Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Thought for the day - the Twitter Bubble

I am incredulous that so many people seem to want to share the ongoing details of their life via twitter and facebook. Do I really care to know that friend X is about to brush his teeth and go to bed? Allesandra Stanley writes a humorous piece on this phenomenon. Some clips:
Left alone in a cage with a mountain of cocaine, a lab rat will gorge itself to death. Caught up in a housing bubble, bankers will keep selling mortgage-backed securities — and amassing bonuses — until credit markets seize, companies collapse, and millions of investors lose their jobs and homes....And news anchors and television personalities who have their own shows, Web sites, blogs and pages on Facebook.com and MySpace.com will send Twitter messages until the last follower falls into a coma.

At the height of the subprime folly, there was not enough outside regulation or inner compunction to restrain heedless excess. It’s too late for traders, but that economic mess should be a lesson for those who traffic in information. Like bankers who never feel they’ve earned enough, television anchors and correspondents apparently never feel that they have communicated enough....It’s not just television, of course. Ordinary people, bloggers and even columnists and book authors, who all already have platforms for their views, feel compelled to share their split-second aperçus, no matter how mundane.

Those who say Twitter is a harmless pastime, which skeptics are free to ignore, are ignoring the corrosive secondary effects. We already live in an era of me-first journalism, autobiographical blogs and first-person reportage. Even daytime cable news is clotted with Lou Dobbsian anchors who ooze self-regard and intemperate opinion...On-air meltdowns are the new scoops. The CNBC correspondent Rick Santelli, a former trader, delivered a rant last week on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange about the Obama administration’s mortgage bailout proposal.

Mr. Santelli, it should be noted, has not lost all restraint: he does not yet have his own Twitter account. Fans created one for him, in case he changes his mind. “Just to let everyone know,” one follower explained. “This is NOT Rick’s account, but it is a place holder for him as soon as WE can convince him to join Twitter. :)”

And that space has, as of 4:20 on Friday afternoon, 158 followers. Twitterers who maintain that their messages must have meaning since they have an audience should keep Mr. Santelli’s void in mind. There are always some people who, given the chance, will respond to anything, even nothing.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:26 AM

    LOL This is funny.
    Where does "incredulity" reside in the brain, exactly? Just by my asking that question, I'm sure you can anticipate where I'm going. And where does anticipation reside in the brain?
    The point of Twitter has nothing to do with the content or the size of the bits of info. It has to do with minute by minute self-awareness residing in the Noosphere. We're watching ourselves watching ourselves. Human Self-awareness is a fascinating thing and the simple act of noticing it without judgment is much more productive and progressive than incredulity.
    Relax. Life is good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:45 PM

    I appreciate your incredulity with regard to the inane posts on Twitter. It's truly full of them.

    But I've found the Twitter universe to be full of people collaborating on questions, making global connections, getting to know their friends and workmates, and reporting news.

    I use Twitter for all of the above, and (although some who know me might disagree) I am fairly selfless and not particularly narcissistic. I find it to be a good business tool and a fine channel of communication - just like email or the phone are.

    Is it remapping my brain and attention span? Perhaps. As an antidote I've vowed to read more novels and take more walks outdoors.

    To dismiss it as valueless is short-sighted in my opinion. But that's the beauty of all these social media outlets - we can say what moves us, and occasionally (if we're open to it) we'll learn something new from one another by virtue of allowing the conversations to happen.

    Thank you for doing so.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:07 PM

    Check this out!
    Speaking of watching ourselves ... Have you seen a "Canonizer"?

    http://canonizer.com/

    This is an interesting platform for organizing what we believe and our individual points of view so that they form a heap or organized whole or something in between. I have often become frustrated or exasperated about not being able to organize well enough to get some things done... such as change the Mental Health Care System in California...
    'nuff said.
    This turns my subjective state into an object and forces me to look at it and take it apart. Joy and wonder! What a great toy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:33 PM

    новинки dvd фильмы сериалы диски blu-ray продажа
    [url=http://www.dvd5.com.ua]www.dvd5.com.ua[/url] или [url=http://www.dvd5.com.ua]http://www.dvd5.com.ua[/url]

    последние новинки
    Идеальный побег / A Perfect Getaway / 2009
    Трансформеры: Месть падших / Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen / 2009
    Джонни Д / Public Enemies / 2009
    Монстри проти чужих / Монстры против пришельцев / Monsters vs Aliens / 2009
    Стэн Хельсинг / Stan Helsing / 2009
    О, счастливчик! / 2009
    Нянька по вызову / The Rebound / 2009
    Король Гийом / King Guillaume / 2009
    Запрещенная реальность / 2009
    Повелители теней / The Telling / 2009
    Кража в музее / The Maiden Heist / 2009
    Продавец / The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard / 2009
    2012: Супернова / 2012: Supernova / 2009
    Мой ангел-хранитель / My Sister s Keeper / 2009
    Причина основания Китая / Jian guo da ye / 2009
    Проклятые воды / Midnight Bayou / 2009
    Ласковый май / 2009
    Затащи меня в Ад / Drag Me to Hell / 2009
    Чудаки / Lascars / 2009
    Прошивка / Hardwired / 2009
    Парк культуры и отдыха / Adventureland / 2009
    Крик совы / The Cry of the Owl / 2009
    Побег из ГУЛАГа / So weit die Fuesse tragen (As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me) / 2001
    Дорогуша / Cheri / 2009
    Крыша / 2009
    Суррогаты / Surrogates / 2009
    Гарри Поттер и Принц-полукровка / Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince / 2009
    Поворот не туда 3 / Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead [UNRATED] / 2009
    Луна 2112 / Moon / 2009
    Последний день будущего / Evilution / 2008
    Опасные пассажиры поезда 123 / The Taking of Pelham 123
    Предложение / The Proposal / 2009
    Бросок кобры / G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra / 2009
    Миссия Дарвина / G-Force / 2009
    Каникулы строгого режима / 2009
    Бабник / Spread / 2009
    Интимные подробности холостяцкой жизни / Cruising Bar 2 / 2008
    Невеста любой ценой / 2009
    Дитя тьмы / Orphan / 2009
    Девять / 9 / 2009
    Представь себе / Imagine That / 2009
    Звездный путь / Star Trek / 2009
    Район №9 / District 9 / 2009

    ReplyDelete