I’ve been thinking a lot about Twitter lately, contemplated signing up, and finally decided that what with Facebook, this blog, an academic profile, 3 email accounts, MSN Messenger, Skype, my cell phone and that old fashioned device known as the landline, that I’ve got plenty of ways to broadcast my business.
I’m not averse to following someone’s Twitter though, nor do I think it would be wise to discount this particular social networking device as just a fad. Twitter, as a form of micro-blogging, and Tumblr, with its preference for mixed-media posts, allow users to communicate ideas differently than I do with this blog, for example. If I had to sum it up, I’d say Twitter and Tumblr are more fluid, faster, messier, and allow easier and more instant connections between interlocuteurs. And it only takes a quick look at the newest version of Facebook to recognize Twitter’s influence in terms of how we communicate with one another in online spaces.
April 22, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I like your thoughts about Twitter…as I was opening a Twitter account for a group I’m a part of, it made me pause and think about all of the accounts I have open in the interwebs. From blogs, old and new emails, music sites, skype, cell phone-web links, etc… I think I’m too ‘present’ without really paying attention to where I have stuff open. I went and shut a lot of things down before I opened the Twitter account…
Which got me thinking as I read your post, what makes something a fad? Has the ‘shelf life’ as it were, for various technologies changed the way we talk about relevance and influence? Is that way of viewing relevance in other parts of life?
For me, it’s funny to think really: I don’t blog as often as I could, I’m not on Facebook, have only 2 emails accounts, and can’t live without my phone…starting to do more and more with it…
But as I write this, I think that that is how I am today…and next week, something in that list will get more attention and something wont. I cluster my usage…
Won’t ramble on…thanks for the post.