Useless? Mostly.
In fact, it's kind of nice to have an internet utility that isn't completely utilitarian. And for that very reason, thousands of people have found unique and wonderful ways to fashion Twitter's open API into otherworldly toys and tools.
From studying human behavior to watching the meta-news, people are inventing new twinteractions every day. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself).
Read on for some of the greatest ones I've found.
Contents at a Glance
What Twitter is
according to the gentle Wiki giant:
The Wikipedia entry on Twitter, if it were reduced to a single tweet:
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are...
In Plain English
Twitter in Plain English
1. Funny Feeds
Twimpersinations? Ugh, I thought I was going to stop doing that.
A lot of inventive, hilarious people have had the idea to lampoon various characters, real and fictional, by impersonating them on twitter.
Some of them have gained massive followings for their efforts. Maybe one will even win a Twitty award.
Read on for my favorite funny feeds.
Darth Vader
...is hilarious.
Ever wonder about the dark lord's day-to-day routine? Whether he'd update his respirator firmware on a whim? Perhaps his contempt for the nerdier Jedi?
Here, at last, is the twitter to bring balance to the universe:
- aka Twitter
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- Leave them to me. I will deal them myself - http://bit.ly/5j4smZ
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- Someone ask @FernandoDANTE if he thinks being blocked from my tweets makes me more or LESS funny than I used to be.
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- Palpatine always said the Dark Side was all-powerful, but truly, it had nothing on her - http://bit.ly/93b752
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- She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. - http://bit.ly/8r6fQX
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- Funny thing about that deal I made with Calrissian... it was never notarized.
The Mars Phoenix
...is just adorable.
Yes, the Mars rover "Phoenix" has a twitter feed of its own. Some engineer from NASA posts fairly often (impersonating the lonely little bot, of course) on all his doings.
Who knew that talk of ice scrapings could be so lovable?
- aka Twitter
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- Brrr! Postcards from Mars show a frosty Phoenix on the north polar plains during Martian winter http://bit.ly/2kCuf4 *waves*
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- @NegativeK Seasons last roughly 2x as long as on Earth. Mars axial tilt is slightly greater than Earth's while orbit is far more elliptical.
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- @elpalabrista Nosotros tambien :)
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- Spring has sprung in the north hemi of Mars! Team is waiting for longer daylight hours, around mid-Jan., to "listen" for our lander.
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- @Chaoticwhizz Only new content being posted now. Old content was used on May 25 to commemorate landing anniversary.
Not Steven Wright
I mean, none of us is, but this guy's not either.
A truly hilarious bunch of quotes -- if you love Steven Wright, you'll enjoy this feed immensely.
My personal favorite: "I'm addicted to placebos. I could quit but it wouldn't matter."
But you can pick your own:
- aka Twitter
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- I have map of the United States, it's actual size. It says one mile = one mile.
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- I used to be a narrator for bad mimes.
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- How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
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- The universe is expanding. That should help ease the traffic.
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- A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
2. Autotweets
Brought to you by <b>Programming</b>, and by the letter <b>A</b>
The next category: automated twitters.
These ingenious twitter feeds have been set up to "retweet" certain events/news from the twittersphere. Some are even programmable for reminders and alarms (useful if you have twitter linked to your cell phone via SMS updates).
And to be fair...
A little balance for my conservative readers:
Not an Obama fan? Maybe you'll like Conservatweet, the twitter feed that notifies you of new posts on the top conservative blogs and news portals (such as Hot Air, Michelle Malkin's Blog, and the Counterterrorism Blog).
Curious? Have a look:
- aka Twitter
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- [Hot Air]: Video: Get your nomination in for the Sammies!: The Sam Adams Alliance wants to encourage a wide range o... http://bit.ly/8wxGQp
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- [FreeRepublic] Transparent truck system could save lives (Primitive cloaking technology): Russian design studio Art... http://bit.ly/7r1Vqc
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- [FreeRepublic] Michelle Malkin Says White House using "Thug Tactics" to Force Dems to Support ObamaCare - Video: He... http://bit.ly/8fG2Fk
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- [FreeRepublic] UFOs turn up in Michigan sky over Christmas display: A Michigan photographer taking images of a down... http://bit.ly/6tCpMO
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- [FreeRepublic] Obama's pick for man of the year: George W. Bush: In his year-end interviews with friendly news outl... http://bit.ly/7rpnsm
3. Human Curiosities
That's why my friends call me "Whiskers"
Thanks to twitter's open API, tons of third-party apps are available.
(Translation: Twitter's setup makes it easy for outsiders to make programs that add to the fun/usefulness/strangeness of Twitter)
The following three sites allow you to target a subject and watch what the twittersphere says about it. This can, in many ways, end up being the strangest thing you've ever seen.
Twistori
Rhymes with "History"
Creepy. Or touching. I can't decide.
This site shows results, as they appear on Twitter, for searches like "I love" or "I wish." Simply visit the site, click on one of the terms, and watch the anonymous posts roll.
You'll start to see certain patterns of thinking emerge around each term. The effect is, simply put, humanizing.
Summize
^ This ^ is how Summize used to look. But ever since Twitter acquired the company in June of 2008, it's been integrated into Twitter as a robust search engine.
Now it looks like this! It's really useful, too -- you can:
Find out who's mentioned you (ever)
Just type in your name, your screen name, your blog's title...0 points
Balance out that twObama stuff
...by running a search for McCain instead.0 points
Find funny links
Try this search for the word "hilarious."0 points
Discover an awesome band
You just might stumble upon a new musical gem by running this search for "favorite band."0 points
See who loves the newest Batman installment
A search for "dark knight" invariably surfaces several posts each minute.0 points
Twitscoop!
What did you just call me?
By watching the Twitscoop main page, you can get the news people are most interested in based on the keywords that surface.
According to this, the Twittersphere has recently been beating the news networks to major stories. Presumably, you can get some of your news faster from Twitter than from the 24-hour news channels.
Want to see what's happening right now?
The Non-news
Sometimes the most interesting (or confusing) story isn't a story at all. It's not some crowd of people linking to a newsbreak or talking about the same current event -- sometimes it's just an anomaly.
For instance, the word "porn" becomes very prominent around noon, eastern time. Every day.
Of course, I know not to ask, "Why porn?" -- But I have to ask, why noon?
4. Contests, giveaways, and free stuff
Creativity from inside the tightest boundaries
These fancypants companies, bloggers, and leaders came up with a great way to engage people-- offer them some free crap!
Perhaps one of the best things about these contests is how much creativity, trivia, or interesting randomness seems to spring out of each one. For instance...
Microfiction!
How short is your story?
As part of a ridiculous (and very successful) promotion, the online magazine/blogging portal Copyblogger hosted a contest to write a single, stand-alone fiction post on twitter.
(Of course, microfiction is nothing new, but this is taking it to the extreme.)
The results of the contest were truly artistic. Never before has my imagination been so stimulated by so very little.
The winner:
Ron Gould: "Time travel works!" the note read. "However you can only travel to the past and one-way." I recognized my own handwriting and felt a chill.
Click here for the rest of the best entries.
Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht: Hand-me-down iPhones
Autographed, of course.
What DiggNation fan wouldn't love to have Kevin's or Alex's old iPhone, autographed and sent to them, simply for being picked from a lottery of followers? Pick me! Pick me!
During a subsequent filming, Kevin sent this tweet. What followed was huge-- remember TwitScoop? Well, TwitScoop was dominated by replies to Kevin's tweet:
Lucky I was there to take a screenshot.
After waiting (perhaps for 15 minutes), he scrolled down the list of replies and picked one at random. Whatever twitterer got chosen, he would autograph the back of his (old) iPhone and send it to them.
I didn't get picked. *sniff*
Feedback
Your thoughts? What would you add to this lens?
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Reply
- Junyuan Junyuan Oct 11, 2008 @ 11:10 pm
- Twitter, I must say, is one of the best social networking sites on the Internet and if used correctly, it can help you bring your business to the next level (in terms of traffic and sales). You have a very good lens here to share the various ways on how to use Twitter. I've also, from your lens, come across some Twitter tools which I've yet to see before and I'll be trying them out myself! :) I've given your lens a 5-star rating and added it to my favorites. You may want to check out my lens where I share 20 free Twitter tools you can use to enhance your business... Feel free to visit it and let me have your comments! :) You may also want to add your lens to my Internet Marketing Directory to get more traffic to your lens... Cheers!
Follow me!
Big surprise, I'm on twitter!
- aka Twitter
- 0 followers
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- Wrote a joke on facebook, then realized it's the type of humor only an Achewood fan would get. People, read Achewood so I can be fun again.
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- Know what I love? How A Cappella is now the most popular dang thing on TV. I feel like the whole world is late to the party I helped start.
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- About to take my new running shoes for a test drive! Hope they handle better than my last pair.
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- One of those Mondays I could have sworn was a Tuesday. Freakin.
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- Spent the last hour getting real familiar with my most apalling traits, and realizing I'm helpless to fix them. God, do your thing. Need ya.
by berthart
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