The Posterity Project: To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question...

I've been asked by more than one colleague (OK, two to be exact, not an overwhelming demand, but hey, its a quorum!) about why I'm not yet on Twitter. It seems the 140-character social networking tool is sweeping the nation, and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. According to PC Magazine, "visits to Twitter have increased 1,382 percent since last year - from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 7 million in February 2009... The numbers also make Twitter the fastest growing member community destination for February."

As Twitter's popularity has surged, businesses have sought opportunities to capitalize on the social networking site, politicians utilize Twitter to communicate with constituents, and celebrities are using Twitter to communicate with fans. There's a bit of narcissism inherent among this triumvirate of social gadflies, so I can understand Twitter's appeal there, but what about the rest of us? The regular folks?

I've been reluctant to utilize Twitter because, quite honestly, I don't see how anyone outside my immediate family, friends and colleagues would really care what I'm thinking at any given moment in 140 characters or less...

Yeah, I know I sound a bit like an old fuddy-duddy-stick-in-the-mud "Grumpy Old Man" when it comes to Twitter, but I'm starting to educate myself about this, and I might be willing to come around to "tweeting" if someone can convince me that there are practical applications to this social networking tool.

I've thought about using Twitter to deliver links to news I would normally post in my "Weekly Roundup," but would this add more to my already busy workload? I'm not sure. I also wonder whether or not Twitter will be around long term. Twitter is just three years old. Will Twitter's business model (or lack thereof) survive the economic downturn? It took me a while to get on the blogging bandwagon, and when I finally launched the Posterity Project I began reading articles about the demise of blogging as a relevant social networking tool. Guess I'm just someone who does not believe in buying the first generation gizmo as soon as it hits the shelves.

I've gathered a few "Related Links" to learn more about the practical applications of Twitter for archivists, but would be interested in learning more. So what do you think? "To tweet or not to tweet?," that is the question I'm posing to my readers. I welcome your comments.

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