I must admit that over the past 6 months, I have been amazed at the power and influence Twitter has had on American society. In our never-ending quest for constant, instant communication, Twitter has become the next technology craze, following in the likes of Facebook, MySpace, and the ever-popular "whisper down the lane." Athletes are Twittering during games, politicians are updating us on their vacation plans, and people all over the country are "Tweeting" about the laundry machine that turned their whites into pinks.
Ever since Twitter was first introduced to the world, I've swayed between "I couldn't care less about Twitter" to "This shit is really starting to annoy me." Lately, I've been feeling much more of the latter. Now before I get into why, let me say that I absolutely see the value in Twitter. Athletes and other famous people can completely circumvent an increasingly biased media and their fans and supporters can "communicate" with them in ways never thought imaginable. Businesses can use the tool to advertise to their target market or differentiate themselves to their customers. And people like you and I can use the tool to stay connected to the athletes, celebrities, businesses, and friends we care about the most. Just because I'm losing my hair, doesn't mean I don't see the value in new technology.
Here's where I get annoyed. On Monday, ESPN broke a story that Steve Nash would be signing a 2 year $22 million extension with the Phoenix Suns. The article went on to say that the contract would be "formally announced through Steve Nash's personal Twitter page later that day." Does anyone else see the problem here? When did it become acceptable to formally announce anything in a forum that only allows for 150 characters or less? Shouldn't something like a $22 million extension to a future Hall of Fame point guard be announced through a press conference? Think about it, does Steve Nash even know he has a Twitter account, or is it managed by his agent/publicist? A little formality and personal participation goes a long way.
My complaint about Twitter as it relates to Steve Nash's contract is relatively minor. I really don't care all that much how the contract is announced, because ultimately, Steve Nash will be playing for the Suns for 2 more years, and that is what matters. In fact, Twitter often humors me, especially when it relates to athletes and celebrities posting completely embarrassing and unnecessary information about themselves. Finally, a way to learn how dumb some of these people actually are!
However, I do have a serious complaint about Twitter that I think does have some merit. My main gripe with Twitter goes back to something all of you have undoubtedly heard me mention many times before: As our society becomes more "connected" through "advanced" forms of communication, we become increasingly disconnected as a group of people. What is now a "Tweet" was once a text message, which was once an instant message, which was once a phone call, which ultimately used to be a face to face conversation.
Be very careful folks. One day soon you're going to wake up and wonder how we turned into a society incapable of communicating with each other face to face.
Of course, you'll all be calling me a hypocrite when I get my own Twitter account...which will not happen until I start my own business. Until then, I'll send and receive information through antiquated forms of communication like my mouth, my body language, and of course, my highly publicized blog.
- Kaps
Song of the Day: Jay-Z - DOA (Death of Autotune)
No comments:
Post a Comment