It seems like Twitter so fully entrenched in the mainstream now it’s about time for the backlash to happen, right? When national networks begin using it for nefarious purposes it’s no longer cool and the cyber warlords will move on to the Next Big Thing. I’ve been using Twitter as an experiment for the last 3 months or so and it’s been an intriguing ride. Months 1-2 I was mostly lost in a sea of rubbish, and I had just about convinced myself to nix it but then something happened on Month 3 and I became totally hooked on it.
I don’t think I can really describe what changed, but think it was more of a mindset than anything else. For me, the key to Twitter is to treat it like an ore. You need to melt it down, to refine it, to purify the experience because Great Scott, there is a whole load of chaffing out there. Forge Twitter into what you want it to be; recognise that it takes time to figure out precisely what that is. For me, it’s a sautee of interesting tidbits from celebrities with brains ( @eddieizzard , @realbillbailey , and yes, of course, @stephenfry ) marinated in updates from friends in real life (where is @dallas-@fucking-@gotschall? thought he was meant to be swank) and the occasional bit of silliness ( @theonion ).
While it’s mainly newsy stuff and banter, some people are definitely more thoughtful than others with the use of their 140. At worst, it’s inane repetition and regurgitation (thanks @britneyspears). At best, people write very poetically and their lifestream comes across almost like a haiku floating on the binary breeze of the internet.
I think it would be a lot cooler on the whole if people just didn’t try so damn hard and just let it happen organically. I’ve lost track of the number of my favourite programs, radio shows, or podcasts that I listen to urgently screaming about their Twitter address and how you have to follow! follow! follow! them. It’s almost like a flashback to being 11 again how popularity was everything. You have to be the leader of the
pack, you have to tweet! you must have followers! For goodness sake, relax. Let it happen.
This is all natural, I suppose – with every trend there’s the usual ignorance => ultra hip => mainstream => backlash progression before general acceptance. Time will tell whether Twitter ends up fading to black, gaining acceptance or getting bought by Facebook (still not sure how they failed to capitalise on the killer status update app). Given the prevalence of the SMS business for texting on mobile phones, I think it is here to stay as a natural extension of the wireless world.
Plus their icons are too damn cute. How can they fail? *tweet*
P.s. Bill Bailey is bloody brilliant.
