Well, Scout Finch just posted a front page article about the "Twitterati" and this seemingly novel form of communication.
And I swear, we might as well have had another Israel/Palestine debate, because Twitter seems to evoke a fierce reaction, especially from people who are hostile to the technology.
For instance:
Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit. FUCK TWITTER AND THE TWITTERING CLASS.
In fairness, Twitter is almost certainly being over-hyped by people who think this is going to be some sort of game-changer.
But the truth is that Twitter is a medium. Nothing more, nothing less.
There are plenty of technological media that have come to prominence as the Internet has become so integrated in our every-day lives. These include email, blogs (like this one!), message boards, SMS text messages, and instant messaging, to name a few.
And all of these, like the atom or Christian Bale, can be used for good, evil, or stupidity. (Yes, don't worry, I'll think of some stupid use for atomic physics at some point.)
Twitter is no different. In fact, I'd argue that along with instant messaging and SMS messaging, Twitter has the potential to be extra stupid. Why? Because as I'm writing this blog, I'm re-reading it, double-checking that my tone comes across okay, and ensuring that my sentences aren't missing anything important. Twitter encourages you to sign on and type 140 or fewer characters, and hit submit. And there's no going back to edit it.
And it's pretty intimidating when you first sign on, especially if you don't know any other Twitter users. Because yeah, what the hell is one supposed to do? They can write a Tweet, but that's not going to accomplish much.
And so the first thing you want to do when you sign on is to find some people to follow. If they're your friends, great, it can be a mutual relationship. If not, you can still read lots of interesting stuff from their past Tweets.
For instance, one of my favorite "celebrities," Rachel Maddow, has her twitter page (@maddow) here. And she's provided plenty of interesting links to read. On her page, click "follow," if you want to see future updates from her.
You can check out David Shuster's page here.
And that's just scratching the surface. One of my favorite bands in Nine Inch Nails, and you can view Trent Reznor's page here, where he touches upon subjects like ticket resellers, tour dates, and other tidbits. And he ain't afraid to speak his mind!
You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable? Heard Chris Cornell's record? Jesus.
(And my Twitter page, which mostly consists of funny links and random thoughts can be found here.)
And anytime, you can publicly respond to anyone's tweet, by using the @username. Like "@trent_reznor Damn, what's wrong with the new Chris Cornell album?" This will send the user what's called an "@Reply." If anyone @Replies to you, it will show up under your personal @Replies. These replies will publicly appear in your list of tweets. You can also send direct, private messages, though I always thought that kind of defeated the point.
I disagree with Scout Finch about the idea that Twitter's biggest appeal lies in the ability to have back and forth conversations with some of these people we wouldn't normally be able to. That certainly is a fantastic perk if it happens, but I consider that just gravy. I don't know how many of you send out URLs to cool/interesting/random stories to your friends via IM or something, but I consider Twitter more like that, but on a gigantic scale, with some of the most important influential people of our time being able to send out interesting data. Watching Rachel Maddow is great, but when she sends out a URL to a great story about EFCA or something, that's a fantastic opportunity you wouldn't have otherwise had. And she probably wouldn't have just posted a sentence and a link in a blog -- such a thing surely wouldn't qualify as a valid diary around here, to be sure.
And if you decide to get your feet wet with your own Tweets -- a common misconception is that it's supposed to be a series of entries about what you're up to -- though you CAN post such info -- there are plenty of routes you can go. I like to send out interesting links and info on Twitter. It's also fun to engage in a dialogue - "Who saw Watchmen? I thought it was pretty decent, but too long!"
There's plenty to wrap your head around when you hop in, but I'd like to once again reiterate that Twitter is just a medium.
And while it's not super-easy to find the good content initially, once you do, you might finally start to understand it more. And it still may not be for you, but hey, at least you gave it a fair shake.
Now then, everyone can calm down and have a Twinkie or something.
And barring that... (How much responsibility does Hamas share for the suffering of Palestinians?) I just hope it doesn't come to that :)