Twitter: The Future of Blogging?

In the past two weeks Twitter has BLOWN UP. I like to think I joined the movement before it was everywhere, but I think I am more on the cusp of figuring it out before it got cool, and being on the first wave of those who discovered its trendiness. For the sake of my own narcissism, I am going to argue that I obviously jumped on the bandwagon BEFORE it was cool.

In any case, I have more and more friends who are signing onto Twitter, and I've noticed a significant increase in press that is Twitter related.



Twitter is, in a sense, micro-blogging. However, I've found that in the past week or so, as I've been increasingly busy with work, all I have had time to do is micro-blog (tweet), and subsequently my actual blog has been suffering. It's significantly easier to tweet on the go--I have the app "TwitterFon" on my iPhone--than it is to blog, and there's significantly less pressure to write anything profound or well thought out (although I'll be the first to admit that these posts lack much planning or anything too profound). I don't feel the need to edit my tweets for spelling or grammatical errors; when you only have 140 characters (or less) to write something, all spelling and grammar rules go out the window.

I'm also noticing that various public figures who's blogs I've read in the past are now Twittering more than they are blogging--why read their blog when I can get quick tidbits of info from a Twitter feed? It's more time efficient--like an RSS feed of various peoples' streams of consciousness.

That being said, Twitter still isn't as mainstream as Facebook or even the general blogosphere, and the average person might remain uncomfortable about signing on. At it's core, Twitter is most useful to celebrities, writers, reporters, and public figures of any notoriety, and especially brands looking to track buzz. It's a strong branding tool, either for an individual or for a company, and as I've mentioned before I'm convinced that it's ushering in a new phase of web 2.0.

However, AND LET ME BE CLEAR, just because I have a new found love and appreciation for the simplicity of Twitter, I vow to NOT LET this blog become obsolete--I shall continue to write and ramble and do my best to entertain or annoy. I shall Tweet and I shall Blog and I shall remain, above all, a huge, huge nerd.