| You're right. Intuition isn't the same as data. However I can see where the author is coming from as now I am engaged this is how I use Twitter too. Anecdotally it seems correct that people that get the best out of Twitter are those that interact publicly and productively with non-celebrity strangers. One line seems to hit the nail on the head: > On Twitter, you interact with people you don’t know,
> and the friendship doesn’t have to be mutual. This is a
> good thing, but can be scary at first.
This is what makes Twitter great but it depends on growing your confidence and interacting inside communities where this is a norm. It can be quite socially dangerous to mess this up: some communities have high walls and aggressive in-group tendencies, and some people do not yet have the social skill required for global online communities.The other day I read this great quote by Nick Szabo on Usenet and I think it holds true for Twitter, too: "Those who have never tried electronic communication
may not be aware of what a "social skill" really is.
One social skill that must be learned, is that other
people have points of view that are not only different,
but *threatening*, to your own. In turn, your opinions
may be threatening to others. There is nothing wrong
with this. Your beliefs need not be hidden behind a
facade, as happens with face-to-face conversation.
Not everybody in the world is a bosom buddy, but you
can still have a meaningful conversation with them.
The person who cannot do this lacks in social skills."
Twitter needs to connect like people to like people and slowly nurture positive, open conversation. But there are certain things you can't expect people to do with just a nice UX.Perhaps they should be influencing with PR and education as well as UX. |