this is going to be a regular thing? i just wasted 5 minutes of my life.

March 25, 2009 7:41 AM

We Got The Tweet: The Week's 50 Best Rock Star Twitters. I think it is safe to say that all of us unreservedly love three things: indie rock, twitter and Ryan Adams. That's a given. Well this Stereogum post has them all! The weeks best tweets from all your favorite indie rock stars, including Ryan Adams hijacking his new wife Mandy Moore's (no I can't let that go) twitter account to make a bunch of tweets until she has to take the computer away from him. lol!

The obvious standout.

posted by ND¢ (100 comments total)

no, it isn't safe to say we all love indie rock, twitter and Ryan Adams. not at all. and i totally love 2 of those 3 things. the ones that deal directly with music.
posted by msconduct at 7:48 AM on March 25, 2009

ND¢ was being ironic, surely

I like none of these things.
posted by dydecker at 7:52 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

i have many @reservations about my love for @indie rock, i still do not like twitter too much and i @never cared for @Ryan Adams. maybe i just don't know "@get @it"?
posted by molecicco at 7:53 AM on March 25, 2009

You @ll love @ll these things! @dmit it!

and don't call me Ironic Shirley
posted by ND¢ at 7:55 AM on March 25, 2009

I think it is safe to say that all of us unreservedly love three things: indie rock, twitter and Ryan Adams.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Is it safe? It's not safe. It's not safe at all! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY!?
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:58 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

donhenley: just saw a deadhead sticker on a cadillac! lol
lilvoiceinurhead: @donhenley u can never look back >.<
posted by Spatch at 7:59 AM on March 25, 2009 [26 favorites]

There are way more famous people using Twitter than I realised.
posted by chunking express at 8:00 AM on March 25, 2009

Stop whining about twitter. We know you don't like it because you or people like you bring it up in every thread related to it (however tangentially).

Think of it as text-messaging with an unknown amount of recipients and a public page for anyone to view the messages you sent previously - because that's what it is.
posted by flatluigi at 8:02 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Shaq tweets during halftime.
posted by billysumday at 8:03 AM on March 25, 2009

I hate Ryan Adams.
posted by slogger at 8:03 AM on March 25, 2009

ND¢ just lives dangerously is all. probably never wears a seatbelt and eats red-in-the-middle juicy hamburgers for lunch. so his (or her?) concept of safe may be a little out there. man, mandy moore's blog revealed her to be even less interesting than i previously thought (which was not very interesting to start with). twitter: how stars can remove all mystery and intrigue they've managed to aquire and reveal themselves to be extremely boring and uncreative. snoop's is funny though.
posted by molecicco at 8:06 AM on March 25, 2009

Ahh good ol' Diddy, nice to see I'm not the only one prone to drinking alone in front of the computer at 4am.
posted by mannequito at 8:07 AM on March 25, 2009

Oh, indie-cent, this all used to be so hip. Now it's mainstream and boring.

Hah! I avoided using the ¢ character when referring to your name, and I made a pun! I win!
posted by filthy light thief at 8:08 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Think of it as text-messaging with an unknown amount of recipients and a public page for anyone to view the messages you sent previously

Why would I want that?

I have 6 email addresses, a website, a blog, flickr mail, mefi mail, iChat, Google Chat, a cell phone, a land-line, and a brass door-knocker. I'm just not that hard to find.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:08 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't whine about twitter if it would just...bugger off, basically. Yes I think it's a lame concept, but what annoying about it is how it's so in your face. Front page of the Guardian today for instance:

Children to study Twitter instead of World War II
posted by dydecker at 8:10 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

No one gives a fuck about the shit you don't like. Trust me.
posted by chunking express at 8:13 AM on March 25, 2009 [11 favorites]

ahh and at the other end of the spectrum, The Streets dude is drinking at 4pm.

Oh, and cool to see that Diplo is a Lost fan.
posted by mannequito at 8:14 AM on March 25, 2009

"Stop whining about twitter."

No. Twitter is THE most annoying useless technology proiduct of the decade and I refuse to remain silent.
The fact that John McCain uses it should tell you something.
posted by 2sheets at 8:15 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Aw, I love that Kristin Hersh is keeping up with Grant-Lee Phillips and that she has a sense of humor. Twitter taught me something!
posted by kittyprecious at 8:15 AM on March 25, 2009

Colin Meloy's Twitter feed is one of the things that makes me happy at the moment. For example:

"Hosting messrs. Funk and Hipp for a mid-morning meeting. If I lived in a Hardy novel, this would probably be dire. addendum: context is everything. If I lived in a porn movie, things would be looking good."
posted by jokeefe at 8:15 AM on March 25, 2009

Mandy Moore, what have you done?!?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:16 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, I get that people think it's the 'next best thing' - they're completely wrong and they should stop obsessing about it. I just find people whining about it more annoying than the people praising it.
posted by flatluigi at 8:16 AM on March 25, 2009

Hi. I like things! FYL
posted by naju at 8:17 AM on March 25, 2009

Now if we could just get Ryan Adams to confine the lyrics of his songs to 140 characters.
posted by blucevalo at 8:19 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Like I said in that Askme just now, the very best thing Ryan Adams ever (didn't) put out is a bootleg called 'Live at the Exit/In'. I think Ryan has sucked infinitely since Gold, but I still listen to that record and recall how amazing I used to think he was. Hey There Mrs. Lovely and In My Time of Need are absolutely fantastic.
posted by Bageena at 8:24 AM on March 25, 2009

Sorry, but once you've been enlightened by the eternal wisdom of Christopher Walken's Twitter feed, all others simply pale in comparison.
posted by adamms222 at 8:25 AM on March 25, 2009 [8 favorites]

No one gives a fuck about the shit you don't like. Trust me.

Really? I'd say I'm interested in other people's dislikes. Expand your horizons and all that.

I'd probably love yours
posted by dydecker at 8:26 AM on March 25, 2009

Ryan Adams only uses one character for all of his songs.

_________<3<3<3<3____________<3<3<3<3<
______<3<3<3<3<3<3<3_______<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
____<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<___<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
___<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3_______<3<3
__<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3_________<3<3
_<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3_______<3<3
_<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3______<
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3__<3<
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<_<
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
_<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
__<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
____<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
______<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
_________<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
____________<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<
______________<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
_________________<3<3<3<3<3<3<
___________________<3<3<3<3<
_____________________<3<3<3
______________________<3<3
_______________________<3

There's just one difference between this character and the one in all of Ryan Adams's song.

In his songs, this character is broken.
posted by ND¢ at 8:29 AM on March 25, 2009 [4 favorites]

Why would I want that?

Because it's fun? That's my excuse, anyway. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I should probably go. I'm standing on someone's lawn.
posted by brundlefly at 8:32 AM on March 25, 2009

Christ it's been around for two years can we please get over it? I'm saying this as someone who actively uses it. It's just NOT that big a deal, people.

That said, I enjoy replacing twitter with blogs and text messages when reading complaints about it. It makes you sound like this old woman I saw at a school committee meeting once.

She spent the entire meeting knitting and muttering under her breath and scoffing. When they opened up the mic to comments, she walked up, gave her name, and said "cellphones are the new cigarette." She complained that the girls at the all women's college she worked at used cellphones too much and they all talk on them and they send TEXT MESSAGES instead of having conversations! They use LAPTOPS instead of a pen and paper to take notes!

Though they could "take notes as fast and as accurate as a courtroom stenographer," she said that writing notes with pen and paper--as she had been doing for part of the meeting--was "a good, necessary skill," and lamented its apparent death.

She suggested, to relieve the school department's budget woes, that they cut the entire technology budget, as it was absurd and unnecessary. Riiiight.

If you don't like it, or you don't understand it, don't use it! But don't suggest everyone else do likewise.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:34 AM on March 25, 2009 [10 favorites]

Sorry, but once you've been enlightened by the eternal wisdom of Christopher Walken's Twitter feed, all others simply pale in comparison.

Seconding this.

A neighbor kid shows up from time to time dressed as Superman. I think it's him anyway. Very difficult to say for sure without the glasses. about 20 hours ago from web

An associate told me that he'd been cheating on his wife. He asked me not to talk about it and I probably won't. Unless it comes up somehow. 11:06 AM Mar 22nd from web

The Pope is in Africa "reaffirming the ban on condom use." His old stuff was funnier. I don't get this new material. Too edgy for my taste. 1:10 PM Mar 18th from web

I made a little pimp outfit and put it in the yard. The bluejay hasn't come back since. Some weird shit going on with the squirrels though. 1:15 PM Mar 16th from web
posted by DaDaDaDave at 8:36 AM on March 25, 2009 [2 favorites]

I'm there with adamms222. The walken feed is the only one I follow. It's a strange day when Christopher Walken and Yoko Ono are the only people who entertain and make sense to me. Sigh.

I'm just so tired of reading text abbreviations... I miss complete literate sentences with spelling. I so love big words. Oh, my lawn... my lawn...
posted by miss lynnster at 8:37 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Metafilter circa 1877:

Think of the telephone as a way to communicate, using your voice, to people who are not in your immediate vicinity. Hell, you could even talk to someone in a whole 'nother state!

Why would I want that?

I'm only a mile from the telegraph station and the pony express comes right through the next town. Hell, I don't even KNOW anyone in another state, why would I need to talk to them?

I'm so goddamn sick of all the hype about these telephones. That's all the town crier ever talks about these days!
posted by bondcliff at 8:39 AM on March 25, 2009

On re-reading the article, I am now worried that Stereogum will have a weekly post of the sort, as this is simply "The Week's 50 Best Rock Star Twitters" - maybe they'll compile a Best of the Month, and a year-end wrap-up? I'm all a-twitter with excitement.

mannequito, you made me realize twitter isn't quite useless. I now know Diplo still rides the public bus. When your music heroes are made more human, it's not all dreck.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:43 AM on March 25, 2009

can we please not call people luddites for not liking twitter. christ. i mean i use it, just not much, because i find it boring. although that christopher walken feed is a gold mine. perhaps only entertaining people should twitter? i would really just prefer if those running the site could remove those annoying ampersands. soooo unnecessary. it's visual garbage.
posted by molecicco at 8:44 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: Why would I want that?
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:53 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also seconding Christopher Walken's twitter. It's beautiful.

I posed for dozens of photos in California last week. I closed my eyes or made a face in nearly every one. Sorry. I amuse myself this way.

I saw two pigeons who were about to fight over a french fry. I don't know. Maybe they weren't going to fight but there was tension there.

His updates are terrific, but I think he simultaneously loathes twitter.

My dog found a dead rodent in the snow at the park. She rolled around on it & came back as if to say, "Your turn!" I call her "Twitter" now.

I saw a monkey playing the piano in Mexico last week. I didn't get his Twitter name but I'd wager he's got a huge following here already.

posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:59 AM on March 25, 2009 [4 favorites]

A good friend of mine created the Christopher Walken Twitter account. Nobody knows who is making the posts now though. Just because it isn't really Walken, doesn't make it any less funny.
posted by jester69 at 9:03 AM on March 25, 2009 [4 favorites]

Remember that time somebody yelled at "Summer of '69" at a Ryan Adams concert and he got all pissy?

No, the joke isn't that this happens every single time and he never learns to let it go. The joke is that, objectively speaking and leaving aside the faux "indie cred," Bryan Adams is the far superior artist.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:09 AM on March 25, 2009 [3 favorites]

Just because it isn't really Walken, doesn't make it any less funny.

That's how I felt about it when I was pointed at it. Even if it's fake it's amusing, because it's well-written in Walken's voice. I'd like to see a similar feed for John Malkovich which alternates between succinct lower-case statements and FORCEFUL, ELOQUENT RANTS IN ALL CAPS.
posted by Spatch at 9:15 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

I don't use twitter, or have any reason to, but I do appreciate it for giving a 140-character forum to all those people for whom 140 characters comfortably exceeds the length of their maximum sustained thought. I don't find it surprising or coincidental in any way that so many celebrities use it. It seems perfectly natural.

Now, if we could just work on the premise that everyone on MeFi knows about Twitter already, and it doesn't really need to be posted about all that much here, it'd be all good.
posted by rusty at 9:22 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

drjimmy11 just made me realize I was totally thinking of Bryan Adams as I read this thread.

Who the fuck is RYAN Adams?
posted by briank at 9:27 AM on March 25, 2009 [5 favorites]

Imagine that Jesus came back to earth and was born in the South in the mid 70's and formed an alt-country band. He loves us all, but we keep breaking his heart and he doesn't really understand why but HE JUST CAN'T STOP LOVING US.
posted by ND¢ at 9:35 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

THIS IS THE FACE OF IRONIC LOVE.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:43 AM on March 25, 2009

I think it is safe to say that all of us unreservedly love three things: indie rock, twitter and Ryan Adams.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Is it safe? It's not safe. It's not safe at all! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY!?

Yes, that was the marathon man of presumptions.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:50 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yes, that was the marathon man of presumptions.

Best scene ever in the history of modern film dentistry.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:56 AM on March 25, 2009

Still waiting for the twitter thread where non-twitter users stfu already about not using twitter.
posted by swift at 9:58 AM on March 25, 2009 [3 favorites]

Twitter has jumped the shark.
posted by oddman at 9:59 AM on March 25, 2009

Twitter has jumped the shark.

Ohhhhh, nice try, but today's Phrase That Pays is:

Twitter used to be cool until it sold out and got all commercial.
posted by Dr-Baa at 10:04 AM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

I have 6 email addresses, a website, a blog, flickr mail, mefi mail, iChat, Google Chat, a cell phone, a land-line, and a brass door-knocker. I'm just not that hard to find.

I have one of those things from Great Adventure where they carve your name out of wood. I feel so unique.
posted by jonmc at 10:08 AM on March 25, 2009 [6 favorites]

Twitter has jumped the shark.

Ohhhhh, nice try, but today's Phrase That Pays is:

Twitter used to be cool until it sold out and got all commercial.

you can't really sell out if you never stood for anything, and even selling out is sort of a passe phrase. personally, i prefer "going hotmail" or "went friendster" to imply that an internet thing is over. not that twitter is over. it'll be around for awhile.
posted by molecicco at 10:25 AM on March 25, 2009

Think of it as text-messaging with an unknown amount of recipients and a public page for anyone to view the messages you sent previously - because that's what it is.

right...but most text messages are really boring, unless you have a crush on someone or maybe if you're really close & know the context of a joke... most of the time they're just like, "be there in 20 min" or "going to class tonight" or something, though. The occasional flirty/jokey text messages really depend on other factors.

I signed up for twitter to check out Rainn Wilson's feed, but got pretty much immediately bored of it and haven't found anyone else's interesting enough to check in for either. And I haven't felt like I had anything to say that was worth signing in to post... though the Walken page is kind of inspiring. Perhaps Twitter really ought to be a surreal poetry site, an 'exquisite corpse' sort of thing - that might be an application i could find the time to click over to once in a while.

Personally I'm still kind of amazed they actually called it Twitter though - that they seem to be saying it is specifically for twits. What a weird marketing choice... weirder still that it has worked so well...
posted by mdn at 10:39 AM on March 25, 2009

The tech is fine. I checked out 5 famous people's feeds from some online article on MeFi, however, and realised that I was completely uninterested in anything they had to say - thus I felt able to completely and universally damn the platform. Hubris, Shmubris. Twitter is shite.

(via facebook) ( and can I also say I'm having a great hair day today)
posted by Sparx at 10:52 AM on March 25, 2009

Christopher Walken has made me enjoy Twitter!
Thanks adamms222.
posted by Mister_A at 10:55 AM on March 25, 2009

Come on. Secretly, we all know that Twittr is tomorrow's Xanga Myspace Facebook. I'll probably open an account once I'm sufficiently behind the curve. 'Scuse me -- I've got to go mow, rake & fertilize.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:59 AM on March 25, 2009

When I read Walken's entries, I hear Walken reading them to me in my head. So that's some pretty good technology there, on the Twitter.
posted by Mister_A at 11:02 AM on March 25, 2009

Whoever Twitter hired has done their job well...
posted by geos at 11:05 AM on March 25, 2009

Your favorite trendy web app sucks.


I don't like indie rock, Twitter bored me and I have no idea who Ryan Adams even is.

There seems to be a general assumption that everyone gives a shit about celebrities. I find celebrity gossip revolting.
posted by Foosnark at 11:08 AM on March 25, 2009

it was handy when a hurricane through and I wanted to post some updates about our situation. (...) the possibilities for keeping people informed in a fast moving situation...

I can see that.

Like I said, once it's sufficiently passé, I'll probably be along, just like I was with cell phones & email.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:09 AM on March 25, 2009

jonmc: I have a small train comprised of the letters of my name. I was fortunate; my name is short, I got the train. I still have it. My sister, who has a relatively long name, was goaded into a different amusement park souvenir, lost to time. Maybe it was a pair of sunglasses. Maybe it was a sun visor. I remember that day clearly and fondly, and I suspect her memories are rote second-hand; all thanks to the gifts we took home.

I'm going to sound out a few ideas for an essay I've been contemplating.

Twitter is, in all likelihood, a symptom of the early information revolution. It might be comforting to think of computer technology, the prime enabler of this revolution, as a maturing and stable field, but I don't think that's the case. We're still groping towards the standards that will drive this revolution, and that standardization's going to be a long and messy process.

Consider one of the great icons of the industrial age: the locomotive. It's one of the earliest tools to capitalize on James Watt's steam engine. The first one was chugging along some time in 1805. Despite the fact that they've been around for more than two centuries, going from steam to diesel and electric, there's still considerable implementation problems that are expensive to fix and waste the time of the user.

I believe that Twitter is one of the prototypical "Watt's engines" of the information age. It's still largely inefficient, but consistent in its operation. I'm referring to consistency in terms of the input and output of the system; like early steam engines, Twitter still bursts at the seams occasionally. The evolution of Twitter might provide the tools to enable the foundation, the initial spark of a real Information Revolution, what Getting Things Done fans call "ubiquitous capture". This wouldn't be a large and structured system of to-do lists, but of data we'd currently dismiss as minutiae. From those minutiae though, patterns would appear, and through those patterns the extraction of knowledge that an Information Revolution is supposed to bring.
posted by boo_radley at 11:50 AM on March 25, 2009 [3 favorites]

All these Twitter haters would change their mind if only they realized how awesome Twitter is for telling the world how much you don't care about stuff.
posted by bondcliff at 12:14 PM on March 25, 2009 [5 favorites]

Is this like Kanye West blogging about architecture?
posted by xod at 12:27 PM on March 25, 2009

I AM WISHING TO UNSUBSCRIBE THE TWITTER
posted by everichon at 12:31 PM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Stop whining about twitter. We know you don't like it because you or people like you bring it up in every thread related to it (however tangentially).

Think of it as text-messaging with an unknown amount of recipients and a public page for anyone to view the messages you sent previously - because that's what it is.

Yeah, well that's exactly why we hate it.
posted by Zambrano at 12:35 PM on March 25, 2009

Zambrano: Yeah, well that's exactly why we hate it.

Why?
posted by flatluigi at 12:39 PM on March 25, 2009

I think it is safe to say that all of us unreservedly love three things: indie rock, twitter and Ryan Adams.

most indie rock is neither indie nor rock, twitter is stupid and ridiculous and Ryan Adams is the artistic inferior of Bryan Adams, which is saying something.
posted by jonmc at 12:40 PM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

jonmc, if John Maine throws a few good innings you may cheer up. You're right about the Adamses though.
posted by Mister_A at 12:46 PM on March 25, 2009

boo_radley, are you secretly Neal Stephenson?
(and if so, can I read your twitter feed?)
posted by mannequito at 1:12 PM on March 25, 2009

I enjoyed seeing Demi Moore's butt on the Twitter.

Twitter's great because if you don't like it you can just totally ignore it.

Well maybe you can't. Lots of people ignore it everyday.
posted by jessamyn at 1:15 PM on March 25, 2009 [4 favorites]

I don't know anything about this.
posted by storybored at 1:17 PM on March 25, 2009

mannequito, you're welcome to follow me on twitter, but I'm not Neal Stephenson. I thought about mentioning cyberpunk authors, but I was going long.

and as jessamyn suggests, I think there's going to be an influx of celebrity ass on twitter. Just you wait.
posted by boo_radley at 1:35 PM on March 25, 2009

Twitter was made for Pdiddy, henceforth known as Ptwitty. He's like a joy-generation machine.

# MY GREATEST MEMORY AS A CHILD WAS BEING DOWN BY 3 RUNS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 9TH. 2 STRIKES! 2OUTS! IM UP TO BAT! GRANDSLAM! MY 1ST HOMERUN!!
about 21 hours ago from web

# If I send any strange twitts in next 8 hrs pls don't hold it against me! I'm 8 DIDDYS in and I'm loving life! In miami at wmc!!! Lol :)
about 15 hours ago from TwitterBerry

"Diddys" is my new unit of measurement for everything.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:39 PM on March 25, 2009

1 - 1 = Diddys squat.
posted by storybored at 1:49 PM on March 25, 2009

I feel a bit 1.0, but went from ignoring Twitter to feeling genuinely sad yesterday when I discovered an interesting semi-famous creative person had one. I don't want to be able to behind the curtain to discover that there's a little man there, either sitting around in his underwear or feeling the need to make it public that he went for lunch with x to y. It's not like text messages, because at least they're private.

If all creative people were as bizarrely broad-based and thrilling on the internet as Kanye's blog, I'd change my mind. WHERE ARE YOU YEEZY?
posted by carbide at 2:22 PM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

This was linked to in the comments from the Stereogum post: Artists, Bands and Musicians on Twitter
posted by ND¢ at 2:30 PM on March 25, 2009

Remember Second Life?

...

Exactly.

/allI'msayin
posted by bhance at 2:47 PM on March 25, 2009

I enjoyed seeing Demi Moore's butt on the Twitter.

Which bit could you have lived without - the photo or Aston calling her wifey?

I'm guessing both. I know I could have.

You send me three twitter lines and I'll make a webcomic out of them
posted by Sparx at 3:45 PM on March 25, 2009

Twitter: Wow, that's five minutes I'll never get back.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:59 PM on March 25, 2009

@Twtr: u suk
posted by m0nm0n at 4:00 PM on March 25, 2009

The ascent of Twitter appears to be my own personal "I used to be with 'it,' but then they changed what 'it' was" moment. Checking Facebook a couple of times a day is as much information about my friends' doings as I need, and I really can't imagine caring about what my favourite celebrities are having for lunch.

However, it is kind of amusing to imagine the musicians of the past having access to this sort of thing;

Just recorded Kind of Blue. In 50 years, this is gonna be the Jazz Bible.

11:54 PM, April 22nd from txt

Miles1926

Miles Davis
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:19 PM on March 25, 2009

Yoko Ono is cool because it appears she is "following" all her "followers" (all 18,000 of them,) unlike Mandy Moore who follows 0 people. (Pete Yorn is in between, following 5,000 to the 10,000 following him.)

the word follow looks wrong now.
posted by vespabelle at 4:41 PM on March 25, 2009

Despite everything, I never cease to be amazed at just how lame Courtney Love is.
posted by stinkycheese at 4:43 PM on March 25, 2009

Crikey, boo. I hope that was ironic (and if so, well done on the deadpan delivery!)

For my part, I hear about Kevin Rose's (new site WeFollow the other day, got a wild hair up my ass, and put up this single-serving-site in response. I am getting worryingly cranky in my old age.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:24 PM on March 25, 2009

I really can't imagine caring about what my favourite celebrities are having for lunch.

I had a half a leftover sausage & egg sub and a big can of Asahi, if that helps in your quest for enlightenment.
posted by jonmc at 6:16 PM on March 25, 2009

There seems to be a general assumption that everyone gives a shit about celebrities. I find celebrity gossip revolting.

Meh, it's no more egregious than your general assumption that anyone gives a shit about what you find revolting.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:48 PM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

unlike Mandy Moore who follows 0 people

You broke my heart twice today, Mandy Moore.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:49 PM on March 25, 2009

A good friend of mine created the Christopher Walken Twitter account. Nobody knows who is making the posts now though. Just because it isn't really Walken, doesn't make it any less funny.

This was a bit of disappointment for me, but whomever is doing it is doing it well. When I read the tweets in Walken's voice, they work. They're funny. And you know what? They really don't take up that much of my day.

Much of the hate towards twitter that I've read here seems to miss the point that it's *voluntary* -- you get to define the value. Follow whomever you want to, and tweet as much as you'd like. I've found it invaluable in making industry connections (higher education, marketing, web strategy, etc.) and have followed people in those areas. I couldn't give a flying fuck about bryan adams, ryan adams, john adams, the addams family, or the swiss family robinson so you know what? I don't follow them. Which means, by the nature of the technology, I never hear anything about them! What a fucking marvel!

Sorry. I'll get off your collective lawn now. Geezers.
posted by sharpener at 11:21 PM on March 25, 2009

Live at the Exit/In
posted by metaplectic at 11:31 PM on March 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Hmm, yeah, not going to come back for next week's edition of rock star tweets, although Diddy is always worth a look. Prefer to get my sillies from Favrd though.
posted by harriet vane at 3:49 AM on March 26, 2009

I miss complete literate sentences with spelling.

We need to have a convo about our collab. Lets do that sometime in Jul.

Hit me back!
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 5:44 AM on March 26, 2009

I was a relatively early adopter of Twitter and I am constantly defending it in the "No, no, it's not that bad and it's a good way to make note of things you want to talk about more later or send quick messages to groups of people" or whatever. I like Twitter. I think it's fun.

But after reading all those Twitter posts (can't bring myself to use the word "tweet") from rock stars ... god, Twitter is annoying. I now completely understand why a lot of people hate it.

(I actually dropped a couple of "celebrities" who I liked because no, I didn't need constant updates like "I am now sitting at the gate at the airport." "Now I'm on the airplane. They're telling us to turn off our electronics." "We've landed. Getting my baggage." "I've just gotten into a cab and now I'm on my way to the hotel" or such. I mean, I don't even need to know that much about myself, much less someone who I don't actually know but just admire from afar.)
posted by darksong at 7:46 AM on March 26, 2009

Sorry. I'll get off your collective lawn now. Geezers.

*Sprays sharpener with hose*
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:53 AM on March 26, 2009

Interview with the author of the cwalken twitter posts.
posted by jester69 at 1:11 PM on March 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

Hey, I'm an indie rocker! @chrisklepac. Just throwin that out there.
posted by arcanecrowbar at 1:40 PM on March 26, 2009

Uh and for a non-self-aggrandizing contribution, these folks missed @johnroderick, @seantroversy, and @jonathancoulton, all of whom are wittier than I.
posted by arcanecrowbar at 1:59 PM on March 26, 2009

cwalken suspended
posted by metaplectic at 1:33 AM on March 28, 2009

A friend at clusterflock let me know that a new account has been set up:

clusterwalken

My guess is that this has the same author as the other site. No mention of who is doing the whole thing other than the clusterflock connection. They don't seem to have much if anything from the cwalken feed, apparently the move was a surprise:

This is a parody. You'd have to work for Twitter not to see that.

hopefully twitter can keep their hands off this one. In their defense maybe twitter was contacted by the real C. Walken and asked to remove the original feed. I kind of doubt it.
posted by jester69 at 11:22 AM on April 2, 2009

Cwalken author discusses the twitter suspension.
posted by jester69 at 7:44 AM on April 4, 2009

God help me, I have a twitter account. There went the last of the daylight. (65 characters remain)
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:21 PM on April 4, 2009

Twitter is having a problem with disappearing "tweets" over the last month or so. Kinda annoying for someone who finally signed upafter all the "Come on! It's great, you Luddite!" comments.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:41 AM on April 8, 2009