Twit Wit

Ahh yes twitter, I've had experiences with you before and you left with a rather wigged out feeling in that cerebral area of my body. Why did you do this to me? WHY?

The interweb life of the twit KeithSuburban has gone through many shades of use: sparse, disparate, barren. I think you get the picture. I even garnered a few followers early on, but I fear they only latched on due to an Australian affiliate of a similar name.

Twitter has definitely gone through its paces since my last visit, with the addition of lists, and a new shiny list of hot twits to follow. Despite my seeming pessimism towards the social networking site I actually ran a short course on it at my library, focusing on its usage as an information medium for new users that may not have friends on there.

So on the topic of libraries, I did some sleuthing on what the word on the walls was like: Librarians, Libraries, Librarian were my weapons of choice. People seemed to like writing about their experiences of being in libraries, whether they were studious or stupendous, or stifling under the harsh regime of the enforcing librarians. Some of these were even viewed to be quite comely, always a good sign. interesting to see different perspectives out there, and the mix of new breed/old vanguard attitudes of librarians themselves that seep though the comments. People also seem to appreciate their libraries a lot, even if they do not use them much, by their own admissions.

As for my own use? My belief that its like talking to yourself in a crowd and hoping that someone likes what they overhear enough to respond stance does noting for it growing on me. Also the fact that I prefer to keep my socialising off the net as much as I can forebodes that I only would want to use it as a news push service, the kind of thing a library would use. So all hope is not lost.

For instance, I could foresee the library using the service to update users on events and services (especially interruptions to services) and even questions from the public, which I wrote about here. it could also host lists of businesses and other important centres in the regional area that may be of interest to users, such as on local elections, building developments, and so forth. So whilst the verdict on social use is a no, for the library its a big yes. Now to deal with that tape...