3/26/2011

Twitter Stories

I, along with many others, have always considered the 140 character limit set by Twitter as very restrictive in the creativity that exists with the users of Twitter. There is only so much that can be squeezed into 140 characters.

I know that services such as TwitLonger exist which ultimately allow an almost indefinite characters; but they do not really allow any interaction between users. It is a case of one person writes a long speech, statement, or tweet and everybody else reads it; and at the most comments on it with the 140 character limit.

Other than conversations the one thing Twitter misses out on is collaboration between users.

This idea was being discussed in a TinyChat chat room and the following was put forth - Twitter Stories.

It is basically a 21st century version of an old idea. Back when you were younger there was this game, when you were bored, where you wrote one line of a story and folded the paper over so the next person could not see what you wrote; and then they wrote a line, folded the paper, and passed it on to the next person. This continued until everyone had wrote at least one line, the sheet of paper was full, or everyone found something better to do.

Admittedly, when it was finished most of it made no sense; but for some reason reading it back all as one 'story' there was always the humor factor - seems nobody actually knew what anybody else had written.

The Twitter version, which is being done, goes along the same lines more or less. The first person tweets at someone with the first line; then that person tweets at somebody else with the second line and so on. The only difference with the Twitter version, from what I have seen, is a unique hash tag at the end of each line.

It is easier to show an example rather than try to explain it:





Which reads as: "Once upon a time there was a three-legged dog. Who in his spare time was a superhero with incredible powers. At the bank there was a crime in progress and the dog heard it." - Not very exciting, or humorous so far but it is merely the beginning.

The reason for the hash tag (#st00HNN) at the end of each tweet is so that it can be searched for using the Twitter Search. And this, from what I have seen, is because not everyone follows the exact same people. For example I follow people that neither @mj_conspiracy or @kingofpopart follow.

Anyway, when it was being discussed there were a few 'rules' to think about:
  • Twitter search does not display protected accounts in search results.
  • There is no point tweeting a line to someone who is never online.
  • Most celebrities, but not all, will not get involved - so if it goes to a celebrity it may kill the story.
Other than that it seems as though anything goes. So if you are on Twitter, and bored, it might be worth a shot - if just to waste a few minutes.

Peace.

Cuss Count: Zero

Legal Notice: None of the tweets shown actually exist they were just an example. @mj_conspiracy, @kingofpopart, @saucystaci do not endorse this idea; or post. This post is not affiliated with any news agency or source. And this post is not sponsored by Ferrari or Apple yet.

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