Whither Twitter?

I've removed my Twitters from my blog, but left the link for my Twitter page available.

Part of the reason was technical-- Twitter's popularity sometimes exceeds its ability to display information in a timely manner, and if it causes my page to load too slowly, I have to jettison it.

Another reason might be construed as more of a "marketing strategy." In Twitter, the number of people "following" your twitter feed says something about how popular/significant your twitter feed is-- it's a "social networking" thing. By displaying all my twitters on my blog where anyone could see it, there was never any reason for anyone to sign up for Twitter to "follow" me. (cf. Free Milk and a Cow) So, if someone really wants to see what I'm twittering about, they can do so through the "Twitter feed" link, sign up for a Twitter account and "follow" me.

The final reason is personal-- I like having some idea of who is following me and the *possibility* of controlling who reads my twitters. At the moment, it's wide open because I generally prefer to be that way. Unfortunately, in the past I've had to deal with a stalking ex-girlfriend and griefers-- if that should happen again, I'd like to be able to click a button and make sure that only people I choose can see what I express in my 140 character outbursts.