Twitter seems to have introduced too much noise into the
process
The
problem with Twitter is that there is very little context you can fit
into 140 characters, even less so if all you are doing is watching a
stream of messages that mention “swine flu.”
Now, the lack of
context is probably not a problem in 99% of discussions happening on
Twitter – or, at least, it's not a problem with devastating global
consequences.
Network actively with the right Twitter users, talk to them, spread their links, give them feedback, support their content. Be a participant in their Twitter experience.
But fundamentally, this micro-announcement service does serve two needs: to post updates with low overhead and to follow a concise stream of updates.
If you care about productivity, don't check your Twitter feed while you're trying to get work done. Disruptions are deadly for productivity because it takes several minutes to reorient the brain every time you go off track looking at something else. Stick to checking updates once per day—for example, during lunch. All the tweets will still be there.