I’ve just taken the time to discover the query_posts() template function for WordPress and used it to exclude my tweets from the main page (and soon, the RSS feed):

Insert the following into your index.php before the “have_posts()” section:

<?php
if (is_home()) {
query_posts($query_string . “&cat=-42″);
}
?>

In this case, I’m excluding my tweets category (42) from the main home page.

Now, sitting back and enjoying the best of both worlds – cake, and eating it too

Update: Now using the Simply Exclude plugin to exclude the tweets from the front page and RSS feeds.

The may return at some time in the future in their own feed.  Or they may not.  Just follow me on twitter if you want to keep up.

So what’s so different about Twitter? Or is it just another case of a new, shiny, evolving (but not revolutionary) thing getting all the hype?

What’s different for me is that it’s IM/IRC that actually works on my aging mobile phone, or via an IM/IRC style chat, or via a light web interface. I’m finding it very egalitarian in that I can friend/follow anyone I want and in the de-facto ‘rules of engagement’ most people will friend you back and allow two-way links with people as diverse as Robert Scoble, Henry Rollins, or the manager of a small crafts store in New York.

It also seems to be doing a good job at stimulating conversation with the tag phrase “What are you doing?”

Of course plenty of people are exposing more about what they are doing than they should be, trying to spam/game/harvest the system, and probably many more unsavoury things.

So definitely evolutionary not revolutionary, but still good as a community contact tool.

Feel free to add me at http://twitter.com/Froosh

So now I’m trying some of the existing ones to see if they do a good enough job…