Alex Cho’s Blog

I signed up for Twitter in October of 2007 but didn't really utilize it until the end of 2008.  I've had numerous talks about the social media service with those around me about why Twitter is both amazing and pointless.  Twitter doesn't even have a business model yet (or at least that's what everyone believes) and it's purpose is rightfully questioned often.  However, I've found myself becoming a Twitter evangelist even though I, too, have many doubts about its place in our lives.  If you have the time, here are what I feel are Twitter's true pros and cons most people don't notice right out of the gate:

Pros

• Privacy: When using Facebook, there's a very large and ambiguous gray area in terms of who can see the different kinds of content you post.  Although Facebook combines all kinds of media for conveniently aggregated sharing, Twitter is sweet and simple.  You know who sees it (everyone, usually) and you control everything that goes out there (140 characters of text).
• Crowdsourcing: You can reach out to the entire Twitter network if you have any questions or ideas that you'd like feedback for.  On Facebook, your networks are limited to where you live, work, or study.
• Search/third-party applications: Take a look at these and tell me you don't find Twitter's potential fascinating:
• Twistori (http://twistori.com)
• Monitter (http://monitter.com)
• Twittearth (http://twittearth.com)
• Celebrities/recognizable people: There's no other medium where you can talk with Shaq, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, or other figures that you may never have a chance to run into on your own.  Everyone is a Twitter user and with common ground, it gives everybody a chance to be themselves — as ordinary people.
  
• Emergencies/changing situations: Twitter was a great tool for news during the San Diego Fires and is now helping to make the H1N1 virus (or Hamthrax/Swine Flu) seem like it's the bubonic plague.
• Marketing: How could I forget? Companies like Virgin America and Comcast have already taken up on this and are doing great things to maintain good PR and build their reputation over the Internet.
  

Cons

• Twitter could very likely be a fad.  MySpace had its run and its future is looking pretty grim.  Facebook has been growing extremely fast; however, it's coming across its own troubles with its users.  Their terms of use aren't well-defined (yet) and your information is and will be theirs to keep.  Anyway, Facebook needs to be careful to avoid a similar falling out for their service.  Social media is great and does wonders for our daily lives but sometimes I might not need to know that you're buying bread at Ralph's (my favorite example if you haven't noticed).
• Who cares?  Most people who sign up for Twitter just don't have the time to follow or attract followers.  Without a bigger initial network, it becomes difficult to see the advantages of using Twitter.  The average tweet can be likened to a falling tree in the middle of a forest.  All of your friends are more likely to be on Facebook, not Twitter.  Where's the incentive to update to no one?
• You've probably got better things to do.
  
  
  

From Russia Today:

Authorities have refused to give a birth certificate to a boy whose name is simply a series of digits. Sounding like ‘Boch’ in Russia, the seven-year-old child’s name in English reads as ‘BOH dVF 260602’.

It's tough to complain about my life after trying to imagine what Don Yoon is going through. Yoon lost his wife, both daughters (15-months old, 1-month old), and his mother-in-law to the F-18 fighter jet crash in Miramar this week.  He's lost everyone close to him but has remained resolute in shielding the pilot from blame in the public eye, and has also reached out to the community to help him to move forward in the best way he can.

Yoon emigrated from South Korea in 1989 and his values tied to Korean culture stand out even in an article from the Union-Tribune.  During his conversation with the media, he described the guilt he feels for his father-in-law.  It might seem outlandish for some from different cultural backgrounds, but the intangible familial responsibilities of Koreans are, at the least, respectable.

My father-in-law is coming tomorrow and I don't know what to tell him. I don't know if he'll ever forgive me.