Yesterday I read yet another article in a paper publication proclaiming the uselessness of Twitter. As always, the banality of the majority of posts was called into question.

“This sadly typifies much of Twitter. It is largely inane ramblings or ‘microblogging’, with such gems as ‘having a coffee in the M1 services – not very good’” (BMJ News, Voicebox, July 4th 09)

Ironically, in this case, the author is dead right in this quote. Most of the posts are dull. But that doesn’t make the service useless.

The majority of what I read in the paper is dull. The majority of what I see on TV is average. When I have a conversation, it’s not all gold. That’s the point.

Twitter reflects reality. Most of the tweets in my stream float by without catching my attention, much like channels on TV. Every now and again, though, I genuinely laugh out loud or am redirected to something fascinating that I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

If you don’t want to use twitter, that’s fine by me – your loss. Just don’t complain when people talk about it in the pub because you don’t get it.