A Blog In Defence Of Twitter

A Blog In Defence of Twitter

So, I meant to write this blog a while ago but Spanish Oral Exams have been getting in the way of my blogging.

For the last couple of days/weeks/months, I have been reading/watching/generally hearing from a variety of sources a lot about how Twitter is a waste of time, a pointless exercise in self-indulgence and overall a negative internet fad. But I, as a prolific Tweeter (I think that is the word), I have a few objections to the stereotype.

I think Twitter is a brilliant website: and in some ways, the embodiment of what is so great about the Internet. Not only is it a mass of information, but it's all user generated. Of course some of it is mundane, and hardly 'useful', but that sharing of information between you and your followers is a valuable part of what make the Internet. Sharing ideas, experiences, links, opinions and culture is surely the sole purpose of the Internet - and no website does it better or more instantaneously than Twitter.

People have been calling it 'a waste of time' and 'self-indulgent' to Tweet things like 'Drinking Tea', and in some ways I agree. Although personally, I like these more personal, mundane Tweet's. It's nice to to see how other people spend their day, what other people value and I truly believe you can tell a lot about people from what they Tweet. Like all online output, and unlike real-life social interactions, you can control how you come across over Twitter, and often Tweet what you want people to hear. And I value knowing those things about my friends - what it is they would like me to know, or maybe even, what they wish they were like. For me, this is sometimes the most interesting part of someone's social-networking personality, in it's differences from their RL personalities.

As for self-indulgent, again I can only partly agree. Of course, all services in which we discuss ourselves and our opinions is slightly self-indulgent - part of believing your ideas matter or have a place in the world. But I think that is an integral part of human nature; to want to feel a part of something bigger. And that's another thing the Internet is so good at. Twitter is a way of consolidating your actions and opinions, getting feedback, hearing people feel the same or are interested in what you are doing. This has been at the heart of art for thousands of years - and I believe Twitter, and instant social-networking as a whole, comes for that instinctive place where we just want to be understood and validated.

I also think it's interesting how communities congregate over the Internet, and meet on Twitter as a kind of place to really get to know people. For example, lots of people whose username you know from comments etc. follow you and suddenly you can chat about the videos and ideas, possibly in a way you cannot with your real life friends (I say that almost as if I have first-hand experience). Having an odd obsession has never before made you feel more included than secluded than when you have a group of Twitter friends to discuss it with! Of course, I have no weird obsessions, so this is an entirely academic paragraph ;p

So, in defence of Twitter, there are those who don't understand it, or don't want it and that's fine. But there is a huge community and you can't dismiss them ALL as self-involved people with too much time on their hands. Some of us just enjoy the new, modern form of contact and hope that Twitter, in whatever form, will exist for a long time to come!

Bring on the advertisements!

And just FYI, Nuke is so good at the moment. Expect my next post to be a review of the year of Gay television so far!

Oh, and also, I won ScriptFrenzy! Badge on the side...