The Limitations of Twitter
Even though millions of people are on Twitter tweeting about various topics or maybe nothing at all, the hottest social networking platform actually does have a few limitations when you think about it. A main competitor to tweeting when it comes to conversing online is that of blog comment posting. It has been argued by many that while Twitter is fun and catchy, it just doesn’t have that same zing that a blog post comment can have. What do you think?
When it comes to staying on topic, Twitter just doesn’t allow it. Twitter may be a great method of communicating immediate thoughts and ideas on the web, but it simply doesn’t have the ability to be consistent for a significant period of time. Of course you can send out a tweet about a particular topic or even ask a question, but after a while, the Twitter stream seems to take a new direction. This is simply the nature of Twitter.
With blog commenting, the conversation usually stays right on topic. This is because the original post remains above and all associated comments beneath it. Because the original post is so accessible, it is easy to stay on topic and even refer to comments made within the article. Furthermore, the blogger’s comments are not limited to a certain character count and therefore can be expanded upon as necessary. The comments a blog post receives can generate questions and fuel responses, indicative of a true conversation. Twitter replies often seem disjointed and out of place.
We all know that Twitter limits any comments or tweets to 140 characters or less. This limitation includes spaces, so you better be concise! You may be quite good at getting your point across in such a limited space, but can you really expand on your thoughts effectively? Sometimes, the Twitter character limit can be quite constricting and difficult to deal with. If you’re simply trying to spit out a couple of quick facts to your followers, Twitter is perfect. However, if you feel strongly about any topic, this might not be your ideal platform.
When you post a comment on a blog post, there is no restriction on how long or short the message can be. This allows you, and the blogger, to share views and express yourselves to the fullest extent. Of course with Twitter you can send out multiple tweets, but it may make things confusing. At least with a blog post comment, you can finish your thought in one fell swoop.
Both Twitter and blogs are great discussion venues, but you have to be realistic. There are just some platforms that are better suited to some types of communication. Conversations on blog posts are easy to follow and succinct. There’s a conversation going on. When you look at a Twitter stream, it’s really easy to get lost in just the first couple of tweets.
It seems that Twitter may be best suited for off-hand conversation, networking, and promoting thoughts, ideas, and products. It’s fun, useful, and easy to do. However, if you want meaningful and deep conversations online, post a blog article and wait for the comments. In fact, you don’t even have to wait – just tweet that you published a post and ask your followers to leave comments!
10 Responses to “The Limitations of Twitter”
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I really enjoyed this post, thank you for joining the team and I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Thank you Michael I look forward to adding more content and learning more about the social media game.
The Limitations of Twitter ~ http://bit.ly/7Xx9H3
“If you’re simply trying to spit out a couple of quick facts to your followers, Twitter is perfect. However, if you feel strongly about any topic, this might not be your ideal platform.”
Yes of course Twitter has limits but it is designed to work in a completely different way to blogging, and that is why blogging has it’s place too. Surely you are not suggesting that we should have a single method of interaction? I’m not sure there is a real possibility if a platform being all things to all men…
Matt, Thank you for the comment, I would never suggest such a thing, just pointing out some of the limitations.
What do you consider is the easiest weblog tool to make use of for someone which has a quite restricted practical knowledge of technologies?
Wordpress, is probably one of the best out there. It has a lot of easy to configure plugins, and has a team constantly improving the open source application.
I visit your website on occasion and I just have to mention that I like your template!