The Twitter Evolution: A Personal Story

Once upon a time there was a "social networking" app called Facebook.
Even after multiple prods by friends to get an account I thought "I don't need a MySpace-like page, I'm not a teenager and I'm not trying to find pen pals from all over the world"

After it became apparent that I was quite possibly the only person I knew that did NOT have an account, I signed up.
Within days I got the point.
People share pics, write little notes, take part in things like sending virtual drinks to each other for birthdays and it  allows you to post a short status message, saying what exciting thing you happen to be doing at the moment.
Although somewhat silly, the premise made sense - gaining insight to what we all do in our daily lives and therefore feeling more connected and less alone.

Do I or did I need Facebook?  No.
Do I use it still to communicate with friends?  Yes, although predominantly with people from Anguilla, which is funny, seeing how the place is a mere 32 square miles, but that's beside the point.


Fast forward a few decades (Web 2.0, not actual years) and you have Twitter.
Same thing, I didn't get the point, didn't think I needed it until the day I realized I was the only "uncool kid on the block" and got curious enough to try it.

Essentially, Twitter took the "gaining insight to what we all do and feeling more connected" concept and ran with it and turned it into 140 characters "insights" wrapped in a persistent chat room.

At first, I was completely taken back by "why would anyone give a shit about what I do", as I think everyone is at first. 
Why would anyone care about my boring life full of banal things and why in the world would I bother to tell anyone about it all.
(Note: If you did NOT go through this thought process then stop reading now, as your natural level of ASWism makes anything I say here completely pointless.)


To me, Twitter is a COMPLETELY arrogant proposition.
Why would I possibly think that anyone cares about what I do or what I manage to say in 140 characters or less?


While I know the answer to the above (which is "nobody does"), this whole thing is interesting because we all get to CHOOSE what we post.


Let's say we're in an in person conversation, in person, in the same room....
.... would I know by being able to see your eyes, if you thought I was boring, or an idiot or if you'd rather be talking to someone else?
Of course I would.
But as soon as we no longer get to have 100% real-time, human interaction, a hugely important element of "interaction" changes.
All of a sudden I get to CHOOSE what conversations I strike up, what I CHOOSE to expose and what I CHOOSE to react to and you no longer have a clue as to the actual genuineness of any of that.


Do you think that if people are given a choice on WHAT they say and HOW they say it, even thoughts about banal things might APPEAR interesting?
If so, what do you think someone with just a little bit of natural PR ability could do?


With any "online account" you sign in to in order to post something, you ARE your very own marketing department.
Online, you may never know if I am the biggest dork on the planet, if I chose to not expose that (although those things eventually have a way of working themselves out with time).
Perhaps, being a dork IS my online persona, but whatever it is I choose to post, I am IN CHARGE of the whole show.

Now imagine for a second what Twitter would look like if it automatically posted what you were ACTUALLY doing at random intervals you had no control over:
"franziska is putting on the only socks she packed and they have holes in them"
"franziska is back in Anguilla and is struggling with the overwhelming quiet, once again"
"franziska is looking for interesting stuff to post while plucking her eyebrows"
"franziska is on the phone with someone that she would rather not have to talk to"

Not very exciting is it?

(to be continued)