Twitter is a social networking site founded in 2006 as a service to allow friends and co-workers to communicate and stay up to date with each other through the use of tweets. Tweets are 140 character length messages which answer the basic question, "what are you doing?". Users publish these tweets to their profile pages and everyone who has signed up to follow that particular user will receive the tweets as well. This micro-blogging framework has enabled news organizations, politicians and celebrities to interact with the community of users and provide real time updates in a way traditional media (newspapers, blogs, etc..) was never able to do.

Twitter
MSRP --
Release date March, 2006
Brand Twitter
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Pros & Cons20
Reviews11
Details
Buy It
Competitors2
Comments3
twitter

Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
10 reviews
62
negative
mixed
positive
5 positive
3 mixed
2 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Great for up to the minute news
+10agreedisagree

•
Awesome 3rd party applications
+9agreedisagree

•
Can interact with the service through many different devices
+9agreedisagree

•
Intriguing new method of communication
+8agreedisagree

•
Useful when used within a circle of friends
+8agreedisagree

•
#topic based tweets are useful for monitoring activity on a topic
+6agreedisagree

•
Follow celebrities directly
+3agreedisagree

•
Useful to ensure free speech
+3agreedisagree

•
Essentially you can ask the "Internet" a question and receive a response
+3agreedisagree

•
If you are careful with who you follow it can be very effective at keeping yourself informed in areas that interest you (business, local, news, industry, etc.)
+2agreedisagree

•
Trending topics / popular keywords is an interesting way to monitor Internet buzz
+2agreedisagree

•
Individuals can become celebrity-like, per the content they post
0agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Used primarily for self-promotion services
+7agreedisagree

•
Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
+7agreedisagree

•
The actual website twitter.com isn't that good
+5agreedisagree

•
If you're not a celebrity no one cares about you
+4agreedisagree

•
140 character restriction limits the amount of info users can include in their tweets
+3agreedisagree

•
Website goes down frequently
+1agreedisagree

•
can be difficult for ordinary individuals to develop a large enough following to make daily tweeting worthwhile
+1agreedisagree

•
unforgiving for typos, spelling and grammatical errors..can't correct them
+1agreedisagree


11 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

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This report was started March 20, 2009 at 1:37 pm by Lefty10
with the last edit occurring July 23, 2009 at 8:49 am by Coop
This page has been viewed 1828 times, with 142 edits by 12 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Competitors

Twitter is ranked 2nd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Websites »
Facebook

Facebook

MSRP  $0.00    Released  February, 2004
Pros
  • Huge network of people to connect with
  • Chat with online friends
  • Clean user interface
Cons
  • Too many new features to add to your profile
  • Time sink
  • Unable to view pending friend requests
ProSCORE
29 reviews
56
Vote! (3 votes)
vote Twitter 0% vs. vote Facebook 100%
MySpace

MySpace

MSRP  --    Released  January, 2001
Pros
  • Enormous amount of users to network with
  • Application management is easy
  • You can customize privacy
Cons
  • Bad user interface (Users can modify the site's background, layout, etc.)
  • Annoying auto-playing music
  • Spam-friendly
ProSCORE
9 reviews
37
Vote! (1 vote)
vote Twitter 100% vs. vote MySpace 0%

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
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Comments

1.  avatar Omar said:

I go through an undulating love-hate relationship with Twitter. When I first heard about it I thought it was stupid frivolity. Then I saw some useful applications and joined up. Got connected with the local tech community but found that it was a lot of vacuous self-promotion (including myself). I quit it for about 6 months, and now it's become huge, and now the vacuous self-promotion is actually it's biggest use.

So, now I've come back to it and I find that it IS a lot more bustling, but it's fundamentally the same vacuous self-promotion, which makes it difficult to take too seriously.

Right now I see it as a necessary evil. I actually don't like it that much, but I need to be a player in the game. Gotta keep up with those digital Jones somehow.
Mar 20, 2009 4:34pm
2.  avatar emluca123 said:

I wish you could write more.
(Follow me, same user name, hehe)

Mar 21, 2009 2:06pm
3.  avatar Howlsthunder said:

I originally avoided Twitter for the same reasons Omar listed - it seemed like "vacuous self-promotion" in soundbytes and I personally prefer to have deep, meaningful communication.

But then two friends of mine got me to try Twitter. They see it as a place to put out spur-of-the-moment interesting or intelligently humerous thoughts that would otherwise not be welcome in, say, LiveJournal where we all post much more substantial thoughts. Not all people I know are capable of this so I don't follow those friends. ;) But its entertaining enough.

Not a month after I got Twitter I found its best use as a topic monitor for items of importance that I need to know ASAP. I live in Alaska and right now we have a volcano going off, spewing ash clouds that may or may not interfere with my day. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has a Twitter feed for volcano updates, complete with links to relevant websites showing fallout warnings and ash trajectories.

I think Twitter can be pretty hit or miss in terms of what people you follow, but I seem to of found a use for it and I rather like it for now.
Mar 31, 2009 12:56pm
Some HTML is allowed. Your comments remain editable after you post..

Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

Erik

avatar
July 3, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
61
negative
mixed
positive
11 pros
7 cons
trustedtrusted
have ithave it
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication
  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • #topic based tweets are useful for monitoring activity on a topic
  • Follow celebrities directly
  • Useful to ensure free speech
  • Essentially you can ask the "Internet" a question and receive a response
  • If you are careful with who you follow it can be very effective at keeping yourself informed in areas that interest you (business, local, news, industry, etc.)
  • Trending topics / popular keywords is an interesting way to monitor Internet buzz

Cons

  • Used primarily for self-promotion services
  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • The actual website twitter.com isn't that good
  • If you're not a celebrity no one cares about you
  • Website goes down frequently
  • can be difficult for ordinary individuals to develop a large enough following to make daily tweeting worthwhile
  • unforgiving for typos, spelling and grammatical errors..can't correct them

Competitors

Erik prefers Facebook over Twitter
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Lefty10

avatar
March 20, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
45
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
6 cons
trustedtrusted
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication
  • Follow celebrities directly

Cons

  • Used primarily for self-promotion services
  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • If you're not a celebrity no one cares about you
  • 140 character restriction limits the amount of info users can include in their tweets
  • Website goes down frequently
  • can be difficult for ordinary individuals to develop a large enough following to make daily tweeting worthwhile

Competitors

Lefty10 prefers Facebook over Twitter
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

korbendalis

avatar
March 23, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
78
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
2 cons
trustedtrusted
have ithave it
love itlove it
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication
  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • Follow celebrities directly
  • Individuals can become celebrity-like, per the content they post

Cons

  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • 140 character restriction limits the amount of info users can include in their tweets

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Omar

avatar
March 20, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
56
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
4 cons
trustedtrusted
have ithave it
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • #topic based tweets are useful for monitoring activity on a topic

Cons

  • Used primarily for self-promotion services
  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • If you're not a celebrity no one cares about you
  • can be difficult for ordinary individuals to develop a large enough following to make daily tweeting worthwhile

Comments

"I go through an undulating love-hate relationship with Twitter. When I first heard about it I thought it was stupid frivolity. Then I saw some useful applications and joined up. Got connected with the local tech community but found that it was a lot of vacuous self-promotion (including myself). I quit it for about 6 months, and now it's become huge, and now the vacuous self-promotion is actually it's biggest use.

So, now I've come back to it and I find that it IS a lot more bustling, but it's fundamentally the same vacuous self-promotion, which makes it difficult to take too seriously.

Right now I see it as a necessary evil. I actually don't like it that much, but I need to be a player in the game. Gotta keep up with those digital Jones somehow."

Competitors

Omar prefers Facebook over Twitter
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Howlsthunder

avatar
March 31, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
0 cons
trustedtrusted
have ithave it
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication
  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • #topic based tweets are useful for monitoring activity on a topic

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Comments

"I originally avoided Twitter for the same reasons Omar listed - it seemed like "vacuous self-promotion" in soundbytes and I personally prefer to have deep, meaningful communication.

But then two friends of mine got me to try Twitter. They see it as a place to put out spur-of-the-moment interesting or intelligently humerous thoughts that would otherwise not be welcome in, say, LiveJournal where we all post much more substantial thoughts. Not all people I know are capable of this so I don't follow those friends. ;) But its entertaining enough.

Not a month after I got Twitter I found its best use as a topic monitor for items of importance that I need to know ASAP. I live in Alaska and right now we have a volcano going off, spewing ash clouds that may or may not interfere with my day. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has a Twitter feed for volcano updates, complete with links to relevant websites showing fallout warnings and ash trajectories.

I think Twitter can be pretty hit or miss in terms of what people you follow, but I seem to of found a use for it and I rather like it for now."

Competitors

Howlsthunder prefers Twitter over MySpace
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

emluca123

avatar
March 21, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
54
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
6 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication
  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • #topic based tweets are useful for monitoring activity on a topic
  • Follow celebrities directly

Cons

  • Used primarily for self-promotion services
  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • The actual website twitter.com isn't that good
  • If you're not a celebrity no one cares about you
  • 140 character restriction limits the amount of info users can include in their tweets
  • can be difficult for ordinary individuals to develop a large enough following to make daily tweeting worthwhile

Comments

"

I wish you could write more.
(Follow me, same user name, hehe)

"
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

shadowtech

avatar
April 28, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
86
negative
mixed
positive
6 pros
1 con
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication
  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • #topic based tweets are useful for monitoring activity on a topic

Cons

  • The actual website twitter.com isn't that good

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

scrap104

avatar
April 21, 2009
ProSCORE
57
negative
mixed
positive
4 pros
3 cons
have ithave it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication

Cons

  • Used primarily for self-promotion services
  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • If you're not a celebrity no one cares about you

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Coop

avatar
July 23, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
77
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
3 cons
have ithave it

Pros

  • Great for up to the minute news
  • Awesome 3rd party applications
  • Can interact with the service through many different devices
  • Intriguing new method of communication
  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • #topic based tweets are useful for monitoring activity on a topic
  • Useful to ensure free speech
  • Essentially you can ask the "Internet" a question and receive a response
  • If you are careful with who you follow it can be very effective at keeping yourself informed in areas that interest you (business, local, news, industry, etc.)
  • Trending topics / popular keywords is an interesting way to monitor Internet buzz

Cons

  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • The actual website twitter.com isn't that good
  • 140 character restriction limits the amount of info users can include in their tweets

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

rickzmond

avatar
July 13, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
30
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
7 cons

Pros

  • Useful when used within a circle of friends
  • Useful to ensure free speech
  • Essentially you can ask the "Internet" a question and receive a response

Cons

  • Used primarily for self-promotion services
  • Inundated with a lot of spam posts and people
  • The actual website twitter.com isn't that good
  • If you're not a celebrity no one cares about you
  • 140 character restriction limits the amount of info users can include in their tweets
  • can be difficult for ordinary individuals to develop a large enough following to make daily tweeting worthwhile
  • unforgiving for typos, spelling and grammatical errors..can't correct them

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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