Tweedle Dee, Twitter Dumb
Tagged as: May 01Maybe as a result of being out of school, I feel like I am somewhat out of the loop on the latest happenings. When I was in school, Xanga was something that I knew about even before it got big. Likewise with Facebook and so on. However, I feel as if I’ve been a little bit late learning about Twitter.
For those in the know, you can probably skip this paragraph. Basically Twitter is a new service that is meant for people to basically say what they are doing at a precise moment: now. Whatever you are doing, Twitter is a way by which you can let others know what it is that you are doing. You can do this via cellular phone (by way of text message), instant messenger, or on their website.
That’s all there is to it. Pretty simple right? Well I think that it’s dumb.
There is lots to be said for what a marvelous job they have done using Ruby on Rails as the platform on which they developed their service. I mean just imagine having to deal with possibly thousands and thousands of tiny connections every second. The effort put into the software engineering is impressive to say the least.
However, I think that the service is fairly horrendous in terms of what it means for people. There are some people out there who really do enjoy knowing about what all of their friends (and strangers for that matter) are doing every second of every day. But I think that this is just a Litmus Test for society as a whole. In a society of cellular phones, Blackberrys, and the like, we are forever on the go and busy.
I think that people need to take a step back and realize that it is so ridiculous to have all of these contraptions. Sure I have a great admiration for the engineering and development that all of these products represent. I even have a respect for the situations when they are actually necessary. But in terms of actual worth for the great herd we call “the public”, I think they are fairly detrimental to the well-being of people. Do you think that the people in the United States of America are any happier with their gadgets than tribesmen in some far off corner of the earth? Well they might think so, but who’s to say?
Even more than happiness, I say that all of these things are making us constantly bored. How can that be? In so being always prone to want to fill the time with checking e-mail or answering the phone, we have become people that always need to do something. And when we don’t have something to do, we are bored.
There are more important things, and I think that we all know this deep within. Have you ever thought that spending time with those around you is more important than answering your cellular phone right away? As I once heard
That’s why voicemail was invented.
E-mail is convenient and easy, but a letter is still desirable because of the fact that it takes time and energy to write one. Think about these things the next time it comes up in your life. I try to do so in mine. I won’t interrupt a conversation just to answer the phone, and I know that there is a time and a place for when e-mail is appropriate.
Twitter is a cool product/service, but I for one think that it’s continuing in the grand tradition of leading humans down the wrong road. It’s making us bored as we’re waiting for another instant Twitter update. It makes us want to sit in front of the computer or stare at our cellular phone even more. It is making people more connected to their devices and less connected to other people in a real, tangible manner. Basically, Twitter is dumb.
dude, u’re so right.. i definitely feel a lot more connected to technological devices than actual human beings.. how sad!
@tiff
Yeah I think that it’s definitely a problem that a lot of people have now. I’m not even sure why it’s like that. Maybe it’s easier since electronics won’t judge or hurt them like people would? Who knows.
I was drinking a bottle of water the other day – the leading brand, certainly in this country – and I realized that the brand-name spelled “naive” backwards. Now, I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I suddenly felt quite embarrassed and self-conscious – like I was being duped and laughed at. By the manufacturers.
I get that feeling with Twitter. I understand that the name is meant to be a reference to the chirping of birds – but I am ever convinced that the software producers see the accent more on the “twit”. It taps into the needy nature of humankind in the western world, and ultimately mocks their gullibility. Get somebody like Scoble to big it up, and it’s off on a run, with everybody jumping on board. Like twits.
@Rory
Thanks for your humorous story as well as your interesting thoughts. I agree with a lot of your opinion. And granted I have a blog named for the fact that I want to be my own person, I am still amazed at the countless scores of people who have been sucked in. Some of those people even seem like they are interesting and intelligent. And yet the fact remains that they’re using Twitter. I’ll never really understand people.
Oh my goodness – I didn’t register the full impact of your (ultra-cool) blog title. Of course I read it as “wrong”. It’s a meisterstroke!
And I appreciate your kindly and tactful readjustment of my broad branding. It’s a gentleman’s touch, sir.
@Rory
In response to your comment, I have added an “About Me” to the sidebar. Hopefully that will allow people to get the pun in the name of the blog. Thank you for the compliment on the name, and I welcome your comments anytime. They make for interesting discussion.
On another note, I look forward to reading more of your stuff. Even if the content is a little beyond my current stage of life.
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