Twitter Is For The ADD Generation

Twitter Is For The ADD Generation - Part 1

By E. Brown

Do you Twitter? Do you know what Twitter is?

I’d venture to say that 2/3 of the people reading this are familiar with the Web 2.0 technology, but for you other 1/3 out there visit CommonCraft for an idealistic explanation of Twitter. Then come back and finish this article.

Okay now, why do you use Twitter?

I was out having dinner with some friends and the subject came up. The question was asked, “Who has time for Twitter and why in the heck would you do it to begin with?”

Being a technologist, my first reaction was to stand up for the online application. Isn’t it obvious? Look how popular it is. But I paused for a moment and thought.

Why do people use Twitter?

Do I really need to know what my friends and family are doing every hour? Do I really care? I mean, some of it is pretty mundane stuff. Am I wasting my time (life) watching other’s lives go by? Hmm…

I started to think of the generational differences and the monotonous chime I here from college age friends and younger — “I’m bored.” This being said as they Twitter from their cell phones, text message friends while watching movies (in the theater!), playing videos games on their laptops while IM’ing an acquaintance in Europe.

Is Twitter just another thing to keep the minds of the ADD generation busy? Is there real social value? Tell me what you think.

This entry was posted on May 21, 2008 at 3:14 am and is filed under Blogging, Community, Entertainment, Family, Fun, Generation Y, Health, International, Media, Next Gen, Open Threads, Rants, Technology, Web. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Twitter Is For The ADD Generation - Part 1”

Robyn Says:
May 21, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I’ve recently become a fan of Twitter because I enjoy the tweets as mini blogs with useful information (links). Using a plugin like Twitbin also allows me to respond quickly with congratulations when it’s appropriate or thanks when a tweet has led me into an area I’m being entertained or learning from. I’m not a fan of people who tweet every little thing they do, but I don’t follow those people, so it isn’t a problem.
Robyn Says:
May 21, 2008 at 3:00 pm
PS: I’m 56.
ebrown Says:
May 22, 2008 at 3:18 am
Robyn, Wow! You might persuade me to come over. How much time do you spend on Twitter a day? When do you find time for it? Do you follow people that you know or that you have found?

I definitely like the idea of congratulating people - that makes it fun and spontaneous. But the entertaining and learning aspects can be found on blogs or websites — that is not very persuasive.

BTW- how did you get started?
-Eric

WeirdGuy