Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A double take on Twitter

I’ve always been very skeptical of Twitter or more particularly the Tweeters. I figured anyone who thinks that what they ate for lunch or what TV show they’re watching is worth sharing to the world has got to be suffering from some narcissistic tendencies. Unless of course you’re a celebrity in which case nothing less could be expected. When I first heard of this – a tool which enables anyone to send a 140-word snippet of random personal information to the public – I thought for sure this wouldn’t catch on. Oh how wrong I was. With 190 million users (this number includes the tweeters and followers) generating 65 million tweets per day, twitter is redefining how people communicate and relate to each other. I decided to “follow” some celebrity Tweeters and see what all the big fuss was about and I have to say I can understand why it’s become such an obsession. Trivial as it may seem, knowing what someone had for lunch or what they’re doing in real time is actually quite interesting and strangely satisfying. Their tweets makes you feel somehow personally connected to them, treating you to a quick glimpse into their lives. In this ADD world, Twitter is the perfect antidote for our ceaseless craving for digital stimulation and frivolous data addiction.

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