Social value and intrinsic value

I love blogs; I don't love Twitter.

The intrinsic value of the text in a Tweet is usually very low. It isn't very creative, insightful, or worth thinking about – blogs are.

This doesn't mean Tweets are useless or worthless, but they do have a different kind of value: social value. It can be very beneficial to know what your people are up to right now, which might lead to serendipitous opportunities. The important part is making this distinction.

We should go to the break room to check on our friends. We shouldn't go to the break room for a lecture on the meaning of life, and if we do, we'll likely be let down by the experience.