The (wounded) bird app

The possible demise of Twitter would be bad for me professionally. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy the hell out of watching the tech-broish cadre of know-it-alls make a flaming hash of their business.

I am a little sad about what’s happening to Twitter.

I started an account in 2009. I was covering the Seahawks for The Seattle Times, using a phone made by Palm and the best way to post live updates from a press conference was to take a picture, write the news update as a caption, and email it to twitpic.com. I used this method to post the news that Walter Jones would be undergoing a procedure on his knee during training camp, resulting in a significant uptick in followers. I recalled the distinct feeling that, “Hey, this might actually be worthwhile.” There’s nothing quite like that little narcissistic tug that comes from others paying attention to you.

Twitter has made me a better writer because of its strict character limits and the ability to get immediate feedback on the effectiveness of messaging. It was real-time feedback that showed how readers reacted to specific styles and phrasing. I also began infusing my sense of humor – if you can call it that – into my Twitter presence in a way that I had never tried in writing for various newspapers and Web sites. I have made and deepened friendships on this app.