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Do You Tweet?

I do not. But I want to hear from other writers, poets in particular, on the value of Twitter.

I can make a case that blogging keeps me active and engaged as a writer, and Facebook is a way of expanding my social network (and it's just fun). But I'm having a hard time finding value in Twitter for a poet. I want to keep an open mind about Twitter so I need your help.

[Although, this morning I was listening to this commentary on NPR about Twitter. Has social networking in general 'jumped the shark" (of course, the commentator is not a fan of Twitter)?]

Do I need to add one more piece of technology to my already overstimulated life?
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Lisa Cohen said…
I heard that on NPR also. LOL. No, I don't 'tweet' or follow Twitter. And I'm no luddite. It's just that I just can't get that interested in the mundane details of someone's moment by moment life.

I did have an idea to spoof a twitter feed in haiku, though. But don't really have the time or inclination for it.
10:49 AM
susan said…
I'm new to Twitter. I don't quite get it. I do think it is helpful for what it is designed to: a quick communication blast about what you're doing. If you use it for no other reason you can let interested readers know that you have a new post, announce you've been published, etc. That is how I'm using it. I don't chat on Twitter. I think it's idea for shout outs that don't warrant a blog post. And for those who use their phone for everything, they do check twitter notes on their phone.
12:27 PM
Deb said…
I "dent" at Identi.ca, which is a smaller, friendlier version of micro-blogging, similar to Twitter, but open source. Dave Bonta went over there, and I followed him. Several other poets also dent, and some of us cross-post to Twitter. I post my dents as FB status updates, too, which might be really annoying to some of my friends.

I am @stoney on Identi.ca and @stoneymoss @ Twitter.

I have found it delightful to work so narrowly. It is a great way to try to write haiku, American sentences, which are more difficult than they would seem! Mini-stories, all kinds of stuff. Anything that gets me writing is a tool I willingly use.

There is a group of us (mostly they) posting our short work at
http://www.openmicro.org/

Check it out!
1:44 PM
blinking memories said…
i enjoy using twitter for little one-liner poems, or snatches of prose. i think it's important to stick some poetry into the mix, so we're not just reading marketing messages, article links, and "i just got a sandwhich" posts. here's a list of some poets on twitter:
http://collinkelley.blogspot.com/2009/05/poets-on-twitter.html
3:56 PM
January said…
Thanks for the link!

I should have mentioned in my original post that I saw Collin's list, which inspired me to ask the question.
3:59 PM
Kay Cooke said…
I tweet but only cos my sister asked me to and now she and I twitter to each other basically - plus one or two others share our branch! I don't think it's of much benefit - just fun. If I worked with computers all day I think it would be fun to have conversations with others while you work ... otherwise I can't see much benefit as a poet, per se.
8:31 PM
Collin Kelley said…
As I said in my post Twitter has been useful to me to promote my work, but also to find links to interesting articles, blog posts, etc. It's a good resource for news and connecting with others. That's why I use it.
11:27 PM
Erin said…
Oprah tweets.

'Nuff said.
11:40 PM
January said…
Yes, but if Tweeting has reached Oprah's level, is it passe? Just a thought.
10:17 AM
January said…
I love all the feedback and hearing why people tweet. I may have to jump into the pool at some point, but I'm not ready yet.
10:19 AM
Dave said…
Hi January - As luck would have it, I wrote a whole blog post about this today: here. In a nutshell, I find the 140-character constraint a goad to lyrical work.(Which isn't to say I don't post more ephemeral stuff on Identica and Twitter, too.)
8:33 PM
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