Comments on: Twit Or Fit: Whatever happened to Wit?

By: Roo Reynolds

Roo Reynolds — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:17:19 +0000

The biggest problem with this for me is that it registers and authenticates you using your Twitter username and password. Urgh.

By: DE

DE — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:25:55 +0000

Having talked to @stut at Twinterval, it didn’t sound like they were attempting to help find the Higgs Boson. If you don’t like it, move on.

I’m thinking that in these harder financial times, higher values may well not find a shining light.

The better question is wondering why people think the advertising model is going to last..

By: Clive Birnie

Clive Birnie — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:05:18 +0000

Quite right then that Jake Stride’s dog is the front runner.

By: Scott Mark

Scott Mark — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:50:03 +0000

Of course they are free to innovate, of course James is free to respond – let’s move beyond and just get to the value judgments and intelligent exchange.

I think you are right on with this one James – let’s stick with content quality as a metric and try to repair some of the ills rather than just 2.0 them.

By: Lee Bryant

Lee Bryant — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:33:37 +0000

As per our chat last night, Twitfit is not even a breadstick

If this is the great British hard working startup Nick H refers to, then I think we should set our sights a little higher.

By: Tim (@Twalk) Walker

Tim (@Twalk) Walker — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:23:30 +0000

Thanks for this post, James. I’m with you in thinking that Twit or Fit’s makers could have done much more & better with their talents. It’s probably not relevant whether I find the site entertaining (it’s not the least bit fun to me), but in any event it’s a missed opportunity to do something interesting and new and genuinely clever, rather than an uncreative knockoff of Hot or Not.

By: David Petherick

David Petherick — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:56:03 +0000

It’s puerile, silly and useless. I said as much when I reviewed it. But I still like it because it’s fun. You remeber FUN, don’t you, Ebeneezer? But here’s a thought: You can always vote up ugly people. And vice versa. And I think it’s worth syating that you’re only voting in TwitorFit – not actually following.

If you want to celebrate merit, register ‘influentialtwits.com’, remove the photos, and concentrate on stats about follow ratios and retweets. Have an award for the pithiest, most memorable biography statement – but I wouldn’t alert your web host to expect a flood of traffic.

Some ugly people are stupid. Some pretty ones are clever. And vice versa. But in social networks, as in life, those who have merit, and who look good, tend to get more attention than those who have merit, but look like the back of a bus. Only Photoshop can change that fact, I’m afraid.

By: Suki Fuller

Suki Fuller — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:53:57 +0000

Well – I was fit before my eyes graced that page & my brain registered…now I must be a twit. Oh my, oh my!

By: Graham

Graham — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:52:19 +0000

Agree with Zuzanna – it’s a little bit of fun. But the principle is a much larger one. How do we get people talking and doing instead of just consuming?

“Fitness” is like branding – symbols of value as opposed to actual value. Away from merit, the world runs on symbols – slogans, soundbites, logos, market indexes. Why? Because it’s easier. It takes less time to judge a symbol, to compare it, or to pass it on to others. Symbols are currency – think about all those brands popping up on Hollywood films, and the hordes of filmgoers that actually think that those brands are cool, just because they’re endorsed by celebrities.

I guess a lot of it is fed by the sheer overwhelming amount of “stuff” there is now – we don’t have time to go deeper. It’s more important to keep up with the flow than it is to go beneath the surface. How to change that? Give people space, security, maybe. Give them skills back, rather than taking away their skills so that they have to fake all those skills/talent/cash to other people.

By: Zuzanna Pasierbinska-Wilson

Zuzanna Pasierbinska-Wilson — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:35:57 +0000

In principle I agree with you post (shock, horror). I’d rather have everyone reading Pushkin than John Grisham, but we have to be realistic. It’s just a little bit of fun. Don’t worry, we are not wasting our ‘undoubted creativity’, watch out for our ‘awesome injection’ campaign in the New Year. I am sure you will approve. Happy holidays!