Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Twitter - Jumping the Shark or Blowing it Up Chief Brody-style?

For those not in the know, which is an absurd notion if you are actually taking time to read a blog, Twitter is a microblogging/network utility that allows people to send and read limited messages of 140 characters, known as "tweets" of other people who are on the network. Twitter has gotten a lot of press recently from reports of Lance Armstrong breaking news of his stolen race bike first on Twitter and the backlash from the media against congressmen who were writing and sending tweets while sitting and watching President Obama's first speech to the Legislative Branch.

The media's instant analysis of Twitter based on recent events is that it is a meaningless, self-indulgent novelty format which distracts people and further adds to the lessening attention span of people in general. To a degree right now that is true. I subscribed to Twitter and then tepidly stepped into the Twitter world, being very cautious to who I would follow on it. I am also not very extravagant with my tweets, with maybe one a day or two if I force myself. I try to keep mine more towards observational points verses "about me" thoughts, which goes more towards my "face in a crowd" persona and my uncomfortableness with the spotlight.

I am very interested in following people, looking for a spark. Much like Morpheus searching for Neo in the one decent Matrix movie, I am looking for the Da Vinci of Tweeter, that person who will elevate tweets to the art form it could be. As haiku is to poetry, so could Twitter be to blogs. It is way too early to call the artform of the tweet refined and someone will find an angle to make this so-called novelty something not to miss. Who could it be?
Sadly, President Obama is not allowed to tweet anymore. I have a friend who is posing as an international movie star and is garnering at least 50 new followers a day. Some of my favorite television programs (okay, Mad Men) have their characters "tweeting" from 1962 to us today. The possibilities are limitless, Twitter just needs to find it's Neo...



1 comment:

  1. Twitter is now garnering new professions which in this economy may not be a bad thing. I have just dipped my toe into the waters of Twitter, and will admit it is not as intuitive as I would like...but really, a Twitter Coach?
    http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/technology/Articles/Pages/GettingaTwitterCoach.aspx

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