Fallen under the twitter spell

In a previous post, I expressed my skepticism about twitter. I did not understand what all the fuss was about. However, I was determined to have an open mind and give it a try.

After two months and 100+ followers/followees later, something strange has happened. I've become a tweep without even realizing it. The thing about twitter is that it is so multi-functional. It is your friend; it is your critic; it is your micro blog; it is your support group; it is your business coach; it is your teacher; it is your market researcher; it is your sales team; it is your counselor; it is your comic relief; it is your debate partner; it is your sounding board... etc. It is what you want it to be. (Umm... I think I vaguely remember Danu Poyner saying something to that effect when he challenged me to keep my twitter account for 30 days.) Every time you log in, you become instantly in touch with what the world is thinking, reading, watching, buying, selling, playing, eating... and so on.

"Who cares what you're doing every minute of every day?" one would ask. What I see as a common misconception about twitter is that it is a narcissistic self-promoting tool where a bunch of voyeurs/losers are following your every move for whatever reason. It really does sound rather silly from a newcomer's point of view.

The funny thing is... once you start throwing your thoughts/ideas/questions out there in the sea of minds, people respond. And you see thoughts that catch your eye which you want to respond to. You find friends who share similar ideas and interests - friends with whom you communicate with 140 characters or less at a time. No pressure and no obligations. People come and go as they please, and twitter never sleeps.

It's a world in which "unfollow" is the worst thing we can do to one another. And when you lose a follower, there's always another to follow.

Regardless of the differing opinions on the purposefulness of twitter, the fact remains that it has the internet community under its spell. Although I'm still clumsily trying to navigate my way, there's no denying that the world of twitter has grown (and still growing) too big to ignore.

Twitter seems to have its finger on the pulse of the world, and I'm finding myself humming and tweeting along.

I'm still here, twalive and twell, well beyond my challenge period... And twitter, I dedicate this song to you! ;-)

Our Internet Dependency

While I was trying to get inspired to write a worthy post, I stumbled upon the following Nokia ad with the tag line: "Welcome to the fourth screen."

Watch it if you haven't seen it already; it's only 2:22 long. It's simply brilliant. Can I hire these people to do my marketing?



Let's step back and take a look at this. They are selling the idea of dragging people out of their basements and into the streets so we can have interaction with real people. It is interesting that a way to accomplish this is to make a mini-screen that is portable, instead of actually encouraging interaction with real people as real people.

Let's take yet another step back and take a look at ourselves. There is so much truth in this picture. It makes me think. Are we slowly becoming (or have already become) people who are afraid of people? Are we becoming more and more isolated with the help of new technology? Are we becoming people who are so anti-conflict, anti-social, anti-failure and have such a fear of rejection that we would rather express ourselves and share ideas through the security blanket of a computer screen?

Or is the new technology actually helping us to reach out to people that we would not have dreamed of meeting otherwise? This Internet world, the world-wide web that I have become so attached to in such a short time... Is it really helping us? or is it actually hurting us?

I'd like to believe it is the former; because for now, it helps me stay connected to other thinkers and also my sanity.

My concluding thought is this: Just like anything else, new technology is only a tool.

No idea, concept, technology, or theory is good or bad in itself. It's what we make of it. Some will use it for good; some will use it for evil. Some will benefit positively; some will benefit negatively.

Ultimately, each of us has to think for ourselves and take responsibility for our own actions.