There is the useful reason: I enjoy knowing what my friends are up to, what's on their minds, and twitter lowers the technological barrier to that. The converse is true, and so I quickly hammer out a snapshot of my state of being, putting no thought into it.
Then there is the vain reason: I am interested in eliciting some specific perception from my friends. I have even a broader scope: I can elicit a perception from the readers of my blog, and from my 400+ facebook contacts. In other words, I use it as a sort of platform, but when I try to stick to the "What are you doing?" question, it is a platform thats all about me.
Then there is the lazy reason: This manifests itself rather as a form of loneliness. My thoughts swirl about me, and I recognize my need for friendship. I want to reach out and open myself to other people; in fact I need to. Everything I say on twitter is something that really belongs in my everyday conversation, and the frequency and time in which they take place indicates a void in my social existence.
These are just a few directions that twitter can go in.
It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour. - Henry David Thoreau
5 comment(s):
My, my.
Aren't we getting philosophical.
Actually, I've been thinking some of these same thoughts.
Thanks for validating them ... or am I validating them for you?
I'm arriving morning of 5/12.
Departing afternoon of 5/14.
Sessions nominally scheduled 9a - 9p.
Much prefer your blogging to twittering. Tweets offer a snapshot of a second in time and I prefer an extended look at the whole scene...okay, some philosophizing, too. But they are useful to encourage and reach out. Technology helps me to say things I don't have the courage/opportunity to say. Also, linking young and older lives restores hope.
PS-I urge you to reconsider the bonsai kitten link. It's just so wrong!
I've been debating Twitter for awhile...because I really like the service, but because I have more people "following" on Facebook than twitter, it tends to be superfluous.
In any event, I tweet or have updates on Facebook for a combination of your reasons, its useful to know daily things about friends and family, and it gives me an opportunity to share little moments that would otherwise be forgotten.
Interestingly enough.....these are in-line with the reasons I gave up Twitter(ing).
Guess it's a matter of each person discovering what works best for themselves.
I haven't jumped on the Twitter bandwagon yet, partly because I am a poor college student and can't afford text messages. But, I really love how Twitter and the Facebook status make us summarize our thoughts into 140 words or less.
It has shown me not only the skill and talent it takes to communicate in short and concise phrases, but the value that this concise communication has.
It takes a special person to say something inspiring or meaningful in 140 words or less.
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