Ever since Twitter became “cool” – that is, ever since the mainstream media began heralding it as the next form of communication – comparable to email 10 years ago – I’ve found that most of my non-tech-inclined friends just don’t get Twitter. Despite what the media says about Twitter and teenagers, it’s not like every other kid in high school has one, or even understands how it works.
Now, it’s perfectly okay to not understand how something works and admit it. You can’t expect everyone in the world to know about everything in the world. But when so-called journalists “admit” that they don’t know how a particular part of Twitter works, I get a little agitated. I’m not insisting that everybody gets a Twitter to understand it, but if someone is writing an article where one of the main topics is Twitter, they should at least take a look at Wikipedia and find out what “trending topics” are.
That’s not as much an insult to the linked interview as much as an expression of frustration that even though Twitter is the coolest new thing (at least for the rest of the world), nobody actually seems to understand how it all works or even why it’s important. Twitter came up in class at school recently, and someone said this: “If you have the time to post on Twitter, you obviously have no life to post about.” Yet that same person has a Facebook, a service far more advanced and time-consuming than Twitter.
People are saying that 140-characters is too small an amount to say much of anything. But which is it? Is Twitter limiting and pointless or time-consuming and important? Nobody who’s “anybody” really seems to know. Twitter is not the new and ultimate way to communicate. It can be used that way, but it’s not the main purpose. It’s an interesting gimmick on CNN, but at it’s core Twitter is used for vaguely keeping track of people you know and celebrities.
Some of my friends who have gotten Twitter accounts just to try it out are confused because they don’t see the point of it. That’s because they know probably two other people on Twitter. Britney Spears and me. If your type of people aren’t on Twitter, then maybe you shouldn’t join.
And despite what everyone thinks, a regular tweet isn’t “I pooped! Now back to work.” People post little tidbits of information about their lives or about whatever they’re doing that is – wait for it – interesting for the people who – wait for it – willingly decided to follow them in the first place. It’s a fun way to keep track of minor celebrities (the ones who actually tweet themselves, like Rainn Wilson) and your friends. But beyond that it’s nothing more.
What I’m trying to say is that people have to stop making a big deal about how great or stupid Twitter is. Or, at least – if you’re going to say it’s one or the other – know what you’re talking about.
