In some circles, Twitter’s got a bad reputation. The popular service can’t escape its reputation as the place to tell everyone in your circle of friends that you’re eating a cheeseburger or going to the bathroom. I see this dismissal a lot on Reddit, a social news site I frequent. It dawned on me the other day, though, that the inanity on Twitter may be its biggest strength, and the one of the main reasons they’ve grown popular.
But before I go into all that, I want to talk about my mom. She calls every weekend to touch base on what’s going on in our lives, and to share all the trips to the doctor, painting classes, and vacations that make up hers. She always sounded disappointing when I told her my wife & I weren’t doing much. Truthfully, we’re busy as heck between work, school, the cat shelter, and running a household, but I never thought she’d be interested in the daily crap. A few months ago, I decided to start sharing some of the inanity — where we had for dinner, the meetups I attended, how many loads of laundry I got through — and I think her view of my life changed. Strangely, sharing some of the inane details of my life must have made me seem more more three dimensional, and certainly less like I was holding things back from her.
Back to Twitter. Many of my Twitter followers know me in real life. They didn’t just friend me for my pithy observations about life as a web developer, they want to know what I’m up to. The co-workers I follow suddenly want more out of life than delivery of that big project: they want iPhones, they have romantic dinners, and they want their kid to get that scholarship. Oprah, Brad Pitt, and even Buzz Aldrin have astronomical (heh) numbers of followers because people appreciate short glimpses into another person’s life. It makes us feel closer to each other. Following celebrities on Twitter is no different than reading about them in People — some people don’t get it, but gossip publications bring in a lot of dough.
The criticism, I think, comes from people who live in a very logical, black-and-white world. Geeks are notoriously bad at understanding emotions. What I’m talking about, though, is a completely emotional phenomenon. That’s why Twitter is a bigger hit on Oprah than on Reddit.
(Written on the plane to San Jose)
In some circles, Twitter’s got a bad reputation. The popular service gets characterized as the place to tell everyone in your circle of friends that you’re eating a cheeseburger or going to the bathroom. It dawned on me the other day, though, that the inanity on Twitter may be its biggest strength, and the one of the main reasons they’ve grown popular.
But before I go into all that, I want to talk about my mom. She calls every weekend to touch base on what’s going on in our lives, and to share what’s going on in hers. She always sounded disappointed when I told her my wife & I weren’t doing much. Truthfully, we’re busy as heck between work, school, the cat shelter, and running a household, but I never thought she’d be interested in the daily crap. A few months ago, I decided to start sharing some of the mundanity — what we had for dinner, the meetups I attended, how many loads of laundry I got through — and I think her view of my life changed. Strangely, sharing some of the inane details of my life must have made me seem more three dimensional, and certainly less like I was holding things back from her.
Back to Twitter. Many of my Twitter followers know me in real life. They didn’t just friend me for my pithy observations about life as a web developer, they want to know what I’m up to. The co-workers I started following suddenly wanted more out of life than delivery of that big project: they want iPhones, they have romantic dinners, and they want their kid to get that scholarship. Oprah, Brad Pitt, and even Buzz Aldrin have astronomical (heh) numbers of followers because people appreciate glimpses into a famous person’s life. It makes us feel closer to each other. Following celebrities on Twitter is no different than reading about them in People — some people don’t get it, but gossip magazines bring in a lot of dough.
The criticism, I think, comes from people who live in a very logical, black-and-white world. Geeks are notoriously bad at understanding emotions. What I’m talking about, though, is a completely emotional phenomenon, which explains why Twitter’s a bigger hit on Oprah than on Reddit.