Twitter Gets to the Point

I was going through my Twitter feed and my Gmail inbox simultaneously yesterday and it got me thinking. When I receive an email newsletter from a blogger or website, it usually takes me a minute or so to find out if the post is worth reading. I click on the email, browse the subject lines, and then either read the story or click the delete button. However, when I’m going through my Twitter feed, it generally takes me 1 minute max to browse my feed, find interesting posts and click them. I can get relevant information much quicker and easier via Twitter than through my inbox. So here I am, trying to decide if I want to keep getting email newsletters, or simply just track my favorite bloggers via Twitter.

Can Twitter Replace Email?

I don’t know if Twitter can replace email entirely, but I gotta tell you that I enjoy being able to go through my Twitter feed and be able to immediately wipe unnecessary data from my screen. I don’t have the worries of a full inbox or having to waste time deleting messages I don’t care for. Sure, Twitter is much less personal than email and you certainly cannot get as detailed, but there is something to be said about the efficiency of it.

I think email will always have an important use, but I believe that it will be used less in coming times. We have replaced several primary functions of email with other services, such as Twitter, RSS Readers, and Social Bookmarks. Soon, functions such as notifications will also be replaced by something like Twitter. Why wait for an email about a comment response or an email notification if I can get a quick Tweet that won’t clog my inbox. It seems to me that most of the stuff in my inbox is just that…stuff.

On a Side Note

Twitter is finally on the way to going mainstream and I’m not yet sure if this is a good or bad thing. Gary Vaynerchuk spent some time discussing the problem of Britney Spears joining the Twitter world today and I am afraid that others are going to join the fray similarly. Although these type of users will only add the the noise, at least we can choose who we follow.

Do your friends use Twitter? I have a hard time convincing mine, but I am convinced it is an invaluable tool for branding and social presence. If you haven’t started using Twitter, tell me why…I am anxious to hear your reasons.