A Week of Relevance

Ok, so Tumblr apparently requires a login to comment. Apologies on that one. Here’s the post:

This week, I want you to try to be relevant. It’s up to you to decide what is relevant for you and your followers, but I have a few suggestions to help you out.
1. Filtering yourself is the first and foremost. Everything which follows are just examples of this.
2. Unless it’s an emergency, wait at least 15 minutes to post something. If you forget it or it no longer matters, it probably wasn’t relevant.
3. If it’s only to one person, and not relevant to others, give them a text or a DM or an e-mail, don’t crowd public space with private conversation
4. Balance the informational and the personal. The point is to filter what you put out, not to filter the experiences you have.
5. Being passive aggressive or round-about online is so satisfying, isn’t it? But it’s petty and doesn’t accomplish anything, making it non-relevant.

The end point (credit to Winneganfake) is to cut the noise, increase the signal, but not to go silent.

We alter our values by altering the way we act. While it’s not an extremely slippery slope to occasionally vent about your cat peeing on your rug, or how cute that same cat can be, not having that as the main topic of your conversations will encourage you to create more things of value, and to have exchanges with people who are attempting to do the same. If you’re being responsible about the content you pass on to people who follow what you have to say, their content consumption will improve, and that helps you out as well. We’re all products of our environment, so decide what kind of environment you want to build and live in.

Other things to start on, besides your own projects: giving credit where credit is due, which includes tracing origins, and asking for permission to use others’ works. While it’s good to build on previous works, it’s also important to respect the original intent.

244 thoughts on “A Week of Relevance

  1. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

      • I’m just wondering if you’re fighting the tide. Sturgeon’s Law transcends medium: 90% of everything is crap. Whether the 10 books written on Transcendental Nipple Enlargement, or the millions of some-odd twitter users, most of them will be just terrible. Why? If you ask the writers of Yogic High Colonics For Dummies, they’ll probably tell you how proud they are and how unique and clever their work was. And someone out there worships that book as a cargo cult idol, even if it was a vapid collection of observations on bowel movements. “Day seventy-three: loose and watery.”

        Don’t get me wrong: I wish I had the ability to electrocute YouTube commenters straight through the keyboard. I could depopulate the world’s teenage population overnight. But that’s the price we pay for accessible broadcasting. You don’t get to have Miles Davis without Kenny G, except now Kenny G is functionally retarded and hyped up on hill billy meth.

        I understand your frustration with people you know are smart, capable, and accomplished nattering on about nothing. But here’s another perspective to consider.

        There is a divide between ‘work’ and ‘casual’. My scripts are formatted, run through a grammatic gauntlet, written and rewritten, and finally submitted to artists and in turn publishers with grit teeth. These words I value, and these words I spend the lion’s share of my time on. It’s hard work, harder than anything I’ve ever done. I happily take the stress of high standards for these words, for they are my Work, and they are what will speak for me when I’m dead.

        Treating every online utterance with a similar level of due diligence would not only effectively silence me, but probably give me an ulcer and high(er) blood pressure.

        I know I’m straw-manning your position a little. Mea maxima culpa. You want people to take what they say seriously, even if its humorous. I say its unhealthy to take yourself seriously, just to even out the straw-man.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

    • Again, this is not just about Twitter. This is not just about the Internet. Though those are perfectly fine places to start.

      15 minutes is arbitrary, yes. Most of the defined edges of categories are, but we have to have firmly set guidelines because there are an aweful lot of us.

      I believe it’s possible to be elegant and informative in 140 characters or less. I also believe that if people do not push themselves to be as such, we cheapen the value of what we say. It’s important to think before one speaks.

      Some things deserve blog entries, yes. I’d hazard that someone could write an interesting and informative blog entry about just about anything (and we do), if we had the time. But there should also be a point to the entry. What’s your thesis? That’s your Twitter post, if you want to talk about it on Twitter.

  2. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  3. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  4. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  5. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  6. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  7. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  8. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  9. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  10. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  11. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  12. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  13. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  14. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  15. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  16. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  17. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  18. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  19. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  20. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  21. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  22. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  23. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  24. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  25. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  26. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  27. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  28. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  29. Isn’t this a little like complaining that postage stamp art doesn’t have enough expansive landscapes, though? I mean, I’m all for cutting some of the dross, but you have 140 characters. It’s designed for off-the-cuff observations, droll comments, and occasional merchandising.

    Doesn’t that 15 minute contemplation period sound a bit arbitrary? If I have something to say that’s so important that it takes me 15 minutes to ponder two small sentences, I’m probably not gonna use Twitter to say it. There are better tools in the toolkit for that. On the other hand, if I’ve made a clever annotation to The Lord of The Rings about how similar Gimli son of Gloin and his ten brothers are, and how that relates to my Monday night D&D campaign, that doesn’t deserve a blog post, is a Twitter.

    And aren’t I using too many rhetorical questions here?

  30. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

    • I’m not just talking about Twitter.

      When you’re talking about @reply or targeting someone with the hope that other people chime in, you’re assuming that it’s relevant to others. Which is often the case for you. There’s a difference between “@someone are you ok?” with a cold, and “@someone are you ok?!” with a car wreck. These are very grey areas, I’m just asking people to think about them.

      I agree with you that it’s up to the user to determine what they’re looking for. But I’m asking people to challenge themselves to build a more interesting “weird crowded bar.” One which encourages more doing of things, though I’m all for grabbing a beer after the fact. No, I can’t expect everyone to be perfect in this all of the time, but I’d like it if people at least tried, if only for a week, to see how it effects them.

  31. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  32. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  33. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  34. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  35. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  36. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  37. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  38. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  39. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  40. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  41. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  42. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  43. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  44. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

  45. Not entirely sure I agree with some of your general points here. Twitter, when originally launched, was all about answering one question: What are you doing right now?

    While obviously, there’s tonnes of noise out there, I don’t think some of these guidelines are at all necessary. I for one, like the free-for-all “overview of a a very weird crowded bar” aspect of the service. But then again, I only friend people who I wouldn’t mind hearing silly or tangential stuff from.

    I mean, there are things I hate – @replies, multi-tweet messages, things that are nothing but a link. But increasingly, I think twitter is one of those services where the responsibility falls on you to determine what you are looking for in regards to signal.

    I also think you might be making a narrow line between the public/private binary. If I tweet with a target in mind, or @reply to someone, I fully expect others (if interested) to chime in. It’s one of the wonderful things about the service, the ability to take a private conversation public, if you want.

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