Information Overload?

While listening to TWiT this morning/afternoon, I'm at odds as to what side to pick in the Twitter problem. Some of the points that were brought up are valid - there are so many new services pop up that it's hard to focus on each of them. Between Twitter, Pownce, Facebook, Myspace, and all of the other places, it's getting harder and harder to keep track of all of the information that you need to.

On the other hand, I've normally been a person who doesn't like writing so much, and Twitter has become more of a common thing for me. Between the ability to direct message, and the fact that you can just put in a short blurb as to what's going on, it makes the ability to communicate that much more available. We aren't all Robert Scoble or John Dvorak - not everyone likes to write so much, so often.

Facebook works well for keeping track of people. Twitter helps in letting you tell what your friends are doing, but facebook is the one that really helps you know the quick and dirty of your friends. Besides keeping track of who is around, it also lets you know where they're at in the world - that's helpful, especially post-HS or post-college, when everyone splits and you want to keep track of them all. That way, you can see what's going on with everyone, after you've all left to go and live your life.

I have to agree with what Veronica said in the TWiT podcast - each of the different tools fill a different use. Twitter and Pownce, while being very closely related, are different in some ways - Twitter stays more on the simplistic side, where Pownce is more free as to what you can post (video, audio, etc.). Facebook works best solely as a social-networking system (as it should be - I don't even want to get started with all of these "applications" that have been added recently - not a smart idea), and Myspace is, well, for people who are to technologically inept to create their own website.


That being said, I like twitter, and I would like more of the people I know to start using it, just so we can keep track of each other.

What they didn't manage to mention is probably my favorite tool of the whole internet: Netvibes. Netvibes acts as a central hub of things to view, places to go, and things to watch out for. I personally keep a facebook plugin, a twitter plugin, one for Remember the Milk (which is awesome, but for some reason, doesn't like Firefox 3 betas - should be looked into), weather, web searches, and various rss feeds. It keeps everything organized neatly and centralized, and that way, I can focus on things that only need that focus.

Not necessarily trying to be a billboard, but I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to centralize what they're working on.