Leo Laporte got me on Twitter

What’s Twitter, you ask? It’s a blog where you answer just one question, in 140 characters or less: “What are you doing?” People think it’s surprising that this is interesting and addicting. I don’t agree with them; it’s always been a fascination to see what other people are up to, and what’s better is that you can often join up with them or help them out. It’s a way of communication, a way to broadcast any short thoughts that happen to be in your mind at the moment. And it’s fast, easy, and free.

So who’s Leo Laporte?

I know him originally from a TechTV show called The Screensavers he hosted with Patrick Norton. Before I had cable, I used to watch it at a friend’s house. When we got cable television, I watched it every now and then, and I was a huge fan. When they shut it down, it wasn’t long before I went searching for what Leo was up to. And when I started listening to his excellent netcasts (podcasts) and radio shows (on KFI), I was hooked. I’d seen Twitter before, but I had no reason to join it.

His recommendation was just what I needed.

Twitter is kind of like a simplified version of an idea I’d been bouncing around for a bit, mostly since my friend Tiffany Tam suggested it. Basically, we wanted to make some online system of hooking people up to meet up for meals, like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This could easily be extended to other outings: who wants to go see a movie right now, for example? But Twitter has basically beat me to the punch. I can’t wait to see what they have for the future. And if it ever goes haywire (ads, other undesirable stuff…) it’s trivial to just switch to a free blog where I get the ad revenue :)

I have been feeling the impulse to jot random thoughts down, which is why I started my other, less formal blog, Written Rough Drafts. But for shorter, even more casual posts, Twitter fits the bill nicely. And customizing my picture and background was a nice touch, without overdoing it like MySpace/Xanga.

So I’m on Twitter now, and you can sign up and follow me.