I still have no idea what this twitter is all about. Yes, I think I understand that it is a way for people to tell the world that they just picked a sesame seed from between their teeth or that they are now driving 23 rather than 19 MPH down the freeway amid rush hour traffic. I get that. What I do not get can be summed up in a three-fold abbreviated blogesque inquisition:
1 (and most simplistically posited)- Who cares? Why are people suddenly enthralled with the prospect of highlighting the minutiae?
2-What makes Twitter an alluring alternative to other forms of mind-numbing media? Also known as “micro-blogging,” Twitter is considered the “SMS of the Internet.” I can’t even begin to wrap my head around this paltry superlative. I don’t even know how to comment on it. So I won’t.
3-How is it so magical? Amid my utter confusion and sheer inability to conceptualize “micro-blogging” (I envision a snapshot of my later years, an old craky man, fixed in my old turn of the 21st-century ways (and my old turn of the 21st-century rocking chair), yelling at the punk kids that loiter on my lawn, busy “tweeting” or “twiddling” or whatever the fad du jour may be. I also envision walking out w/ my 12-gauge lazer beam gun, screaming “get off my lawn, you deadbeats!” I envision them scurrying off on their hover boards. Sigh. Someday.), it is nevertheless a transformative medium that allows people to share information, be it decidedly trivial, marginally noteworthy, or somewhere in between. A few weeks ago, one of my fellow Garlic Press writers suggested that we start “twittering” in an effort to broaden our base of readers. In just a few short days, we saw an influx of Garlic Press enthusiasts, all thanks to Twitter. I guess it’s like a disease. I don’t have to like it, but I can tolerate it if it works in my favor (Sinister overtones not necessarily intended).
Tweet!