According to a recent EE times survey of 285 engineers, 85% reported that they don’t use Twitter. More than half indicated that the statement "I don’t really care what you had for breakfast," best sums up their feelings about it; others characterized it as "a ridiculous waste of time and electrons" or expressed the strong desire for it to simply "go away."
A comment on Slashdot summed up my feelings about this perfectly:
If your reason for not liking Twitter is "I don't really care what you had for breakfast," the problem isn't Twitter - it's that you need to find some more interesting friends.
Just like a telephone, its usefulness depends on who you have on the other end of the line.
The thing to remember is that Twitter isn't something magical, it's just a platform for broadcasting and receiving short messages. That's all... It doesn't do anything else. How you use those short messages and what you use them for is entirely up to you.
So the problem is the signal to noise ratio... Why is that a problem to a demographic that understands filters better than most?
How do you get the most out of Twitter?
What Twitter tips do you have for other engineers?
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Sergio Schaart
Like what is said, Twitter is about user generated content. It could be very useful when you follow peers who have relevant tweets. 140 characters can inspire to make a decision, or to look into a direction you'd never looked into otherwise.
For me twwets in the world of technics/ict, politics/news and music are very useful for me. It brings a lot information in just short terms. On a busy day at work it's very handy to be up to date with Twitter, and sometimes I tweet or retweet to my followers, but relevant if possible (and sometimes funny).
Remember that Twitter is relatively young and not fully grown up, but give it a chance and you will see the benefit for you.
OWasmund
I am only using Twitter as an really fast information tool. The content of your timeline depends on your contacts. I follow for example our local newspaper. They are twittering the newest news and you can read it next day in the paper. Otherwise i am following my friends around the world and i twitter mostly fun stuff or pictures from the phone. For special informations twitter isn´t the best tool.
LStacey
Good points. Although I find that by using Twitter lists and columns in Tweetdeck, I'm able to find good information as soon as it crops up.
tronixstuff
Twitter is a good tool for sharing relevant information and the odd laugh with like-minded people. Usually people in certain 'groups' stick together which makes life easier. You don't have to check twitter every 30s, but it can be interesting to see what your peers are talking about.