I like what Rands has to say about brevity and the question-behind-the-question on Twitter (not “what,” but “why”).

I don’t want just the content; I want to know what you think about it. Retweeting an article? Great, what’s the one line you love? Think that lolcat is funny? Me too, but why? BEFORE: NYTimes Graphic: Home Prices in Selected Cities: http://bit.ly/4CjL (@khoi) AFTER: Ouch. Phoenix: http://bit.ly/4CjL (@khoi) … In Twitter, you follow people, not content.

Reminds me of a WSJ article that stressed the following point about “Tweets as literature” — Good writing, no matter where it occurs, raises questions; it doesn’t answer them. You’re left wanting more. As for myself, I’ve started a variety of Twitter accounts (@greaterthan, @lunging), only to veer from intense dislike to intense respect for the format. I’m never comfortable, though. — and one more point, for all of those who defend “Twitter as art” and point to the multitude of writers, who, were they not dead, would be writing on Twitter (Hemingway, Dorothy Parker), it’s important to similarly point out the many writers who most certainly would not be writing on Twitter (DFW, Doystoevsky).