Twitter: Always Feel Important
Mar 11th, 2007 by Dan Blank
Twitter is suddenly the big news for their creation of a new way to look at communicating on the web. Mashable describes Twitter this way:
“…short, to-the-point messages that let your friends, family and the world know exactly where you are and what you’re doing, every second of the day.”
On the speed of adoption:
“…when you see an to someone who isn’t in your social network, you find yourself inclined to go see who it is or add them if they are a friend who just joined. This kind of social discovery goes beyond seeing friend lists on profiles, aids network structure and quickens adoption.”
Lifehacker looks at 5 Ways to Use Twitter for Good. Their list includes:
- Quick Human Answers
- Conference / News Briefings
- Friendsourcing
- Micro-Attention-Sharing
- Direct People to Good Causes
I think Twitter is an interesting communication tool, but it is also a way to make the most mundane parts of your life seem important. As with other forms of journaling, some people do so to find meaning in their life, and give their thoughts a physical weight in pages - or a digital weight in page views.
Twitter slices things even thinner, where the slightest change in your day can be noted and communicated to your friends. I wonder how long it will be before people start lying: “Just finished reading ‘Of War and Peace,’ time to go volunteer at the shelter. See you at the mall at 7:30.”