My Use of Twitter
I first started Tweeting on my iPhone some months ago after downloading the excellent Tweetie app. My first impression of Twitter was very good. With Tweetie’s excellent interface and a full range of Twitter options (like geo-tagging and URL shortening), I found myself twittering throughout the day. What made the experience even sweeter was using the iPhone 3GS camera to effortlessly attach photos to my tweets. I can honestly say that mobile tweeting is great fun.
Then, I decided to use Twitter Tools to show my tweets to my website to provide even more fresh content for my blog. Most webmasters know that having fresh, original content is not just a sure way to keep readers interested, but also a necessary element for increasing search engine traffic (SEO). With the plug-in installed, the integration was seamless and my tweets from around town were being instantly updated on my blog.
Then A Change of Heart
Everything was working great, but lurking in the back of my mind was the thought that all this micro-blogging content I was producing was basically under Twitter’s ownership and control. Original content, in any size or form, is the only real gold for bloggers, and bloggers, or content producers in general, should be mindful of who really benefits (money or otherwise) from their work.
Even though micro-blogging (or mobile-blogging) generally produces very short posts with seemingly little SEO value, given enough time, things can really add up. There are many Twitter users who have amassed thousands of tweets and have many followers as a result. But at the end of the day, those users don’t own the content they’ve generated, and Internet audiences tend to be fickle. What happens when Twitter takes a nosedive in popularity, or the service changes in a way that makes you want to stop using it?
Having full control and ownership over your content is important, and for me, is more valuable than the convenience of using Twitter or its ability to funnel viewers to my website. I know that this is not the case for everyone, so please do not interpret my opinions as simply bashing the service. Website owners who already generate an abundance of fresh content, or those who have a giant social network to tap in to, could probably use Twitter without worrying too much about long-term consequences. But for the rest of us, I think it’s wise to own and host nearly everything that you create – even if it’s just 140 characters at a time.
Micro-Blogging With WordPress
Fortunately, I’ve found an alternative to using Twitter. The WordPress app for the iPhone is what I now use to micro-blog when I’m mobile. The current version is simple, but slick, and allows you to quickly create or edit posts and use the camera to attach photos. The end result is very similar to what twittering was like, however I am no longer under any character limit restrictions!
Final Thoughts
Getting off of Twitter has been a decision based on what I think will benefit my site the most in the long run. Twitter’s fad-like popularity is what webmasters are often counting on to bring new visitors to their website, but jumping on this bandwagon means that you are handing over your content to Twitter. There are pros and cons to consider with this arrangement, but for me, I’ll be giving Twitter a rest until I am more convinced that it possesses real staying power and can benefit my blog far into the future.
*UPDATE*
Twitter has steamrolled ahead in popularity since I originally wrote this article, but recently, its growth has slowed. Are we looking at the beginning of the end for Twitter? It’s far too early to tell, but even if it does stop growing, there’s no reasons why it couldn’t successfully stay alive for many years to come. It’s still the best at what it does, it’s just not right for me.
