Why Are People Irrational About Twitter?

The Anti-Twitter Crowd Has Bizarre Reasons

[incrediBILL]

Never in my life have I seen opinions swing to such wild extremes about a technology as I do about Twitter.

There are those like me that LOVE it and know how to use it. It's like a a modern CB radio, which I owned in the 80s, where you could chat with as many people as possible within a few miles, or using a HAM radio worldwide.

Twitter is literally the first technology to instantly connect masses of people together in real-time, in ways nobody could conceive of when the internet first came online as it wasn't this reliable.

When there's an earthquake and I want to know how big it is, or where it's felt, grab the phone and everyone is tweeting about it all over the place.

However, many of the naysayers have never really used Twitter or gave up after their first tweet. These people tend to say nothing but bad things, often irrational things, and I think it's because they feel excluded. These people don't get it and don't understand why everyone else is clamoring about it while they can't figure it out and then lash out against Twitter.

Seriously, how would you feel if the next big thing came out and you simply couldn't understand it. That would make you anxious, angry, upset and probably a little paranoid as you wonder what they're all doing behind your back. More than likely you're mad at yourself that you don't seem to understand why everyone else loves it and you can't connect the dots like they do so lashing out is just a defense mechanism.

People are generally joiners, which is the whole concept around twitter to build groups with followers. We re-tweet things we like which allows our followers to find other people to follow.

I've found a lot of people I like worldwide on twitter, so while I'm meeting new people those that rally against Twitter are missing out.

Hash tags and tweets are shown all over TV these days which further beats it into the anti-Twitters that something is going on that they aren't a part.

It's strange to me that the anti-Twitter crowd really wants to be a part of the party, but for whatever reasons sit on the side and refuse to even try.

I guess what I don't get is it's easy to sign up for Twitter.

You only see people in your Twitter stream that YOU SELECT so if you see a bunch of crap, then it was your crappy choices. Try following news sources, or top SEOs, or your favorite celebs, something that might be interesting.

What most people not using Twitter miss is mostly people Tweet links to web pages they find so following the right twitter account can be a treasure trove of information, things that can help you in your job and everyday life.

Better yet, when you learn to effectively communicate in 140 words or less, you might then possess the skills to tell 811 all they need to know before your cell phone battery dies some day.

It's an amazing technology, so why be so negative and irrational about it?

If you're unsure how to find people to follow, ask others, do a search in twitter, etc. and it'll start to make sense.

Try it for a month, it won't hurt you.

Honest!

[tangor]

I have twitter, I just don't use it. It takes a very special reason (earthquake might qualify) for me to log in, else babes (entrainment), balls (sports), or bullets (movies) just isn't that interesting. Twitter is too noisy. And too silly most of the time (all but perhaps 1%). Frankly, twitter is boring, self-centered, contentious, filled with lies, trolls, and partisan politics; generally little more than a fad without a clue (I mean the content, not the tech service providing the platform for "me,too!" and such.) BUT, however, YMMV! :)

I do feel for those who worry about the gubermint (sic) spying on them as... ahem... we all know they do. You're not paranoid if they really are out to get you.

[Nutterum]

The main reasons Twitter is hated by some(or many) from my point of view are:

1) People not living in the USA, UK or "first class citizen" EU Nations are generally dissatisfied because Twitter as a way to have instant media is not developed in their countries. Sure some Asian countries are very proactive (think Thailand, Japan as an example) there but pretty much all countries east of Germany don`t get the Twitter concept en-masse and naturally they are prone to vocally dispute its meaningness, or downright hate on the platform.

2) There are million and one pages and articles on the internet (esp. in the 2009-2012 period) telling the pipe dream story that twitter can generate unparalleled reach and bring you hoards of visitors, natural SEO backlinks and more! - bullcrap that was FOTM (flavour of the month) for lowbie marketers looking to score some traffic on the internet. The sad thing is that this "trend" was repeated a million times and became the popular truth, even though it is a lie. In the end just like everywhere else in the digital world (and the real one too!) 1 in 100,000 is successful(as in really successful) at what they do.

3) Crowd haters. There are many, many people who hate the concept. Simple as that. And that is OK. Just like there are people that see no personal or corporate value in Facebook or Google+ despite what their SEO team is telling them. Be it age, stubbornness, or whatever else. These people can form up to several % of the general public. Some of these people can form vocal minorities "that speak for group".

I personally believe that unless one is dedicated to spend time on twitter, just like with everything else, he will abandon it or feel dissatisfied by it due to wrong expectations. Simple as that.

[ergophobe]

million and one pages and articles on the internet (esp. in the 2009-2012 period) telling the pipe dream story that twitter can generate unparalleled reach and bring you hoards of visitors

+1

There are a lot of people who see everything as a money machine and when it turns out it accepts dollars and returns pennies, they somehow think that it is not performing to spec ;-)