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Why You Should Be on Twitter

By Chuck Tryon, AlterNet. Posted March 4, 2009.


Don't listen to the critics. Twitter is a great forum for communication and community building.
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As new communication technologies emerge, it is not uncommon to see articles or essays bemoaning how the new technology will destroy or damage communication as we know it, that a tool will lead to illiteracy, narcissism or whatever social ill might be haunting society at any given time.

Twitter, if we accept Alexander Zaitchik's reading published on AlterNet, is poised not only to dumb down discourse to levels seen only in Mike Judge's hilarious dystopian comedy Idiocracy but also to produce a narcissistic, infantilized public concerned only with broadcasting to the world every banal idea that comes to mind. And, just for good measure, Zaitchik takes pains to remind us that Twitter is not journalism.

Zaitchik is not alone in complaining about Twitter. Rob Horning, writing for Pop Matters, complained that the microblogging service is harming meaningful social relationships. Television quipmeisters Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have recently mocked the microblogging service (while I was working on this very article, in fact), suggesting that the site has achieved a new level of visibility, even while becoming an easy target for pundits ready to mock the latest platform for self-broadcast.

Twitter, for those readers who aren't aware of it, is a microblogging tool that allows users to submit 140-character "tweets," either from their computer or via text message. Many Twitter users have also synchronized their Twitter posts to their Facebook status updates.

Most Twitter users follow any number of others and develop a group of "followers," who have access to their status updates. In essence, it is a flexible tool for communicating short bits of information with others in your social network. It can be used to update friends on your day, to contact conferencegoers about a gathering at a local bar, or to link to articles or blog posts you find interesting.

Because Horning and Zaitchik's columns underestimate the potential social uses of Twitter, I think it's important to challenge some of the major arguments that they raise.

As others have pointed out, articles that complain about Twitter typically focus on the content of individual tweets rather than focusing on those tweets in a specific context. It would be similar to denigrating conversation by pulling out individual pieces of dialogue rather than seeing how conversation involves a variety of practices: connecting with others, sharing ideas, linking to blog posts, participating in mini-memes, or whatever.

In fact, these conversations can cultivate what Leisa Reichelt came to refer to as a form of "ambient intimacy" -- the ability to get to know others who might otherwise remain acquaintances. In this regard, Twitter may not function as a broadcast medium as much as it serves as a quick relay service for sharing ideas, thoughts and concerns with others who have similar interests, both locally and at great distances. These practices typically follow the formula, articulated by Barbara Ganley, that we "blog to reflect, Tweet to connect."

Quoting "bad" tweets also misses another key point about the medium. By identifying bad tweets, Zaitchik seeks to discredit the argument offered by Clive Thompson that Twitter is a "literary form" analogous to an "American haiku."

I'm not really interested in making the claim that Twitter is a form of poetry, but Zaitchik's move of identifying poorly written, banal tweets holds the genre to a false or irrelevant standard: just like there may be tweets that don't match the prose style of Hemingway or Faulkner, not all poems are Great Works of Literature (and to be fair, Faulkner may never have written a single sentence of less than 140 characters, so that's not the best example, but you get the idea).

But I would argue that there is at least some benefit in thinking about the constraints created by Twitter. Writing with such limitations forces me to be as precise as possible. Even if we don't buy the argument that Twitter is a form of haiku, it is a written genre in its own right, one that potentially opens up conversations about other forms of writing. In fact, as University of Texas, Dallas emerging media scholar David Parry points out, Twitter is surprisingly effective in teaching students to reflect on the rules of written communication.


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Chuck Tryon is an assistant professor of English at Fayetteville State University and is the author of the forthcoming book Reinventing Cinema: Movies in the Age of Digital Convergence (Rutgers University Press). He also blogs at the Chutry Experiment, and he invites readers to follow him on Twitter.

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View:
Here's a simple test
Posted by: Ray Duray on Mar 4, 2009 1:26 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Should you embrace Twitter? Here's a simple test.

Here are two declarative statements that differ in that the first is 180 characters long and thus non-compliant with Twitter's Rules. The second is exactly and ironically 140 characters long, thus acceptable in brave new world of dumbbell communications we call Twitter:

Example 1:

Twitter seems to be ideally suited for the sound bite, for sloganeering and for the rapid dissemination of propaganda memes. While being entirely antithetical to complex reasoning.

Example 2:

“At the moment we are sleep-walking into these technologies and assuming everything will shake down fine. I think we need to have a debate.”

Any questions?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

So one of Alternet's goals at the moment is: We Shall Fight for Twitter?
Posted by: -matti on Mar 4, 2009 2:03 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Second pro-Twitter article in how many days?

This one by a staffer, after comments were mixed on the initial pro-Twitter article AND the follow-up?

Is someone being PAID my someone here?

-matti.

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here is the thing
Posted by: bobson on Mar 4, 2009 2:10 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
everybody is missing the point, twitter may have good points and bad but it is still just another 'thing' to get involved in that will certainly fall out of favor soon. E-mail, text messaging, mySpace, facebook, and all the others come and go and will continue to do so, only the truly useful will stay around, e-mail and text messaging for will not go away. Personally I'm not interested in Twitter because I already use several on line 'things' and there simply isn't room for another. Twitter is only popular at the moment because it has hype and because it is new. This is the only reason. Once the novelty is gone twitter will go away too. And anyway, it is more hype than anything else, nobody I know uses it! And those who do not exist in a media world of constant TV watching and constant internet use driven by some fear of seeming old or out of touch have never even heard of it.

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» because... Posted by: Baal_Labs
Or, How to have Corporatism and still pretend to have "the Left".
Posted by: -matti on Mar 4, 2009 2:30 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Obvious subtitle to this article.

If limited-to-140-characters-blogging is a good thing, WHY must it only occur within the corporate confines of Twitter?

Twitter is one private enterprise that has created and supports such a system of limited communication.

If it is the communication system that is valid and useful then why doesn't the article argue for that?

Why must the article confine its arguments for this communication system to the particular structure called Twitter by the private enterprise which developed it?

Is E-Bay online auctioning?

Is Amazon online retail?

Is AOL online e-mailing?

Is Facebook online social interaction?

Is CNN.com online news?

NO, of course not.

So why does the Alternet staff apparently see Twitter as online micro-blogging?

I'd suggest Alternet seperates micro-blogging from Twitter NOW, or forever be suspect-corporatist.

-matti.

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A misunderstanding about language and thought...
Posted by: hera62 on Mar 4, 2009 2:43 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Quote: In addition, this assumes that language -- what is written in a tweet, a blog post, or any text for that matter -- is identical to thought, a pretty reductive view of how thought and language interact.

Language and thought are much more linked than the writer assumes. Our spoken (or written) word directs our thoughts to a great extent, rather than the other way round. Often it is impossible to develop conscious thoughts on something before we start expressing them - no matter how paradoxical this sounds. In other words, the way we use language has a much more profound influence on our way of thinking than most people think.

In light of this, I agree with Susan Greenfield's comment in Financial Times as it was quoted above (yes, the one of exactly 140 characters).

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Et Tu Tom Tomorrow
Posted by: marxalot on Mar 4, 2009 5:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Add cartoonist Tom Tomorrow to the naysayers. http://thismodernworld.com/4700

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Twiiter is just yet another form of Government / Corporate Personal Control
Posted by: tony_opmoc on Mar 4, 2009 6:00 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Twitter is currently being marketed very aggressively via numerous media sources including music radio. I personally find it banal and infuriating in that it is like a title to a piece with no content.

However virtually all such social sites - eg Facebook encourage and insist on real valid personal identification to function.

This provides yet another potentially extremely powerful tool for personal identification and control.

Governments are already attempting to have complete access to every phone call and email you make. They can easily trace every financial transaction you make, know exactly where you travel and have full access to your medical history.

Your entire existence, identity, and thought processes end up on computers that can be searched as fast as you can google.

So maybe you want to apply for a job. It is entirely possible that the person who finally interviews you is doing so not on the basis of the content of your CV - but on the basis of your thoughts shared freely with your friends.

The idea that this is confidential is complete illusion.

You are in effect invited into this world with your first mobile phone or computer.

The situation might very well arise - that if you do not partake - and there is not already a massive volume of data describing your own character from your own thoughts and feelings - that you will fail to get even an interview for that job - because you have no history.

In the UK - police as a matter of policy - arrest exceedingly large number of teenagers for no crime whatsoever. My daughter was arrested twice at the age of 15 - as have been the vast majority of her friends. She wasn't committing any crime or causing any problem - nor was she charged with any crime. But her arrest has resulted in a criminal record that under current UK law cannot be deleted. I am convinced that the entire reason for this policy is to get as many Children's DNA on Police Database as possible. An exceedingly high percentage of Children in London have already been arrested and had their DNA taken. An exceedingly low percentage of these Children were charged or found guilty of any offence.

1984 has already happenned.

We are currently living in a Police State.

Welcome to the Brave New World.

Tony

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twitter is for people who have no life
Posted by: clvngodess on Mar 4, 2009 6:43 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
seriously. everyone is jumping on the twitter bandwagon like it's the new lsd or latte frappe. it's not seamless. it's got to be managed. it takes a hell of a lot of time to dick around with. the cats in advertising and marketing seem to believe you can build a brand with it. the smart people in advertising and branding know better. you have to have the components of a great brand and business model in the first place. it's a pain in the ass. frankly, i don't have the time to piss around with it. i prefer the other twitter which is actually seamless and integrates with my doings much much much better. it's called lifestream. you can be active like a twit or you can just let it be. up to you.

And if you think I'm full of the piss about the twits with nothing much to say in 140 characters or less check out my hero George Parker, an advertising professional who knows what the fuck he's talking about (twitter is for fucktards... his words):
http://adscam.typepad.com

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Who wrote the headline?
Posted by: SBean on Mar 4, 2009 7:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Like other AlterNet headlines this one strikes me as poorly chosen wording when compared to the content of the article. Others have been downright misleading. This one is less so, but still seems mismatched with the article author's apparent intent. So did he write the headline and just not make a strong "should" case, or did someone else write it without a clear understanding of the thoughts presented in the article? And with little or no thought to the significance of using "should"?

My guess is the latter.

AlterNet sucks less more and more.

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» nope Posted by: Baal_Labs
is cultural jamming the best option?
Posted by: AlexReid on Mar 4, 2009 7:02 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I would point here to Henry Jenkins in Convergence Culture who writes:

"Too many critical pessimists are still locked into the old politics of culture jamming. Resistance becomes an end in and of itself rather than a tool to ensure cultural diversity and corporate responsibility. The debate keeps getting framed as if the only true alternative were to opt out of media altogether and live in the woods, eating acorns and lizards and reading only books published on recycled paper by small alternative presses" (248-9)

A little snarky perhaps. But prelapsarian romances about the days before social media seem to echo the many narratives of declension that accompany every new technology since Plato warned of the dangers of writing in the Phaedrus.

If you want to culture jam, go for it, I guess. But there's also a long history of avant-garde political and artistic movements taking up emerging media for revolutionary ends. Not always successfully and certainly sometimes with powerful and horrifying results (e.g. fascism and radio): hence the necessity of thoughtful engagement, which is not possible sitting on the sideline.

Microblogging, like all technologies, will come and go. How long will it be around and what it will lead to, no one really knows. The point is that it is here now, and in my view worthy of investigation and experimentation.

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Why I'll Never Twitter
Posted by: Duncable on Mar 4, 2009 7:33 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Sorry, Mr. Tryon, but I'm just not buying what you're selling. I don't want to plaster every second my day for millions to see on the web, nor do I desire to mindlessly follow every meaningless second of anyone else's day.

I don't need Twitter to point me in the direction of decent news stories, because there are countless news aggregator sites that do that for me. Not to mention the time I spend searching for myself, or the emails I get from friends and family pointing me in different directions.

I don't need Twitter to solidify any of my real world relationships. I'm actually in the age category (early 20s) who probably use this frequently, but not a single one of my friends actually uses these services. We all have MySpace/Facebook pages, but can count the number of times where on there in a year on one hand. You know what we do when we need to catch up, or just want to connect with each other? We get together and go canoeing, or out for a picnic, or we just meet at someone's house and hang out and talk.

I will always prefer face-to-face interaction over a computer screen any day. I don't subscribe to the idea that being connected, to anyone and everyone, at all times of the day, is a positive. I think everyone needs to spend a few hours a day away from electronics, from technology, and reconnect with themselves.

And that is why I will never use Twitter. Because its pointless, immature, and a waste of time.

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» Amen! Posted by: patsy6
» RE: Why I'll Never Twitter Posted by: EKSwitaj
Come petrocollapse...
Posted by: DaBear on Mar 4, 2009 8:48 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
None of this is gonna matter.

Twitter sounds pretty neat. I was antiFB until I came out of my isolation and keep in touch with family and friends I hadn't had contact with in ages.

There are worse things in life than FB or Twitter.

And then there's the petrocollapse thing anyway...

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twitter offers revolutionaries great opportunities
Posted by: masthead on Mar 4, 2009 10:11 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
never mind the fluff; twitter may be a form of 1984, police state, government and corporate control over the individual but it could also be used to conspire against them in using fake identities and codes they would be unable to break fast enough. as society gets more complex, complexity makes it more difficult for our wardens to track us, social networks like twitter will make it easier for home-grown “terrorists” to foment real revolution in america.

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Open-Source Alternative: Jaiku
Posted by: ThomasHare on Mar 4, 2009 10:32 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There is an open-source alternative to Twitter, Jaiku, that's worth considering. It has more robust features, but as the new kid on the block it doesn't have many users yet.

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Yet another way...
Posted by: JoshuaLudd on Mar 4, 2009 10:27 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... to communicate with people we don't really communicate with to begin with and people we don't actually know in the first place.

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parrotuya
Posted by: parrotuya on Mar 4, 2009 11:36 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet,

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You should join because Karl Rove is over there with his jingoistic slogans
Posted by: RR#1 on Mar 4, 2009 2:17 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
denoucing everything democratic or Obama or progressive. It is the perfect forum to spread his sound bite lies repeated over and over again until they are internalized by his folowers and then passed on, unquestioned and without the means to offer a substansive qualified retort which most of that kind of mis-information takes. That is what is wrong with twitter so as many folks as possible should get over there; The republicans have found their next venue outside of the Sunday morning pulpits. Time to mount a counter attack to this Republican offensive in cyber space.

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Why should _I_ be on twitter?
Posted by: Cameo on Mar 4, 2009 2:20 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm sorry but the point of your article didn't come out clearly. You've told us that you like twitter, but I don't see any reasons for me to join.

Do I really need another networking tool? One that helps me "follow" others? One that helps me tell others what I think they should read? um....no, I don't.

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The best form of communication
Posted by: harpy on Mar 4, 2009 2:31 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
is to just simply pick up the phone and call someone if you really know them. So far the Twitters I've seen are just plain silly diary entries.

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Maybe we need a Twitter Czar?
Posted by: sawdust on Mar 4, 2009 4:11 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Twitter is the new drug of choice: it seems to satisfy the need that most Americans have for instant gratification. We are unable to wait for anything and will soon be wondering how death caught up with us so quickly. The answer, of course,is that we were not paying attention: we were busy twittering.

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Twitter is my idea of hell
Posted by: Kevin Carson on Mar 5, 2009 12:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
IMO telephony reached its perfection with the landline and answering machine combo. It freed me from the need to talk to anyone except when it was handy for me, or to pick up the phone without knowing who it was. Email, likewise, is organized around the convenience of the recipient; you can respond when you feel like it, without being obligated to deal with it in realtime.

I refuse to own a cell phone, or do IM, because they represent the exact opposite principle: being at the mercy of anyone else who wants to interrupt you, when it's convenient for them, and having to deal with constant interruptions.

I don't know how these idiots who walk around constantly wired into a conversation ever manage to think. In Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," the Handicapper General attempted to average out intelligence by compelling those of above-average IQs to wear handicaps that constantly emitted loud noises at random intervals so they couldn't follow a coherent train of thought. Now people are lining up to buy their own handicaps with a monthly service plan.

And now there's Twitter. One of the most important ways of distinguishing time on the clock as a wage slave from your own time in the real world: during the latter, you can respond to the question "What are you doing?" with "None of your fucking business."

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Article/title too long
Posted by: jingles on Mar 5, 2009 3:58 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
please summarize

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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (nt)
Posted by: Libertine on Mar 5, 2009 8:56 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
nt

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MSM twits
Posted by: seazen on Mar 10, 2009 5:06 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Twitter is what it is. What it is not, is something that ought to have David Gregory and other pretend "hipsters" in the main stream media, Congress and other places of serious responsibility all giggly about. They are simply "doing it" to appear as if they are part of the 21st Century when, for the most part, they are not. It's just too weird.

Twitter will, as others have pointed out, slip, slide and evolve within the broader spiderweb of electronic communications in terms of a proven incremental benefit to us. We are all "experimenting" - which is a good thing. Hopefully, we won't act like middle-schoolers every time a new form of communication or play or plastic surgery comes along.

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