Pleased to Tweet You

Not everyone likes Twitter. Not everyone gets it. Just like blogging, which has suffused the net with people writing about their cat’s breakfast and their love of knitting, it’s seen by many as just another way to gaze at your navel, and tell the world about it. Saturday’s Guardian described it, derisively, as merely a way of following narcicisstic celebs – ‘A micro form of blogging that allows users to text (or “tweet”) their followers and tell them they’re on a bus or, alternatively, their innermost thoughts.’

And yes, the celebs are there. Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, Jeremy Clarkson, they all tweet, some more than others.  It’s a technological Marmite, you’re either among the droves of followers who love it, or the thought of it makes you retch. But it’s a bit more than that. Journalist Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler in Twitter-speak) gets it. He wrote a good post about it on Sunday in the Business Post, including an interview with @micheleneylon who has used Twitter as a business tool, dispensing free domains and offering online advice – proof it has application in the real world.

And as for myself, tomorrow I’ll be doing my first interview arranged directly through Twitter. I’ll be meeting Olympic silver medallist boxer, and avid Twitter fan, @KennyEgan, another man who has used social media to boost his profile considerably, and whose agent/manager, @steoreilly is also on Twitter.