First post on the iPhone!
A couple weeks ago in my post about technology I mentioned that I signed up for Twitter, but was dubious of the benefits. However, like so many before me, in the short amount of time I have been using it, I have become addicted. I listened in yesterday on an amusing conversation between my parents as they tried to understand what Twitter is and why it is popular:
Mom: ... I saw it on Twitter.
Dad: What's Twitter?
Mom: It's like a blog, but limited to only 140 characters, I don't see the point...
Dad: What's a blog?
Mom: Like email, but on a website.
Dad: So why not just use email?
Mom: *gives up*
Dad: These young people, just need to do something different, they think it's cool
Anyway, this one is for you, Mom.
On the surface, the value of 140 character blurbs seems superficial at best, and pointless at worst. Yet particularly with the addition of links, helped by bit.ly or other link truncators, Twitter becomes a way to share ideas with a large group of people, quickly and easily. Simply put, it facilitates the fast transition of ideas. The character limit is a reflection of both our collective reduced attention span and the fast pace that information moves nowadays. Quick replies are possible through Twitter, but longer, more in-depth analyses are to be held on another platform, such as email or blogs, in order to keep the discussion moving in the Twitterverse. As a reader, rather than being constrained to the views of some distant journalist, I am allowed to see at a very quick glance the thoughts of my peers. In this respect, I feel there is significant overlap with a well-compiled RSS feed, but the simplicity and ease of Twitter means there are far more Tweeters than bloggers.
I love this. It's always a challenge to explain Twitter to someone who hasn't used it. And it certainly seemed pointless to me until I gave it a shot. Funny post.
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