The day Twitter went kaput I was

So what did you do when Twitter went down and up … down and up? Did you pounce and walk about like the Tiger Sher Khan unable to get Mowgli or worse did you start being Wilee Coyote thinking up schemes and testing new apps or services just to get the proverbial Road Runner only to be frustrated with the shortages of Tweet?

Twitter is fun and it is addictive. And in a sense its an addictive form of information overload but it does have its benefits for example:

1. It is an effective way of posting and gathering information. During an important event Twitter has proven to be a very effective means of telling and sharing the news – just look at all those tweets during a tech convention or look at the tweets that started apppearing after bomb blast in Manila, Philippines (It was faster than the local news).

2. Conversation and community. Inadvertently… twitter, although design to be a microblogging application or service, is also a conversation tool between its patron and it builds community. There is a sense of initimacy and familiarity in a number of defacto twitter communities. And often it extends beyond online.

One of the reasons why this is so is that it is easy to post and receive twits. One can post by doing it on the web, sms or even by IM. Then you receive the same way or by RSS feeds. Quite easy.

So when Twitter fluttered what did you do? Did you look for alternatives? Or did you do something else?

Me? I just went off and did a lot of off-line stuff like:

1. Reading a book
2. Watching a movie.
3. Playing board games with the nephews.
4,. Cooking
5. Having dinner with friends
6. Going to the park.
7. Walk around taking photos and snaps

In essence a lot of other things. And that is why even though Twitter is addictive, fun and useful (from time to time), I think it is important to step-back and then subscribe to your own Twitter RSS feed. Then re-learn to smell the roses.