Anyway, it's just a theory. And, because I can't countenance putting up a post without a picture...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Shouldn't People Who Twitter Be Called Twits?
If you're one of my Facebooks friends and you're already tired of this line of inquiry, my apologies. While I still find Facebook somewhat mystifying (no, you didn't Bob For Apples with me, and if sending each other Little Green Patches could really stop global warming then we should all just sit at our computers all day and give each other Little Green Patches, shouldn't we?), I've been even more befuddled by Twitter. And then it occurred to me that maybe Twitter is like Facebook without all the useless, time-wasting accessories. No Little Green Patches, no Hatching Eggs, no Super Poking, no 25 Random Things I Never Wanted to Know About You.
Anyway, it's just a theory. And, because I can't countenance putting up a post without a picture...
Anyway, it's just a theory. And, because I can't countenance putting up a post without a picture...
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8 comments:
Its seem that Twitter, and also somewhat Facebook, caters to the (largely mistaken) belief that Everyone is SO Important. Nothing seems more egotistical to me than believing that everyone wants to know 'updates' of the trivial details of your little life. Its like we are all new dog owners, or new baby parents, who can't stop sharing photos of our beloved offspring pooping. The wildly successful formats of Twitter, and Facebook, My Space and the like, even Blogs, seems a desperate part of the human condition to connect to another. The sadness comes from the fact that most blogs are read by three people, tops, most twitter updates are ignored, most facebook status 'live feeds' are similarly glossed over. Yet it gives us the illusion that we are super-connected with each other, that we really really care about each other, and there is nothing more important than 'me'.
Now I think these things have there place, I Blog, I use Facebook, (and Linked in - which is geared more for business connections - no 'send me an exploding kitty' there!). But I am humbled to remember that everyone is so busy doing their own blogging, and facebook posting, and twittering, that I doubt my 'messages' make the magical impact I am sure we all feel our postings do.
A recent cartoon on Blogging had one person asking "Did you follow my Blog?" The other persons stumbles no, hems and haws, while the first person says, across several panels, "You really should. Its really really great. Yesterday I logically disproved the existence of God. It was a really great posting. Right after this lovely raspberry vinaigrette recipe I made." Enough said.
See this interesting aspect of our Congress "twittering" while Romes burns:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/24/AR2009022403424.html
People who twitter are twitterers. People who think they are more important than Peteena are twits.
A bit of elaboration: When I first started on Twitter, I found myself basically repeating the status update I had just posted on Facebook. Now I use it more from my cell phone and post when I'm out and about, which is fun, actually, but I'm still not sure what the point is, which is what occasioned my Facebook query.
I think everything Jason says in his post is basically true, but I'm not sure that's so bad. I'm sure there are crap blogs with tons of readers and great ones that hardly anyone read - the impulse to express yourself is still there, and this may be where some people find their artform (if I might use such a term in connection with blogs and twitter posts!). The saving grace is that I don't have to read the Drudge Report any more than I have to watch American Idol.
Besides, being very far away from family and friends now I appreciate knowing what they're up to on a daily basis. I really do feel more connected to people that I don't see all the time (which, except for Brian, is basically everyone I know). And everyone I know is on Facebook, and very few people I know are on Twitter, which may be where my ambivalence springs from.
I think it's in the more casual relationships, not to mention the quest for sheer numbers, where the ego prevails. And on that note I can add nothing more telling than the recent development that Wilkes County, North Carolina, is now following me on Twitter.
Never in the history of the world have so many insular humans celebrated the by the minute adoration that Peteena receives from her Loyal Legions...
So the Legions want to know: If people who Twitter are Twits; should we, the Loyal Legions who follow Peteena, be called "Petes"?
Dearest Anonymous, you are so sweet - and so close! Clearly, those who follow Peteena are our pets!
Ah!!!
The illustrious and beneficent Peteena has spoken!!!
Henceforth we, her Royal Highness's Loyal Legions, shall bear the decreed appellation of "Pets" proudly.
It beats the heck out of other things we've been called lately and isn't as gender specific as Petes
Peteena, in yet another demonstration of her infinite wisdom, has beaten Garry Trudeau to the punch--cartoon from 3/6.
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