Twitter is an amazing application. I can see myself using it more than IM. I’ve actually made some decent business connections on there.
Once I started exploring more I noticed the things I don’t like about it. To start I don’t like being “followed” by people who don’t know me. Why is this? It seems there is some weird value in having a large number of followers. I guess if you’re a business that would be OK for marketing, but for personal use I don’t see it. Making a sandwich should only interest your close people. Not the world. Another thing I don’t like is whenever I respond to someone I follow, I get no reply, but they keep on Twittering? That’s the same as blatantly ignoring someone who’s talking to you, right? Cold. Lastly, I don’t like when a couple people are in a personal “inside joke” type conversation. That’s whats AIM is for. I at least try to keep my comments open for anyone to respond to. That seems to be the difference between IM and Twitter.
I’m still using so I obviously dig it. Just a few things that I can live without I had to get off my chest. If you want to hear more gripes, tune into VexedTech, a podcast about what vexes us in technology!
I agree with you on the reply thing, but I think Twitter is more of a broadcast platform than an interactive one.
You can, btw, block people from following without your consent. Just tick the box under Settings>Account that reads “Protect my updates.” There’s a description under that describing how it works.