Tuesday, April 7, 2009

TO TWITTER OR NOT TO TWITTER? ME THINKS THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES ON.

Remember the children's story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor's New Clothes?
In the story, the emperor, being quite the clothes horse, hears of a couple of tailors (really swindlers) who claim to have powers to weave special fabric that could only be seen by those of utmost intelligence and high position. To all others, the fabric would appear invisible.

The emperor thinks having clothing made from such fabric will allow him to tell those who are smart from those who are, well... not so smart. To those in the latter category, the emperor will appear naked and make their lowly state in life apparent when they comment on his "lack of clothing".

Word gets out about these fine garment being made from this magical material. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to everyone (except the swindlers posing as tailors) there really is no fabric, no magic. The "tailors" are taking the emperor's gold in payment and just pretending to weave magical fabric.

So of course, everyone, including the emperor himself, is playing along because they do not wish to be seen as not so smart. They ohh & ahh over its beauty -- they dare not admit that they in fact do not see a thing.

Okay, for those of you who've either never heard of Twitter, or know of it and maybe even tried it out for a spell but don't get it, Twitter is being touted by some as 'the next big thing' in cyberspace social circles. I'm wondering, though, if it isn't another case of "new clothes" that just ain't there.
Essentially, Twitter is a social site where you log into your account and basically tell all the good folks in cyberspace what you're doing at any given moment of the day or night -- and all in 140 characters or less.
So, you log in, and type what? "Cooking chili for dinner tonight & doing laundry." Sweet. How about "At the grocery store and just bought peas." Great! We'll alert the media!
See?
And the thing is, if you're already maintaining a blog, AND you're on Facebook AND maybe some other social networking site, AND you add Twitter to boot, my goodness, how do you even have TIME TO GO BUY THOSE PEAS AT THE STORE?
I love you guys, but really, do you care if I'm "mopping up some diet coke I just spilled..."? Really? C'mon. NOBODY truly needs to or wants to know this. How much information is simply too much information?
Blogging rocks. Facebook, I'm just getting into and does serve a purpose if you like to keep in touch with friends/relatives around the world and share pics, etc. Its even an okay biz networking site.
But after trying Twitter and getting my fill of mindless one-liners from people I don't even know, I quit. Yes, I was a Twitter-Quitter.
Twitter takes blogging to a whole new micro-level. A nano level. Which brings me to this funny YouTube video I stumbled across which you'll find at the end of this post...
And for those who really do get some benefit and use out of Twitter -- fabulous. I really did try and within the space of 1 day after registering, I had like 30 people following me -- all complete strangers who were only following me (and hundreds of others) in some round-about way to boost their own numbers.
(Yes, there is some weird thing on Twitter where you "follow" all the new registrants (moi) and like some kind of pyramid scheme, you should have gazillions of followers yourself in no time! Odd.)
Oh, and I made the BIG mistake of signing on to have everyone's one-liner updates forwarded to my Blackberry.
BIG MISTAKE!
I was at dinner one evening and I promise you, my phone did not stop alerting me ALL EVENING with "tweets" about nothing.
*No, whilst at dinner I did not post anything like "Waiting to be seated at Carrabba's; person next to me has on green Crocs." But trust me, that bears a strong similarity to Twitter posts I DID get all night long.
My poor husband finally said something like "Does your phone EVER stop vibrating????" That was when I decided to log into Twitter that night when we got home and proceed to reverse all the "Alert me via mobile" options I'd signed on for.
A couple of days later, I deleted my account entirely. But that's just me. :)
So....what thinkest thou? Am I missing the boat? Did I fall out of the Twitter nest too soon?
Honestly, I would truly love to know. Maybe I am missing something and if so, I'll give it another try. I just don't know of anything can say in 140 characters of less that will be life-changing or remotely stimulating.
What I want to say, I say here, so adding yet another site to keep up with is just not in my schedule right now.
Let me know your thoughts on this burgeoning cult-status phenomena. In the meantime, enjoy this cute spoof on Twitter. And no, there is no such thing as Flutter (as mentioned in the video). Yet. :)

{VIDEO NOTE: IF THE BLOG MUSIC IS ON AUTO-START, SIMPLY PRESS THE PAUSE BUTTON ON THE BLOG MUSIC PLAYER ON THE LEFTHAND TOOL BAR, THEN CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW TO WATCH.}

19 comments:

Kasey said...

that video is hilarious. I think i will join flutter as well.

Stephanie said...

Ha! Twitter quitter, that's hilarious. I have not gotten on board with twitter. I don't understand the point of it.

TeriGigi/Girl Meets Paris said...

Thanks for filling me in on Twitter. I had been wondering about it when Fox News kept talking about it. I totally trust your judgement, and now I don't even have to try it. You explained it, I got it, I won't even go there.

By the way..
DRINKING COFFEE AT MY COMPUTER.
(Wasn't that a great tweet? Don't you feel your life was enriched by that?)

For me, the jury is still out on Facebook.
We'll see...

Simply Me Art said...

Im a Twitter Quitter and Proud of it!! I joined and never even did one Twitter but I do have followers, for what reason Im not sure??? My life is pretty boring Im not so sure that anyone wants to hear what Im doing through out my mundane days! LOL...Twitter Quitter is so Funnny, I Love it.. Jamie

*The Beautiful Life* said...

Roger that, Jamie! :)

I looked for you on Twitter when I was on, and I saw that you hadn't written anything! ;)

By the way, I'm not trying to single-handedly bring Twitter down (as if I actually weild that much power) or throw others who love Twitter under the bus, so to speak.

Its just that lately its all I read/hear about and I'm just chiming in with my two-cents. (So what else is new?) ;)

From one Twitter-Quitter to another,

Ruth :)

Jeanne Oliver said...

I love the video. I am with you. I forgot that I had even signed up months ago...I had never been back. I don't think I can take anything more than Facebook....and that is to keep intouch with FRIENDS and FAMILY! I am glad it works for many, but my brain will explode!:-)

The Flying Bee said...

Loved the video! I can't wait to show it to my hubby. We have both decided not to Twitter. I'm glad that we are not the only ones who think it is totally unneccessary. I am still trying to work my way up to starting a blog!! :)

Debi Ward Kennedy said...

Ruth, I cracked up when I read 'Twitter Quitter'!

I personally just can't bring myself to Twitter, for two reasons: one is that I agree with you - no one gives a fig what I am doing. The second reason is that even if they DID care, there is no.way.on.Earth I can express myself in 140 characters. I'm too danged Wordy!

Why don't we all form a non-Twitter thing where we write quick one-line posts on our blogs all day? (like Facebook updates)We'll call it Blitter. ;0)

The World According to Libby said...

I so agree with you! There is TMI between Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, email and oh yeah, the telephone. Enough!
I actually left Facebook because it was taking too much of my time and now all I do is Tweet and not even that much. Maybe I'm just a "need to know" kind of person?
Love you Ruth!!!!
The Libster

Claudia said...

I agree - I've got the blog. I'm on facebook, and that is about all I can handle. Who cares if I'm in the middle of scrubbing the bathtub? I think it is vastly overrated!

The Old Painted Cottage said...

This post is very well said. And I agree one hundred percent. Thanks for making me feel like I'm not the only non-twitter in cyberland.

oxox
Jennifer

Faded Plains said...

That video is geat! I completely agree with you on the Twitter thing. I did join...months ago...and have never used it (thanks for reminding me...now I will go cancel it). It just seems utterly unneccessary. As for Facebook...I'm not into that either.

♥Mimi♥ said...

I'm with you about Twitter but if you spill your Diet Coke, I WANNA KNOW! That stuff is nectar of the gods to me, so I sure hope you were able to slop up every last drop and get it back into the can :)

Tarnished Royalty said...

Hilarious post! I hope I never become so self-absorbed that I actually live to talk about my every move, and expect others to live to read about it!

Honey Bend Vintage said...

Yeah I totally don't get the whole twitter. Why would someone possibly want to know what I am doing throughout the day. Maybe it's me and I am missing something!!!!
Bristol

Joy Tilton said...

You are right on, Twitter is the newest BIG thing that we should all be up on...and who cares if you are buying peas at any given moment. I am a follower but after I found my way to Twitter, I found my way back to real people with real lives who live them rather than type them! Come visit me at grannymountain...joy c.

paige said...

fabulous post
i am definatley not into the 'what i'm doing every friggin minute of my day & yours too' thing! cracks me up!!
i think its hard enough without all the extra gadgets and vibrations from twitter just to keep a peaceful day going , right?
amen sista
preach on!

Barb said...

Hi Ruth,

I had to laugh when I read this post.
A friend encouraged me to join Twitter last May. I lasted about 3 days. Life is way too short. I know many love it but I am proud to say, "I am Twitter free". In an ideal world, I would have more blog time.

Have a fab weekend.

Frenchee le Trip said...

Thnks fr ths, Rth. This is actually great because I really did try Twitter and didn't get what the buzz could be about. Yet, Twitter still has a space in my brain bc I thought there just must be something I don't get. Though for the life of me I couldn't see what could possibly be interesting about it. So, glad to read your experiences and thoughts on it. Your blog is looking great!