Strange Conversations: Part Sixty
Posted 3 November 2008 in Strange Conversations by Catriona
Partly a strange conversation and partly a terribly geeky conversation, held while Nick was making a post-prandial cup of coffee and I was sitting out having a cigarette.
NICK: Now I’m going to pour the milk into the cups.
ME: It’s Twitter, isn’t it?
NICK: Pardon?
ME: This tendency you’ve developed to tell me everything you’re doing in minute detail.
NICK: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
(Pause)
NICK: Now I’m going to go into the living room and sit on the sofa.
Previously: Strange Conversations: Part Fifty-Nine
Next: Ack! It's Everywhere!
Share your thoughts [23]
1
Matthew Smith wrote at Nov 4, 01:35 am
@Catriona At work, thinking about getting a coffee
2
Catriona wrote at Nov 4, 01:52 am
@Matt Cheeky bugger.
Nick thinks I should start a Twitter thread (a tweet? Is that right?) for the blog, but I honestly don’t think I have the energy.
3
John wrote at Nov 4, 02:17 am
Check out the Memes one: it’s little bit fiddly to start with, but once you get it working, it’s completely hands-off (apparently).
4
Catriona wrote at Nov 4, 02:56 am
I had a quick look, but not with a view to seeing how it worked.
So it just automatically tweets (do I have that right?) when a new post and/or comment goes up on the site?
5
Wendy wrote at Nov 4, 04:19 am
I’ve got mine connected to facebook and blog at the same time…just one status update for all three places from twitter…okay so far
6
Catriona wrote at Nov 4, 05:00 am
Does your Twitter account also automatically update when you post something on Spiralling Shape? I think that’s what the Memes one does, and I suspect that’s what Nick has in mind for Circulating Library.
7
Wendy wrote at Nov 4, 05:18 am
no ..I’m just using it as a generalised status update across all three…that would be good though…I’d have to get more technical to do that…would be keen to see how to do that…perhaps twitter help?
8
Nick Caldwell wrote at Nov 4, 05:38 am
I’m pretty sure you can use a plugin to automatically send a message to Twitter when you post to a Textpattern blog. I’ll have a look for one tonight.
It’s easy to do in Wordpress as well. Blogger.com is a lot more restrictive.
9
Catriona wrote at Nov 4, 05:41 am
Yes, but will someone please tell me whether I’m making a fool of myself with the word “tweet”?
10
Matthew Smith wrote at Nov 4, 05:45 am
@Catriona tweet is the verb and the noun for an individual entry in twitter. There’s also tweeps or tweepl and I’m trying to get twag into the vocab to refer to a stale reply tweet.
11
Nick Caldwell wrote at Nov 4, 05:49 am
No, no. “Tweet” is perfectly correct.
12
Drew wrote at Nov 4, 06:08 am
Actually, 2 of my children feel an intense need to tell what they are doing in minute detail, it’s a sign of affection. :)
13
Catriona wrote at Nov 4, 06:16 am
Okay, so if I were using Twitter, I would tweet a tweet? As in post an individual entry on Twitter?
Okay, I think I have that. I find it confusing when verbs and nouns become interchangeable.
And, Drew, the only problem I have with children’s narratives—and I used to get a lot of those in my coaching college days, back when children thought I was cool—is that they have no sense of narrative development, and tell long rambling tales:
“And then I got to school, and then I put my bag down, but then I saw my mate, and then he saw me, too, and then we thought we’d have time to play his new game before the bell went, but then the bell went, and then we had to go into class, but we’re in the same class, so then we thought maybe we could play his game in class and the teacher wouldn’t notice, but then the teacher noticed, and then she took his game off him and she said he couldn’t have it back until recess, but then . . . “
I find it adorable with my nephews, because I don’t see them very often (and they’re still quite young and so have a habit of telling completely surreal stories that they treat like fact), but with some of my former students, I’d feel like saying, “Dear lord, child! Take a breath!”
I never would, but it was tempting.
14
Wendy wrote at Nov 4, 06:18 am
:( – i’m using blogger…oh well
15
Catriona wrote at Nov 4, 06:21 am
It may not be a problem, using Blogger. Nick does know his stuff, but he’s also a man of strong prejudices (as far as technology goes—in no other areas) and, for some reason, one of his prejudices is against Blogger.
He may have his reasons, but he may also just be being stroppy.
16
Nick Caldwell wrote at Nov 4, 06:51 am
It’s more just that features like Twittering tend to be provided as a plugin — but Blogger doesn’t have a plugin architecture so you’re limited to what it can do out of the box.
17
Wendy wrote at Nov 4, 07:01 am
I’m always open to technical opinion from those more knowledgeable…and that’s most people!
18
Matthew Smith wrote at Nov 4, 10:20 am
http://twitterfeed.com/ lets you connect your blog posts to twitter without a plugin. It is basically an RSS to twitter converter. Blogger provides an RSS feed of your blog posts (you may have to enable it in the settings)
19
Kirsty wrote at Nov 5, 11:15 pm
This post made me laugh out loud. I feed my Twitter through to my blog as a kind of mini-I can’t be bothered to write a blog post-kind of blogging. That said, yesterday I Twit-voted for Obama. That seems pretty embarrassing to admit to being a twit voter—and far less musical than tweeting.
20
Kirsty wrote at Nov 5, 11:19 pm
As well, I just thought I’d add that I often like to think of Twitter as a writing challenge. I think you can create a basic narrative in 140 characters. I’ve also been known to write haikus about coffee : )
21
Catriona wrote at Nov 5, 11:53 pm
“Twit voter”? They might have wanted to give some more thought to that name.
It hadn’t occurred to me to think of Twitter as a writing challenge—I like that perspective. I’ve said before that I found the live-blogging challenging, but that’s in the opposite fashion—a “how fast can you type and mention all the major plot points while still going off on tangents about what you find interesting in the episode” kind of challenge.
Thinking about Twitter in the opposite way makes it somehow seem more intriguing . . .
22
Wendy wrote at Nov 6, 03:54 am
I will check out theRSS twitter converter
I am still finding twitter a challenge – 140 characters still lending itself to the mundane….i think it’s an acquired skill
23
Wendy wrote at Nov 6, 07:57 am
I think I’ve managed to connect my blog to twitter…thanks all for the technical assistance! If it doesn’t work I’ll blame blogger