@shlowry @AndyLowry My short answer to this is that it probably can be both or either.

@shlowry
Delighted to make your acquaintance! I'm given to understand that my paternal lineage originated through Scotland, though I haven't done the genealogy myself to track it down. Once they waded ashore here, the Irish and Scots quickly became "Scots-Irish". I don't know if that's because they had a more-or-less common language in Gaelic on arrival or just preferred each other's company.

On the use/distraction dilemma, I guess it depends on which you prefer it to be. I use it for both, as @Daniel_Berky also seems to do.

What's made the experience more useful and entertaining for me is to just follow everybody that says something even remotely interesting or funny, and then follow anyone and everyone who follows me. Oh, and of course @donmelton is a must-have to get started, as his followers and interlocutors are a wide-ranging sample of the sorts of entertaining and informative engaging correspondents one might stumble upon. (Hi Don!)