Why Twitter Is So Addicting

Obviously we have established so far on Wisdump that social networking such as MySpace and Facebook hits off well. They are sites in which you can simply post up who you are and keep in touch with friends. Then, on MySpace for example, you can build fancy, custom, invalid, profile designs and basically create an empire out of your corner of the community. Then, there is Twitter.

A Social Community Too

When Stuart wrote ‘The Ebb and Flow of Social Networking’, Twitter was not included on the growth chart. Why though? Is Twitter not a social community? You get a page of your own that you can customize the colors and background image of, you have a friends list, you have a display name, there are mobile features, and some form of interaction through instant messaging, and of course those spam accounts that are so bothersome. Therefore, we can safely call Twitter a social community too.

Simplicity is Key

Now, wait, if Twitter is a social community in itself, why do we not see Twitter vs. MySpace? Or Twitter vs. Facebook? Well, because Twitter is so simple. Yes, you have a page to yourself with a personal design and it requires a separate account than other social communities, yet all there really is to do is post your status, and reply to others. Simple, and as well integrate-able with your profiles on other social websites. How genius, eh? You don’t see Facebook allowing you to integrate your Facebook status into your MySpace profile, do you?

Following the Trend

So, we have already seen that Twitter is a social community of its own, yet really shows no competition, and is integrate-able with other communities. It currently is quite popular, and some would say it’s at its “self-sustaining growth” stage, although some would also say its past it’s peak. Although, will Twitter even follow the same path that Stuart described before?

Not to bring opinion in, but I will have to say no, Twitter will create its own path. Why though? Well, Twitter is useful to some people, fun to some people, and annoying to others. The concept is much different, you are not there so much to interact with and send messages and comments to your friends, you are more-so just stating your current mood or status for interested people to know whats up. Sure, some people are starting to use it to gather opinions with Twitter’s feedback feature, although the majority are still posting their current happenings either through the online form, instant messaging, by a mobile device, or widget.

Twitter users aren’t bound to leave when they ‘get-too-old’ or fluctuate between active and inactive based on whether they are having a hot conversation with another user. Rather, if they have no one to talk to, there are still other ways to use Twitter, such as implementing it on your personal site or blog to share with viewers.

So, Why is Twitter Addicting?

Well, it can obviously be seen that most Twitter users are pretty consistent with their updates, and that there are those fun little features that do bring you back. Although, overall Twitter will be, for some time actually, a very active community mainly because it is integrate-able and easy to use. Seriously, when you can send a simple IM message and you update a section of content on your blog, MySpace, Facebook, and the other places you linked your status to, why would it not be addicting?

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Published by Ryan Barr on June 15, 2007 in Web++ • Did you like it? Subscribe! Or Submit it to Blogosphere News!