Does Twitter Draw Us Closer?

What is barely touched upon in the article is the facts of life — we have finite, limited amounts of time and resources. What we choose to expend them on leaves that much less time for other things in our lives. So if you spend an hour or two a day on updating (and reading about) these distant connections on the mundane actions of your life (and theirs), that’s one or two less hours you have to actually be doing something.

So while it may be an old joke, “Second Life, heck I can’t even keep up with my first one!” it’s not so much funny as simply true for many. “I’d twitter you, only I’m too busy actually doing something to stop and write that I’m actually doing something.”

“But it only takes a minute to update!” True, but updating interferes and actually interrupts the natural, every day flow of my life. Maybe not yours, but I don’t find it particularly natural to be reaching for my cell phone or computer every hour to post an update. (“Look, I’m eating nuts and still watching the game! Great game. Are you watching the game too?”)

The act of stopping several times a day to observe what you’re feeling or thinking can become, after weeks and weeks, a sort of philosophical act. It’s like the Greek dictum to “know thyself,” or the therapeutic concept of mindfulness.

So by posting to twitter that you’re “making a sandwich,” this leads to some greater self awareness… Uh, okay. If you get some great insight from writing, “I’m making a sandwich for lunch today,” more power to you. But I can’t seriously believe this is most people’s reality in using twitter.

I’d feel differently if people’s twitters were indeed these thoughtful or thought-provoking 140 characters of insight into their own actions or feelings. But I just haven’t found that. I’m far more likely to find, “At airport, stupid flight was canceled” than “Talked to mom, really understand what it’s like to raise a child now.” While you can occasionally come across the latter, the former you are far more likely to find on twitter and similar services. “You’re a jerk.” “No, you are!”

The opportunity missed by the author of this article was looking at how Mark Zuckerberg himself found his past online life, when brought out in the open, a little embarrassing. Those who don’t understand their online public lives will one day be at the mercy of those who understand all too well how easily it is to dig up all of these wonderful histories people are making online. And then publicize them all over again.

As I’ve said privately, I think twitter is a great social media tool — for certain people in certain circles of life. But it’s not for everyone and I think it’s vast overkill for most. If your existing social circle “twitters” (or is constantly updating on Facebook or some other service), by all means, be a part of your peer group. But don’t feel forced to do something that results in very few actual, documented benefits for you (other than being yet another online time sink). I mean, while it’s great that one person said they could find the answer to any question in 6 minutes by twittering their network, I can find any the answer to any question in under 2 minutes by simply using Google.

It reminds me of the great amount of ink spilled over the rise of instant messaging back in the late 1990s and how people were using it to better keep in touch with others. Indeed, it did, and many people still use it today for just such a purpose. But it wasn’t life changing for most, and most people have found they don’t need to be “IMing” every minute of every day to still feel connected to their real friends and family.

So twitter away. But don’t delude yourself into thinking it’s anything more than it is — a way to pass some idle time and keep a network of people updated.

Read the full article: Brave New World of Digital Intimacy