To the Twitter end

I really hate April Fool's Day. Not because I'm one of the gullible saps who invariably falls for some far-fetched goof each year (because I'm not), but because suddenly, everyone considers themselves to be heeeelarious practical jokers who love to get their cretinous chuckles based purely on the concept of lying. How sarcasm became considered a form of wit lower than this is beyond me.

Anyway, The Guardian's annual joke article this year claimed the paper would fold in its printed form and instead be published exclusively via Twitter, the micro-blogging, social networking website that's apparently becoming a rival to the likes of MySpace and Facebook.

I signed up a week or so ago in a fruitless attempt to secure myself a decent username, only to find myself genuinely angry at how many people share my name (and assorted variations based on my initials). Apparently, identity theft is more commonplace than I thought. Ultimately, I settled on a half-hearted attempt at a pun in order to prevent myself becoming known as mweston73416.

For the uninitiated, Twitter asks one simple question: "What are you doing?". Users respond in posts, known as "tweets", which are limited to 140 characters or less in length. It's a bit like Facebook's status feature; indeed, the latest version of Facebook (a step backwards in this humble blogger's opinion) basically rips off Twitter, asking users: "What's on your mind?". You can also subscribe to other Twitter users' updates – known as "following".

The Guardian's a bit obsessed with Twitter, frequently reporting on its rise within the social networking sphere and even covering major events though it. Celebrities and public figures have also taken to the site, offering a unique way to interact with fans that doesn't impede on their privacy in the way that a Facebook page might.

Even though Twitter is undeniably on the rise, I can't help but feel it's a bit of a gimmick that'll fade into obscurity more quickly than the likes of Facebook ever will. Sure, it's neat to read what public figures are up to – I follow John Cleese and Charlie Brooker, though I couldn't be any less interested in what Ashton Kutcher has to say – but Twitter doesn't do anything that Facebook, emails or RSS feeds don't already.

Perhaps my opinion will change, what with mobile internet becoming increasingly popular and Twitter offering the ideal format to share bite-sized pieces of information on the go. But it ultimately strikes me as fairly pointless. Then again, so does April Fool's Day.