When I was asked to review this book by Caitlin Price from FSB Media (thank you Caitlin!), I was hesitant. I thought I’m not sure I really like this twittering stuff. What with my failed attempt to set it up here on Layers of Thought. With a total of 3 posts - two saying “still trying to figure twitter out”, and one with a quiz stating “which author I am” – which I found on a link from J. Kaye’s book blog on facebook. When she tweeted me back - I lamely could not figure out how to answer. After a few tries I gave up and had a glass of wine – perhaps two.
Later, I thought how can I as a new blogger turn down an offer to review a book that is so connected to an aspect of communication which is connected to blogging? I decided to accept the book and became determined to think about my objections to Twitter and their reasons.
These are the reasons I have came up with:
- I believe that this mode of communication is for people who like to chat. I am not a chatter. When in a simple conversation I have to force myself to think of something to say. And often its something like “Wow, Cool, Awesome….” etc.
- Being connected to a phone and a tiny key pad all day and being constantly interrupted is not a good thing for a person like me. Ask my husband - I am very easily distracted and am off on another tangent in a flash, leaving what I once was doing left to be found again several days later.
- I am so busy trying to figure this blog out that to add one more technological thing to the mix and I may just go over the figurative edge.
- All that said and being a realistic person perhaps my block around twitter may be based in ignorance. Truly - I have a little idea of what twitter is, but perhaps that is not enough. Lets see if I can become enlightened.
Book Stats:
The World According to Twitter
2,524 Crowd-Sourced Tweets about Life, the Universe, and Other Pertinent Stuff: First-Kiss Stories, Spam from the Future, and Proposals for the 11th Commandment
By David Pogue
Published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers; August 2009
ISBN 978-1-57912-827-2
Caitlin the book’s publicist describes the book here:
This one of a kind book gives the reader insight into the grand social networking experiment in which tens of thousands of voices have come together to produce a humorous, thought-provoking record of shared human experience.
Book Blurb:
David Pogue asks. The Twitterverse responds!
New York Times personal technology columnist David Pogue has tapped into the collective wit and wisdom of his half-million followers on Twitter.com by posing a different, thought-provoking question every night. The result of this modern social-networking experiment is a laugh-out-loud-funny, and occasionally poignant, record of shared human experience.
Finish a familiar saying in a new way.
He who is without sin . . . has a lot of catching up to do.
--@pennymongerMake up a concept for a doomed TV show.
"Law & Order: DMV"
--@pastorwaltersChange 1 letter of a familiar title.
Star Wart: The real reason Vader wears that mask.
--@brianwolven
Author Bio:
David Pogue, author of The World According to Twitter, is the weekly tech columnist for the New York Times, an Emmy-winning correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning, and contributor of funny, weekly tech videos for CNBC. He’s the author or co-author of 50 books, including 6 in the For Dummies line and 25 in the Missing Manual series, which he created. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children.
Join Pogue's world at his website: www.davidpogue.com; at Twitter: @pogue; or at his blog: www.nytimes.com/pogue.
Read an excerpt here.
Purchasing information from Amazon are linked here – US/UK/Canada respectively:
The World According to Twitter
/ The World According to Twitter: Crowd-sourced Wit and Wisdom from David Pogue (and His 350,000 Followers)
/ The World According to Twitter
6 comments:
Funny! I recently bought a book about Twitter to try to understand it. I enjoy reading other people's Twitter feeds, but I honestly have no interest in doing it myself. I keep trying to envision a clever way of using it, but I continue to be eluded. Like you, I think I'm just not a chatterer. I think it's a cool tool, just not for me maybe.
Lezlie
I haven't gotten caught up in Twitter either, but I'm currently reading "The Accidental Billionaires - The Founding of Facebook - a Tale of Sex, Money Genius and Betrayal" and it is fascinating. I should have my review up in a few days. I'll be curious to see what you have to say about this book.
Lezlie - Yes me too. Perhaps it will enlighten us both, or not. ;)
This could be fun or better yet funny with me using twitter addictively in a few months because of it.
Keri - I will keep my eye out for your review, not sure I want to read the book facebook saga though but perhaps you'll persuade me. :) Its been known to happen with my tbr list exploding.
Just this week I had a disasterous experiment with Facebook--I lasted 4 days before pulling the plug because I'm not a social butterfly.
I won't even try Twitter or any of the others--my blog keeps me busy enough trying to keep up.
Flunking Facebook
Charlie -
I read your post and laughed. I am having a block with twitter though. I did do a "tweet" the other day. Nothing happened. I think it worked just not sure.
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