Twitter is with no doubt a brilliant idea. Its very questionable though if it is a ‘useful’ service or just a seasonal hype and whether users really need this or use it for fun or out of curiosity or in some cases addiction… Beyond the value proposition of Twitter service to its users which probably appeals differently to each individually , there is one interesting factor that deserves some discussion. Twitter is extremely simple to enroll.
This sounds good as usually a long form to fill and multiple stages of registration is a barrier of entry into any new Internet service, even when that’s for free. Is too much simplicity though for such a ‘personal’ service a good thing? In our opinion it is could be equally quite dangerous. It is extremely simple to pretend you are someone else over Twitter. Nothing prevents a user to pretend is Mr X add a picture of Mr X and get Mr Xs friends to become followers eventually misleading them just for fun or for a bad cause.
In our opinion such a technology would have been much more meaningful and constructive if it was deployed within already established social, family or business networks facilitating meaningful and regulated entries instead of becoming a tool to create social networls twitting on anything. Parents could be twitting to kids, managers to the their teams, teenager to classmates etc. Social networks should be closed and regulated. New members should join in real life and not via the Internet using an email address which is also simple , free and unregulated to set up using any name you like… Public twitting should only fit public figures - Film Starts, Artists, Politicians, Corporate Gurus, Sport Stars etc. are all very compatible with how Twitter is used today. Their many and anonymous fans and followers can join very easily in simplicity and unregulated towards following their idols.
Large corporates, public stars and idols all have their lawyers and personal assistants who will detect and handle anyone pretending and abusing their entity. What about ordinary people? Sick minds are everywhere and such a powerful and accessible tool can easily be abused if everyone can so simply set up an account under any name and picture… Thus simplicity here serves well the target of growing the social networks within Twitter as much as possible but not really an asset for the individual ordinary user.
In small communities, when someone spreads a rumor and for those who want the rumor to go on and on, a classic phrase is “Little bird said…” On the web, the Twitter is an excellent tool for spreading rumors by setting up easily anonymous accounts or fake personalities…Pretend you are your colleague John and send via Twitter “I am having a romantic dinner with my wife’s best friend” and john will get a real hard night at home. Now pretend you are Michael Dell and write “Negotiating to sell my company to HP” and you will get a hard time with Dell’s lawyers. Is that fair for John?