Richard Dean Anderson has finally got his own twitter account.

http://twitter.com/andersonrdean

So hands up who's following him.

Hee hee! Absolutely!

Me, of course...but...um...lothi...you're on Twitter? Come say hi, silly!

I am... in a limited way. I don't have Twitter on my phone (does not encourage efficient work productivity, as my supervisor says gloweringly), but I'll Tweet at ya when I get home!

Good gracious! I am e-mailing, facebooking, texting, pinging, skyping, there's my home phone and my cell. And from time to time, not often, but still, I manage to write a letter, okay, a postcard.
Sometimes I even talk to a live person!
And on top of all that I should go and Tweet?
I'm amazed I still have time to work. Well, not right now, I'm very busy melting - heat wave over here.

Apparently, RDA and Amanda Tapping tweeted each other -- and she reminded him of the existence of that marvelous invention called the 'phone'. I quite like her approach.

So do I. Amanda Tapping keeps a cool head. Although she's tweeting, too, isn't she?

For some reason people like to communicate more openly these days, with others watching, even participating, and a phone – and I mean a phone used as a phone in the traditional sense – is very much a one-on-one thing.

Don't you find it amazing that a private man like RDA chose to go on Twitter?

Not really.

He chooses what he puts on there and when he it puts it there. It's no different to him giving updates to Kate to put on her site, accept he can now do the updating himself.

Yes, but I'm talking about the number of people following him: I think RDA on Twitter is a lot more visible than on Kate Ritter's site, and therefore a lot less 'private'. Twitter is a much more public way of communicating than a fan site, even a successful one as the RDA site, because Twitter attracts a lot more people.

but he's still only putting what he wants those people to know.

It doesn't matter how many people see your post if you're in control of what you post and they have no way of finding anything else out from you?

His twitter is a one way deal. You can't reply to him unless he lets you so there's really no privacy issues there for him, just a better way to communicate to more of his fans when and if he wants too.

Television and web news sites are more invasive than twitter because you can't control when they are gonna turn up or take photos etc.

It looks as if RDA got into it at his daughter's behest; possibly nudged because it's becoming more common amongst the industry in general. It obviously hasn't become a big thing for him, though.

I get the impression that Amanda Tapping uses hers, to a large extent, to make a cheerful, controlled, regular, safe connection with her fans -- I gather they have an event called Tapping Tuesday, in which, every Tuesday, she answers a couple of fan questions via Twitter.

Her current show got its start due to fan support and well-leveraged use of the internet and its power to connect; so she's in a very good position to value what Twitter can do for her. I'm not sure what it has to offer RDA, though. It may be an experiment that has already been dropped.

I use Twitter as an adjunct way to communicate with my friends and as something with which to amuse myself. I post funny quotes through the day, etc. The 140 character limit makes it feasible for me to do in between appointments and keep my morale up.

It works for me. I really like Twitter. I am very fond of my LJ, as well, but for day to day communication Twitter rocks.

It is not a replacement for phone calls, live visits, or letters. I still write paper letters to my nephews and I use email a lot, too, of course.

I do not use Facebook, however. I don't see that ever happening. I also don't text much (anymore - I used to, but Twitter replaced that for free, so...not anymore), and I don't Skype to speak of. I draw the line with some things. My tech exists to serve me, not the other way around.

As for RDA doing it, it is likely as experiment, like Beth said. Amanda Tapping does do Tapping Tuesday, which is fun, but she doesn't tweet much otherwise. But other celebs tweet a lot (like Wil Wheaton) and it is fun to converse with them, etc.

Bottom line, for me, is easy communication with friends and the absolute fastest way to get news period. No question on that. No matter the news. A while ago, ambulances drove by work like crazy. No one could figure out what was going on. I hopped on Twitter, and there is was, like, ten seconds later. Car wreck at such-and-such intersection, blah, blah, blah, complete with alternate routes home. Useful, that. That also happened when my hubby and I were caught in completely stopped traffic on a major interstate. He hopped on Twitter on his phone and voila! Car chase involving an armed gunman, so the highway was closed up ahead. We followed the chase on Twitter until it was resolved and we went on our merry way. Yeah, for news, it can't be beat.

I don't see what the big deal with Twitter is anyway. I mean my birds twitter all day long and...

ohhh...

wait...

Wrong type of twitter... it's Twitter with a capital "T" -- not twitter as is the adorable sounds made by feathered creatures.

Sawree -- I'z eezalee confuzed sumtimzs

I must admit that, against my better judgement, I have just joined Twitter as well. I have been saying proudly that "If RDA joining hasn't made me sign up then nothing will." I hate the whole limited idea of the site. Plus, I have been able to read his postes through his website so I got all I needed. Then....he started doing Vlogs were it showed him reading the posts people send him. Now because of that and the free advertising for my music I have joined as of yesterday:) God help me:)