How much time are you wasting on Twitter?

July 18, 2008 By

They bill themselves as the “anti-Twitter.” What is it? It’s RescueTime, a service that keeps track of what you spend your time on. Here Tony Wright, CEO, tells me about the new service. This was part of our trip up to see interesting startups up in Seattle.

Here’s the discussion of this video over on FriendFeed.

I’m scared to use this tool because it would show that I’m spending too much time on Twitter and FriendFeed.

Filed Under: technology industry Tagged With: ,
  • http://www.bizunite.com/ Sonciary Honnoll

    No reason to be scared. It’s better to know. I use MeeTimer and it’s helped increase my productivity. Now I schedule time to be social.

  • http://www.bizunite.com Sonciary Honnoll

    No reason to be scared. It’s better to know. I use MeeTimer and it’s helped increase my productivity. Now I schedule time to be social.

  • http://www.lucafiligheddu.com/ luca

    Not more time than what this guy spent on Tetris… you are still ok :-)

    http://www.lucafiligheddu.com/2008/07/is-scoble-more-addicted-to-friendfeed-than-this-guy-to-tetris.html

  • http://www.lucafiligheddu.com luca

    Not more time than what this guy spent on Tetris… you are still ok :-)

    http://www.lucafiligheddu.com/2008/07/is-scoble-more-addicted-to-friendfeed-than-this-guy-to-tetris.html

  • http://liviux.byethost15.com/ LiviuX

    I don’t use Twitter . I have a real life and REAL friends.

  • http://liviux.byethost15.com LiviuX

    I don’t use Twitter . I have a real life and REAL friends.

  • sunspotter

    it is an interesting tool. BUT, it sucks way too much of my bandwidth and WAYYYY slows down boot-up time.

    we’ll see if it can get better. i would use it if it didn’t appear to suck so much CPU from my already overtaxed macbookpro.

    liviuX- why even post a comment? silly. someone didn’t get as many followers on twitter than they hoped for. i have a real life and real friends and an online social network with virtual friends – why not have both?

  • sunspotter

    it is an interesting tool. BUT, it sucks way too much of my bandwidth and WAYYYY slows down boot-up time.

    we’ll see if it can get better. i would use it if it didn’t appear to suck so much CPU from my already overtaxed macbookpro.

    liviuX- why even post a comment? silly. someone didn’t get as many followers on twitter than they hoped for. i have a real life and real friends and an online social network with virtual friends – why not have both?

  • http://mrontemp.blogspot.com/ Ontario Emperor

    When Denis shared your question “How much time are you wasting on Twitter?”, two people responded “None.” (Just don’t ask about FriendFeed.)

  • http://mrontemp.blogspot.com/ Ontario Emperor

    When Denis shared your question “How much time are you wasting on Twitter?”, two people responded “None.” (Just don’t ask about FriendFeed.)

  • http://lowtechtimes.com/ S.P. Gass

    LiviuX, I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one.

    How much time do I waste on Twitter? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on FriendFeed? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on MySpace? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on Facebook? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on Scobleizer? A little bit.

  • http://lowtechtimes.com S.P. Gass

    LiviuX, I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one.

    How much time do I waste on Twitter? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on FriendFeed? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on MySpace? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on Facebook? None, not a member
    How much time do I waste on Scobleizer? A little bit.

  • http://www.friendfeed.com/bwilson Brian Wilson

    @ LiviuX and S.P. Gass–some people are addicted to the Internet and spend too much time on it. You guys do have a point. But having a life and friends online and offline are not mutually exclusive.

  • http://www.friendfeed.com/bwilson Brian Wilson

    @ LiviuX and S.P. Gass–some people are addicted to the Internet and spend too much time on it. You guys do have a point. But having a life and friends online and offline are not mutually exclusive.

  • http://ultrareview.blogspot.com/ Tom Schavo

    well i guess there is nothing to be afraid of. This would only show you how much time you wasting or utilizing.

  • http://ultrareview.blogspot.com Tom Schavo

    well i guess there is nothing to be afraid of. This would only show you how much time you wasting or utilizing.

  • http://jjesse.wordpress.com/ Jonathan

    @liviux:

    I agree, I don’t use Twitter I use the phone and email to contact my real friends and not some strangers that I might “friend.” i do have afacebook account which I check every day once and that’s it.

  • http://jjesse.wordpress.com Jonathan

    @liviux:

    I agree, I don’t use Twitter I use the phone and email to contact my real friends and not some strangers that I might “friend.” i do have afacebook account which I check every day once and that’s it.

  • http://befriend.ingdomain.com/ A Friendly Tip

    People usually use twitter a lot when they have to promote something, perhaps like blog. For just tracking your peers it rarely gets overused.

  • http://befriend.ingdomain.com A Friendly Tip

    People usually use twitter a lot when they have to promote something, perhaps like blog. For just tracking your peers it rarely gets overused.

  • http://www.twitter.com/jaapstronks Jaap Stronks

    I use Twitter and RescueTime, which tags twitter.com, twitterific and twhirl as ‘twitter’. In the month of june, I’ve spent almost 10 hours on Twitter – but that doesn’t include Twittering on my iPhone. On the other hand, I’m twittering on my phone when I can’t do much else, for example when I’m riding on a bus or a train, so I wouldn’t call that wasting my time.

    The question is, is it a waste of time? I don’t think so. I’ve set a daily goal for my self at RescueTime: I shouldn’t spend more than 45 minutes a day on Twitter (if I exceed it, I get a warning by mail). I’m thinking of setting an additional goal: that I should use Twitter for at least 30 minutes a day :-)

  • http://www.twitter.com/jaapstronks Jaap Stronks

    I use Twitter and RescueTime, which tags twitter.com, twitterific and twhirl as ‘twitter’. In the month of june, I’ve spent almost 10 hours on Twitter – but that doesn’t include Twittering on my iPhone. On the other hand, I’m twittering on my phone when I can’t do much else, for example when I’m riding on a bus or a train, so I wouldn’t call that wasting my time.

    The question is, is it a waste of time? I don’t think so. I’ve set a daily goal for my self at RescueTime: I shouldn’t spend more than 45 minutes a day on Twitter (if I exceed it, I get a warning by mail). I’m thinking of setting an additional goal: that I should use Twitter for at least 30 minutes a day :-)

  • http://www.twitter.com/jaapstronks Jaap Stronks

    By the way, real life and the internet are not totally separate things. I very regularly meet people IRL whom I’ve met on Twitter first. That has become my default method of networking and meeting people, at least business-wise.

  • http://www.twitter.com/jaapstronks Jaap Stronks

    By the way, real life and the internet are not totally separate things. I very regularly meet people IRL whom I’ve met on Twitter first. That has become my default method of networking and meeting people, at least business-wise.

  • Ruben

    On Twitter? Zero. But I waste a lot of time just browsing. What one does with our time is not so much related to the tools we use, but to our mental attitude. If you’re a procrastinator, you will procrastinate no matter what. If you want to waste time (and I won’t discuss what is a waste and what isn’t), you will manage to waste it, on Twitter, on Friendfeed, or on plan old serial link BBSs :)

  • Ruben

    On Twitter? Zero. But I waste a lot of time just browsing. What one does with our time is not so much related to the tools we use, but to our mental attitude. If you’re a procrastinator, you will procrastinate no matter what. If you want to waste time (and I won’t discuss what is a waste and what isn’t), you will manage to waste it, on Twitter, on Friendfeed, or on plan old serial link BBSs :)

  • http://www.299steps.com/ Nikki Pilkington

    They’re not REALLY the ‘anti-twitter’ though are they? Can we spell ‘bandwagon’ ?

    Rescue Time is a great program, if a little addictive in itself – but it’s good to know where you’re spending time and be able to adapt accordingly.

    Twitter doesn’t have to take up a lot of time unless you let it.

  • http://www.299steps.com Nikki Pilkington

    They’re not REALLY the ‘anti-twitter’ though are they? Can we spell ‘bandwagon’ ?

    Rescue Time is a great program, if a little addictive in itself – but it’s good to know where you’re spending time and be able to adapt accordingly.

    Twitter doesn’t have to take up a lot of time unless you let it.

  • http://ericrice.com/ Eric Rice

    If we need a tool for this, then well, yeah, that’s a whole different problem.

  • http://ericrice.com Eric Rice

    If we need a tool for this, then well, yeah, that’s a whole different problem.

  • Simon.Rain

    In the kind of job that you work in, I guess it is normal that you spend as much time on Twitter or Friendfeed.

    It’s sort of similar if stock brokers would use this for how much time they spend on Yahoo or Google finance.

    I think for the majority, it’s a pretty trivial tool but when it’s your job to report or discover as much as possible, it could put a bit of perspective into the time you spend.

    I mean it’s not a waste of time if the time spent is part of your profession but where I work, they blocked facebook and for good reason (well to them) because people don’t need this and it can add up to a lot of wasted hours for the company.

    Twitter has many uses. I get to discover a lot of new things that I would normally never find (or new opinions that could change the way I see things) but it will never replace my real life friends and seeing them in person.

  • Simon.Rain

    In the kind of job that you work in, I guess it is normal that you spend as much time on Twitter or Friendfeed.

    It’s sort of similar if stock brokers would use this for how much time they spend on Yahoo or Google finance.

    I think for the majority, it’s a pretty trivial tool but when it’s your job to report or discover as much as possible, it could put a bit of perspective into the time you spend.

    I mean it’s not a waste of time if the time spent is part of your profession but where I work, they blocked facebook and for good reason (well to them) because people don’t need this and it can add up to a lot of wasted hours for the company.

    Twitter has many uses. I get to discover a lot of new things that I would normally never find (or new opinions that could change the way I see things) but it will never replace my real life friends and seeing them in person.

  • http://facebook.com/marismith Mari Smith

    I used RescueTime for a little while… then didn’t know what to do with all the feedback!! LOL It’s too gratifying to spend the time I spend on the sites I like – Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, etc. :)

    Probably a good measure of one’s time spent is the results at the end of the day, and how/whether they’re in alignment with goals, mission, vision, values… and money in the bank!! :)

    Cheers,
    Mari
    @marismith

  • http://whyfacebook.com Mari Smith

    I used RescueTime for a little while… then didn’t know what to do with all the feedback!! LOL It’s too gratifying to spend the time I spend on the sites I like – Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, etc. :)

    Probably a good measure of one’s time spent is the results at the end of the day, and how/whether they’re in alignment with goals, mission, vision, values… and money in the bank!! :)

    Cheers,
    Mari
    @marismith

  • http://www.mattbrowne.com/blog Matt Browne

    It is not a waste of time when Twitter surpasses Google in referrals to your blog:
    http://skitch.com/mattsurfs/tm33/all-traffic-sources-google-analytics

    - @mattsurfs

  • http://www.mattbrowne.com/blog Matt Browne

    It is not a waste of time when Twitter surpasses Google in referrals to your blog:
    http://skitch.com/mattsurfs/tm33/all-traffic-sources-google-analytics

    - @mattsurfs

  • http://opendomain.blogspot.com/ Mary Zolinett

    Wow… I waste way too much time.

  • http://opendomain.blogspot.com Mary Zolinett

    Wow… I waste way too much time.

  • Victor

    Asking me this question would be no different than asking me how much time I waste trying to get a date with Rosie O’Donnel. None! Because I have no interest in either

  • Victor

    Asking me this question would be no different than asking me how much time I waste trying to get a date with Rosie O’Donnel. None! Because I have no interest in either

  • http://www.eporia.com/ EPORIA

    A Twitter here and a Twitter there is alright. It’s only a waste of time if you constantly tweet every move you make.

  • http://www.eporia.com/ EPORIA

    A Twitter here and a Twitter there is alright. It’s only a waste of time if you constantly tweet every move you make.

  • http://www.nextsteph.com/stephblog Stephanie M. Cockerl

    Too much time on Twitter, especially this week.

  • http://www.nextsteph.com/stephblog Stephanie M. Cockerl

    Too much time on Twitter, especially this week.

  • http://sarathc.wordpress.com/ SaRATh

    Pretty low, because I dont have much followers :)

  • http://sarathc.wordpress.com SaRATh

    Pretty low, because I dont have much followers :)

  • http://www.tlmarketing.net/2008/05/08/are-you-on-twitter Tom Lindstrom

    I spend some time on Twitter every day.It´s quite addictive :)

  • http://www.tlmarketing.net/2008/05/08/are-you-on-twitter Tom Lindstrom

    I spend some time on Twitter every day.It´s quite addictive :)

  • zaggededge

    Thanks for the RescueTime link.

    What’s worse is signing on and realizing you lost 3/4 of your friends and followers

  • zaggededge

    Thanks for the RescueTime link.

    What’s worse is signing on and realizing you lost 3/4 of your friends and followers