Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Twitter



I'll be honest with you here. I just don't 'get' twitter. Facebook makes sense to me, because it is useful to be able to follow people's status updates occasionally, and see who is getting married, and who has pictures of their new baby. I actually like the fact that you can put that information out there without worrying about whether anyone is interested; they can just read it if they want to.

And then there's twitter.

Now don't get me wrong. I am sure there are 12 people in the world who need twitter. Men and women so interesting, so insightful, so influential, that there very existence and daily activities can elighten and motivate the rest of us.

I'm also sure that they are too busy being influential and insightful to bother twittering.

I am reminded of when the big brother phenomenon broke in my country. You remember big brother don't you? One of the first reality shows we had, where people would all live in a house together, and be filmed 24 hours a day. When it first started here, there were people who would stay up at night, just to watch the contestants sleep. I mean, seriously? What is that all about? Are we really that interested in other people's lives that we need to be informed of every bowel movement and missing contact lense?

Don't answer that.

I think twitter is a lot like that for some people. They are just standing there, broadcasting their entire lives to a bunch of comparative strangers.

I realise I am probably offending some of my readers, most of whom I am sure twitter. And I am sure that you need to. But I do think it is getting a little out of control here.

If God had intended me to twitter, he would have made me a budgie.

So let me put it out there. Why do you twitter? Do you find it useful to follow other people's lives?

9 comments:

  1. i twitter for the same reason i blog. to share thoughts with others. to get feedback, engage. i love it. its completely different than my friends here in town and at church. actually, many of my local friends blog and twitter. but my best friend is in boston (im in oregon) we both blog and twitter.

    i dont feel a "need" to do either. but i enjoy it. and it can be used for plenty good. in fact...when i first started i met an atheist. we butted heads for many months. we'd end up discussin about a post and our defenses would rise. we both ultimately found that we had preconceived ideas of who eachother were. so...we started just being...us. we became fast friends. he wasnt a blogger then, only a reader/commenter. he has since started a blog and even a twitter acct. he follow many of my christian friends and engages daily in deep discussions with them. he is open. its been awesome watching him let his guard down and ask more questions. he has also recently started a bible study on his blog because he wants "learn about this God that we all respect so much".

    THIS is a HUGE reason for doing what i do. i woudlnt change a thing. theres no reason why we cant use any of these outlets for Him. and theres no reason why we cant have fun doing it. even if at times it seems pointless. its just another extension of life i guess. at least for me.

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  2. oh good grief!

    sorry about the missing words.

    eeks!

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  3. Twitter ROCKS. Join the revolution!

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  4. I'm visiting you from SCL's site. I will tell you the same thing I commented over there. I don't Twitter and maybe I should Twitter that. :)

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  5. Well said. The whole idea is for the "birds."
    And I am happy to let those birds who do it, do it.

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  6. Poor Shark Bait. He's hiding his Twitter envy behind the veil of indifference. But there is help for you. Just talk to Katdish. She could make you into a Twitter Ho in no time.

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  7. I twitter to converse with my cyber friends. That's pretty much it. I am a social butterfly. On the computer, that is...

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  8. Is this the face of indifference?

    I think not. Try something... stronger

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  9. I love this post. What's the point of Twitter? there's none, EXCEPT for chatting, some news media use it as a gage on topics (for stats - I've heard this a few times while listen to radio news reports before I even understood Twitter or had an acct).

    You can use as a RSS if you follow blogs that have a twit acct, make connections with people of like minds or like the above comment just keep up with your long distance friends. I have 2 friends that live in Asia and they love to twit all day long. Some things are soo funny! So I keep in touch. I've heard some people using it as a way to advertise their products and get their business off the ground. So I also see how it can be used to promote the gospel. You don't have to have a bunch of people following you that you don't know.

    In summary you can use it for many things (kinda like blogging) or no things at all ;)

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