why real people that use it.. love it
  • Klak, on 05/21/2008, -2/+2102: annoy everyone you know and waste their time.
    • D14BL0, on 05/21/2008, -0/+2It's impossible to annoy people through Twitter. If they don't like it (or you), then they don't subscribe to it (or you).
  • mjamil, on 05/21/2008, -0/+4OK, so I'll admit - I don't get it. I signed up for an account (because someone pestered me to do so). Um, so what next? Is the idea that I need to constantly be checking the twitter Web interface to see if any people in my circle have posted a message? I'll try to analogize to improve my understanding... is twitter like creating an irc channel and having all of your friends join it (and maybe everyone can check this irc channel from their mobile devices and what not), and then have everyone post to the irc channel so everyone else can see the message? In other words, is it a invite-only broadcast mechanism?

    If it's something else, can someone please explain to me what it is (and try not to be condescending when you do it), and how to use it?

    If it is as I imagine, how is this better than, say, facebook to keep in touch with people (I'm not much of a facebook user either; that's probably not a coincidence)? (Or an e-mail list, or an irc channel, or myriad other means of group communication.) Why is twitter suddenly so popular? Is it the ease of usage? Is it some other factor that isn't obvious to me?
    • mofw, on 05/21/2008, -1/+1I have the feeling that most people using twitter have no idea what an IRC channel is.
  • Chimmy, on 05/21/2008, -3/+4Twitter is a waste of time said the Digger community...
  • whittmadden, on 05/21/2008, -6/+1Wonders if I should twitter this Digg article?
    • lamiaconfitor, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1do what I do, digg the article to express your hatred of the subject/object of the article....
    • whittmadden, on 05/21/2008, -0/+1I was just trying a play on words. Everybody always 'diggs' articles, I just wondered if I should 'twitter' a Digg? I didn't know i was gonna get Dugg down for it. :)
  • lamiaconfitor, on 05/21/2008, -7/+3H8 twitter, sorry techies... but this crosses the line, I refuse to be a twitter *****!
  • invisiblehat, on 05/21/2008, -4/+3I signed up for Twitter about 6 months ago, and I have not used it. Not even once.
    Somehow, I feel no great hole in my life due to the absence of Twitter.

    I strongly feel that people are too digitally connected as it is. Twitter seems like one more nail in the coffin of 'real' life.

    Enough's a enough!
  • 3eaky, on 05/21/2008, -2/+1Great article - enjoyed the read, thanks Todd!
  • TeMerc, on 05/21/2008, -1/+8FFS! Twitter, Pownce, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Beebo, Me.dium, ...who the ***** has time for all that stuff? Must be great to be able to sit all day to update all those, I have trouble updating one, let alone all
  • MsAntiSunshine, on 05/21/2008, -3/+1Dugg for #11 being a quote from XKCD.
  • invisiblehat, on 05/21/2008, -6/+1Between having a cell phone, having a life, email, maintaining my kick-ass blog (http://beatsandblood.blogspot.com), making music, working, having a girlfriend, watching movies, and breathing, I really don't see a need for Twitter.
    • D14BL0, on 05/21/2008, -0/+4No, your blog sucks. You don't even have a real domain.
  • Thorpe, on 05/21/2008, -1/+5I only find it useful to find out what new tea Kevin Rose is drinking.
  • fabio1, on 05/21/2008, -0/+4At first I created a twitter account to see what it was all about. Then I got to read some people's feeds, but 99% is "I'm taking a dump" or "woot!!! I'm eating chicken". So no wonder it got old really fast. For me, it seems that twitter's biggest selling point, microblogging, is also it's biggest flaw: sure it's quick to write, but it also makes people more prone to publish contentless posts. at least from a reader's point of view.
  • kamikaze87, on 05/21/2008, -2/+7I'd rather use twatter.
  • jrtcs, on 05/21/2008, -0/+3Do my eyes deceive me? Could it be a Top n List with all the items on one page? Dugg just for that.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 76 of 76 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.