Just realized the difference between email and Twitter

by shai on יולי.23, 2009, under Computers & Technology, General

I just realized what is the difference between email and Twitter messages: Twitter messages are throw-away. You virtually never refer back to them.

While we like to keep old emails, we don't really care about old tweets.


7 Comments for this entry

  • Ira
    יולי 24th, 2009 on 09:00

    I think Email is the wrong comparison, they call it microblogging, first of all, but then some people use it for chatting like IM.

    then again, I know some people who always delete their mail after a while, keep no archives or sent messages. all idiots, of course… :)

  • shai
    יולי 24th, 2009 on 10:21

    I respectfully disagree.
    I believe the distinction between IM and twitter is temporal: immediacy v read-whenever (which is where the blogging analogy comes in).
    So in the immediacy aspect, twitter is like email: the other side is expected to read at her pleasure.
    The difference with email has more to do with the way people retain stuff.

    I think this will become important when the Wave hits us. They are mashing up many forms of communication, and then we will need to better understand our own wishes in terms of immediacy and retention.

  • Hobosic
    יולי 24th, 2009 on 18:14

    Hi,
    Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!
    Hobosic

  • Ira
    יולי 24th, 2009 on 18:40

    well then, you are expecting too much from your audience :-) If I'm off twitter for a few hours, I may scroll back a bit, but in most cases I would not bother. since you are broadcasting and not sending to a specific person, don't expect the one you intended to get it to get it, unless you used a direct message (which then shows up in her mailbox anyway)

    I had a friend who invited "everyone" on twitter to a pretty important event in his career and was a bit surprised to find out I never heard of it…

  • shai
    יולי 24th, 2009 on 18:57

    In what way am I expecting too much?
    I didn't understand the point you're making.
    Can you clarify?

  • Ira
    יולי 26th, 2009 on 03:03

    "twitter is like email: the other side is expected to read at her pleasure."

    Well no. You can't expect me to read your tweets. If it's not in my inbox, it's not important. It's just "fun to know"…

  • shai
    יולי 26th, 2009 on 09:37

    Agreed. That was the point I apparently failed to make clearly: tweets are ephemeral. You read them or not, but you never care about them a week later.

    That is the critical difference with email (and not the broadcast aspect).

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