I'm contemplating getting a twitter account, and a few artists friends said they like it for keeping up to date with art and self promotion, so what's you're opinion on twitter? Recommendations on who to follow? How has it helped you?
Obviously I'm trying to avoid the feeds that just post mundane bullshit, and the vapid celebrities, I'm trying to get into it strictly to keep up to date on artists and some other things of interest to me.
Replies
www.twitter.com/polycount
/shill
If I see something of interest on there, such as a new story on a website like gamesindustry.biz I'll just click the link to see it through.
I use a Google Chrome plugin called Metrist so usually I don't even go on the twitter website.
There are many twitter clients, so you don't have to use the twitter site at all. I use Tweetdeck on my PC and iPod, but I'm sure there are better clients out there.
But if it's REALLY helpful, I'd probably join too.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2910145596&ref=ts
I use it for a lot, from communicating with friends to getting news. It can benefit you as an artist or as a person or whatever. The instant nature of it is awesome. As soon as someone tweets, you can see it right away.
You've got nothing to lose by creating an account. If you don't like it then you just don't use it. Keep in mind that the best way to use twitter is through a browser extension or external software. Actually going to the website all the time is a pain.
I guess some people on twitter could just as well put their info on a blog. But maybe twitter is just more convenient for those who really feel the need to blog..err twitter wherever they are...
Still I'm curious, does anyone use twitter to help their professional work? If so, how do you use it and how does it help you to get things done faster in your job? Or got any interesting tweets to share that may be worth keeping an eye on if you're in the games industry?
(mind you twitter is usually blocked here in China, yet I'm curious )
Setting up a blog, posting articles, managing facebook pages, moderating forums, promoting sites... these are all intensive processes. Facebook is actually pretty freaking complicated nowadays. I wouldn't claim to understand how to use it well and I can do everything from C++ programming to 3D modeling.
But twitter? Sign up, 140 characters. Done.
Want to follow someone? Click the follow button. Done.
It enforces speed and simplicity.
So it probably doesn't matter much to an artist unless you make money taking commisions for paintings or run an art portal.
As a developer I use it as a fast and lightweight tool to communicate with my community, blog without feeling obligated to write a lot (<-- way more valuable than it sounds), and hear news about the market I'm in I wouldn't normally get from the sites I visit.