Is Twitter Really That Important?
Count me among the minority (I'm sure), but I'm still not completely sold on Twitter.
Actually, let me rephrase that.
I think its importance is overstated.
Yes, I use it, and I find it is a great resource for direct contact with journalists and other influentials in my field.
But I hesitate to label it as anything more than that (a resource), and I stop cold when I hear Biz Stone, essentially, put in the same group as Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan (no offense to Biz Stone.)
I can turn my user icon a delightful shade of Pro-Democracy Green if I want to, but what does that really accomplish aside from showing the audience that I have rudimentary Paint skills? That I pretend to understand, and care about, the events in a country that is a charter member of the 'Axis of Evil'?
The hue of our headshots does not hide the fact that we are still more likely to read an inspirational quote tweet, or a mini-rant about Jon and Kate, than we are something deep and meaningful about an oppressed society.
Chalk that up to the character limit, I guess.
At the end of the day, we are showing our solidarity because it's easy and costs significantly less money and exertion than donating money to the Red Cross, or racing for the cure.
Maybe Twitter just makes us lazier?
For my money, Twitter is best used when it sparks conversation around its original question — What are you doing? – then around what everybody else is doing.
How do you value Twitter?
