If Twitter were human, what kind of a person would it be? And, more importantly, would you befriend such a person? Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum has an opinion about what she dubbed the "Age of Oversharing":
... at the risk of unilaterally offending 14 million people, I need to say this: If Twitter were a person, it would be an emotionally unstable person. It would be that person we avoid at parties and whose calls we don't pick up. It would be the person whose willingness to confide in us at first seems intriguing and flattering but eventually makes us feel kind of gross because the friendship is unearned and the confidence is unjustified. The human incarnation of Twitter, in other words, is the person we all feel sorry for, the person we suspect might be a bit mentally ill, the tragic oversharer.
... as Twitter's popularity wobbles at the tipping point between faddish distraction and worldwide obsession, it's worth wondering how much of this "connecting" is simply hastening the erosion of our already compromised interpersonal skills. Are we tweeting because we truly want to communicate with a select group of true friends, or because typing has replaced talking and indiscretion has been stripped of all negative connotations? Are most Twitter posts merely inane, or do they carry the faint whiff of the insane?
Can't it be both?
Like any service, you get back what you put in. Post inane bollocks, you'll only see inane bollocks as the inane people will gravitate toward you.
For the record I do not have a Facebook, Myspace or any other services like that. Tried Twitter for a laugh when the Appstore debuted, figured I'd never stick around, but found it interesting.
I would hope those decrying Twitter have tried it before condemning it, but I highly doubt most of you have.
Pulease.......
Is myspace or facebook or whatever not the "It" thing to do anymore? Is that stuff soooo... 2008, 2007?
*sigh* It seems like a big fad to me.
Oh well though, people can do what they want... it's just not for me.
LA Times' Meghan Daum has it completely backwards.
Twitter merely facilitates communication. It's the party guests' responsibility to not drink too much.