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cathyr19355 at 07:13pm on 26/09/2009 under twitter
cathyr19355 at 07:13pm on 26/09/2009 under twitterIt's been at least a year since I started (occasionally) using Twitter, and since then my thoughts about it have changed considerably.
Originally, I thought it was a stupid idea.
Now, I have mixed feelings about it. I've concluded that Twitter can be very useful. For one thing, it's great for quick, emergency communication (both between individuals, and as a channel for public interest messages). It can be used as a mechanism to summon "flash" crowds for all kinds of purposes. It comes in handy for people who want to send a message but don't have access to a computer (because you can access Twitter with a cellphone or Blackberry) and can't make a phone call (such as in a movie theater during the movie).
But as a way of keeping up with my friends, it lacks a certain something. Since they started using Twitter, I've seen fewer e-mails blog posts from certain friends of mine; now they keep up with me, and I with them, primarily through tweets.
In some ways, I now know more about what they're doing day-to-day, rather than less. But I feel less connected to them, somehow. It's as though my tweeting friends were roommates with different schedules from mine, whose activities I find out about through indirect evidence (like piles of laundry appearing, or outgoing mail and vehicles disappearing, from time to time).
Don't get me wrong; I don't intend to stop tweeting. I'd rather be in touch with my friends than not. But there's something that is both oddly impersonal and a bit *too* personal about Twitter, and I can't really put my finger on what it is or why it bothers me.
Originally, I thought it was a stupid idea.
Now, I have mixed feelings about it. I've concluded that Twitter can be very useful. For one thing, it's great for quick, emergency communication (both between individuals, and as a channel for public interest messages). It can be used as a mechanism to summon "flash" crowds for all kinds of purposes. It comes in handy for people who want to send a message but don't have access to a computer (because you can access Twitter with a cellphone or Blackberry) and can't make a phone call (such as in a movie theater during the movie).
But as a way of keeping up with my friends, it lacks a certain something. Since they started using Twitter, I've seen fewer e-mails blog posts from certain friends of mine; now they keep up with me, and I with them, primarily through tweets.
In some ways, I now know more about what they're doing day-to-day, rather than less. But I feel less connected to them, somehow. It's as though my tweeting friends were roommates with different schedules from mine, whose activities I find out about through indirect evidence (like piles of laundry appearing, or outgoing mail and vehicles disappearing, from time to time).
Don't get me wrong; I don't intend to stop tweeting. I'd rather be in touch with my friends than not. But there's something that is both oddly impersonal and a bit *too* personal about Twitter, and I can't really put my finger on what it is or why it bothers me.
thoughtful
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I've refused to participate because, as I just asked over there, "Am I the only person left who has absolutely, positively, no interest in Twitter?"
I don't use twitter. I don't read twitter. I don't read other people's twitter feeds. I feel Twitter is the internet version of the Macarena. Sure, it's fun now, but somewhere around 2013 people will look back and go, "Remember Twitter, boy was that dumb. What were we thinking?"
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Maybe. But a few years ago, people might have said the same thing about blogging.
I think there may well be a future for Twitter. I just hate to see it being used for tasks for which is it not well suited, crowding out more thought-provoking forms of communication in the process.
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I don't think I agree with that. To me, tweeting is a little like talking out loud to yourself in a public restroom. Most of the time, no one *is* listening--but occasionally someone will be, and a lot of embarrassment can result. :-)
Still, by all means use it if you enjoy it.