Art continues to imitate life as Twitter remains a target.
My favorite recent comic–
And a few snippits from Pultizer Prize winning columnist Leonard Pitts on why he won't Twitter his life away…
"When I first heard of this latest advance (?) in interpersonal
communication, I pegged it as a fad that would be big among high school
and college students — i.e., young people, who frequently have the
attention span of a squirrel on cocaine. Last week's presidential
speech to a joint session of Congress shows how wrong I was."
"In the '90s, you often heard people complain of how memoir writers
and afternoon talk shows had turned our public spaces into a communal
confessional, intimate secrets once necessary for whispering now
shouted into the ether like an order at a fast-food joint. Ten years
later, we are not just sharing secrets; we are sharing lives. And not
the good parts, either, but the banal, the mundane, the everyday.
I'm
darned if I can see the fascination. I mean, I'm not surprised that
technology allows this. But I am surprised that people — by the
thousands — buy in to it."
"Indeed, you have to wonder if, as communication becomes ever easier, we
have not gone in the opposite direction, crossing the point of
diminishing returns as we did. More people have more ways to reach more
people than at any point in history. But it turns out — read a message
board or an unsolicited email, if you don't believe me — many of us
don't have a whole lot to say. Unless, that is, you find some socially
redeeming value in banality, cruelty and crudity, which have become
ubiquitous."
Thoughts? Agree, disagree?
i think it’s one of those things you have to leave to the old saying “to each his own.” i personally don’t agree with is statement that “many of us don’t have a whole lot to say”. i don’t believe everyone wants to be the loudest or biggest voice out there, but maybe they just want someone to listen.
Robin, I’m somewhat in agreement with him. That was my first impression too of Twitter & I’m afraid it hasn’t changed all that much since I started myself. Most of what I read on there I could definitely live without. Spending so much time online vs. real life is not a great thing, I don’t think. Easy to get too sucked in & behind on real life issues & it’s just one more thing to feel compelled to DO.
My mom and I just had a “conversation” about this last night. She’s more in line w/ Rhoda, I’m more in line w/ amykiane. I’ve been thinking a lot lately, however, about just what Rhoda said: “Spending so much time online vs. real life is not a great thing.”
I am of the opinion that in this world of “modern conveniences”, we are not only able to do certain things faster, but that we also have more to do. I suspect that as our lives become busier, and we have more and more “noise” in them, it is harder to hear the simple, still small voices in our lives. Be it young children, the aged, or the very Spirit of God, who does not shout to be heard. I worry that by having the mundane and inane thrown at us all the time, we allow that noise to overshadow the important things.
But it’s just an opinion.
It’s clear to me after several months on Twitter, people are DEFINITELY
looking for different things with its use; for me, it took a while to know
just what that was. Glad to binge when I do, but when I’m not “there”, it’s
perfectly fine with me :).
Ambivalent IS what I am–I can take it AND leave it! I do have a real
concern with all the “opportunities” to live online, people are giving up
very real lives…that makes me sad. I’ve actually had some online friends
tell me they didn’t have friends IRL and that broke my heart. It’s much
easier to “live” here and only show what we want to; but what happens when
you’re sick or have a baby or WHATEVER and you NEED a human touch? Cyber
well-wishes only go so far. Of course, that being said, I love to write and
when something connects with others? When I sense a spark of kindredness
among my online acquaintances? I love that, too :).
Hehe, I wrote my response to Rhoda’s comment before reading yours; I
could’ve addressed it to both of you though. Since I’m now earning income
from writing opps (on occasion), it ties me here in a different way than it
used to. BUT that necessarily has meant giving up some things I enjoyed
(reading more blogs & commenting there). There’s a cost to that, but
there’s a cost to doing it, too. As I said, I “see” a loss of touch with
REALITY among some of my online friends/acquaintances, and I wanna shake
them silly (in a loving way, not judgmentally). Other thoughts are
swirling, but they’re better left unsaid…….for now ;).
I hear you loud and clear. Your opinion is weighty in my opinion ;).
Ok that cartoon cracked me up!!
I don’t see what folks see in ‘twitter’ … I confess I’ve not participated mainly because I don’t care to respond to the question of ‘what I’m doing’ at any given moment … nor do I care what others are doing moment to moment. I can barely keep up with posting and visiting blogs these days and I’m way behind on email too. I don’t ‘text’ anyone either … but then I’m an old broad.
Hugs and blessings,
I twitter but I still DO NOT get all the hype~
sandy toe
I, too, am ambivalent, Robin. However, I’ve gone from being a little too sucked into Twitter to a more balanced place where I just shut it down often. I hop on for brief periods of time, catch up a little, and then I’m off. It seems to work better that way for me and I don’t feel I’m twittering my life away.
I think in the beginning it was fun & exciting as you hooked up with friends and had this big discussion going “real time” without an actual conference or chat room. But that was just my own experience – I realize not everyone uses Twitter the same way.
At this point, I could pretty much take it or leave it. I enjoy it when I’m on, but I’m not as consumed by it, either.
Interesting Robin. The same sort of criticisms were levelled at blogging back some years now. I’m on Twitter. It’s an experiment right now and I tend to go in bursts with people I already know. I don’t like it taking too much of my time, and won’t let it sacrifice my time for blogs and books. Seems to be something of a fad to be anti-fad with some of the things I’ve read about Twitter lately.
I’ve been living without Twitter for the past month, and I haven’t missed it a bit. I don’t really know (IRL) anyone in my group, and found I was spending too much time reading about people I didn’t really know. I think I’m going to quit Twitter this week, actually. I need to be “here.”
I’ve read some twittering (tweeting? I don’t even know what it is called)
I don’t want to twitter my life away, either.
It’s bad enough to be hooked on blogging. All that other stuff, I’m not going to even try it once. I think it’s “techie crank.”
I’m not sold on Twitter yet. I try to do it, because (honestly), it’s what all the cool kids are doing. But I just find it exhausting. And so far, it’s not really adding anything to my life. I just don’t have enough TIME to get into it!!
I agree. I blog, and I take the time to compose my thoughts – even when they are Tweets or FB status updates. But I know I’m the minority. Just take a look at any controversial subject on a newspaper site or CNN.com; look at the comments. The anonymity of the web allows people to say things that are downright mean and insensitive.
I think Twitter has it’s place, but this newfound popularity befuddles me for the reasons that the author states – most people don’t have anything to say. Why would I want to read it 160 characters at a time?