I can't believe that I actually like Twitter

Much of our readings so far have dealt with the ways in which our analog world is transitioning into a digital world, and how this movement has made research (scholarly or otherwise) faster, more efficient, cost-effective etc. It has also created a level of communication among individuals in a society that has never been seen before. As I say this I can’t help but reflect on our recent foray into Twitter.

Tweet, tweet

When Twitter first came out I thought it was stupid for various reasons. But then I watched the Arab Spring unfold and learned that much of their organizational efforts were using such mediums as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Occupy was organized in very similar fashion. Over the last couple of years I kept hearing about the phenomenon that is Twitter, and how it is the new, fastest way to access information. “Find out what’s happening right now,” the site confidently boasts on its sign-in screen. Finally I couldn’t resist any longer and had to see what the fuss was about, and somewhat embarrassed created a Twitter account with a fake name. I considered it cultural research, trying to stay as detached as possible. I’ve been on Facebook soon after it started, but I never wanted to become a Twitter person.

Fast forward several months and I’ve become a person who checks his Twitter account multiple times daily. It took very little time for me to realize that Twitter is not what I thought it was, and in fact is much more than I ever expected it to be. As I tell anyone who asks about it, I get most of my news off of Twitter now. Somewhere in there I realized that I didn’t have to see 140 character statements by celebrities who think they’re more interesting or important than they really are. Of course that’s what Twitter could be if one were so inclined. Instead I’ve followed news organizations (local, national and global), magazines that interest me, artists that I respect, and so on and so forth. What I’m ultimately trying to get at is Twitter has become a valuable learning and awareness tool for me, and the fact that it’s all so instantaneous is baffling. For example, several weeks ago while driving through Spokane I accessed Twitter through my wife’s IPhone and read from Krem2 News that there was a fire about a mile from where we lived. Moments later as we got closer to our neighborhood I could see smoke billowing overhead. There are countless other examples I could use, but this blog post is nearing its 500^th word.

In short, Twitter, to my pleasant surprise, is a lot better of a website than I ever expected it to be.