so what do I think of Twitter nowadays?

I've been using Twitter (@drphunkneuro) for a couple of years now.  I think I like it.  At least, I like it the way that I use it.  I'm not sure that I use it properly.

My first big disadvantage is that I don't have a smart phone.  I have a 4 year old crappy Nokia that I'm fond of and I don't want to change.  I can tweet easily from this phone via text message and I can recieve tweets directed @drphunkneuro but I can't see my Twitter feed from my phone.  This probably means that I don't get the full joy of Twitter but it also means that I don't spend my whole fucking day pissing about with it.  I guess that at some point in the future I will be seduced by the evil of the smartphone (although I suspect that I might first be seduced by an iPad mini some time before that) 

Despite not having a perfect constant interface I still get a lot out of Twitter. My feed focuses on my interests - alternative music, comic books, Glasgow, neurology, people I know, news and politics.  It keeps me up to date with musical happenings and comic book events.  Both of these things can be a bit obscure and certainly don't pop up on the BBC website regularly.  I hear about gigs and comic books early, giving me a chance to pick up tickets. 

I also like to get a few different opinions on current affairs.  I follow at least one blogger that I can't stand on Twitter, mainly to know what evil people are thinking.  I also follow BBC and Radio Clyde to get regular, up to date local news that is relevant to me.  I also follow a couple of big medical journals that sometimes flag up important research papers.

Twitter can sometimes give you additional information behind the headlines.  This was fascinating when the Saville story broke although much of what is written is not factual resulting in unfortunate consequences for innocent people.  People often tweet before they think and unguarded tweets can tell you a lot about a person.

I also use  Twitter to communicate with friends.  It's a public forum so it's not great for this but it has some uses.  Overall, I guess I like Twitter.  It's probably less unhealthy than ebay or facebook.