LIVE FROM MEMPHIS

A few months ago, my esteemed editor Chris McCoy asked me to join Twitter and then write an article about the experience. This delighted my podcasting friends who live on Twitter, because I swore that I would never join that dreaded community. I was intrigued by the prospect of "investigative journalism", so I decided to give it a go.

For those who don't know, Twitter is basically a form of microblogging. You tell what you are doing or how you feel about something, but you only have 140 characters—including spaces—in which to do it. I turned to my resident technophile/Apple fanboy/podcasting buddy Justin Vactor for a quick tutorial and assistance in posting a picture to my profile. I even posted on my profile that I joined to write an article. I was skeptical, but committed to delivering a good blog about the experience, if nothing else. 

To be honest, in the beginning, I felt like Larry Fishburne's character in the underrated cinematic gem Deep Cover. I had gotten so wrapped up in tweeting, that I feared that I would lose my objectivity. I wasn't as productive at my day job, and I stopped writing as much. Remember when this blog was weekly? I was finally able to talk to a lot of people that my podcasting friends had mentioned to me. I also got a kick out of following the tweets of celebrities big and small.  I decided to follow John Mayer, Heavy D, Ice T, and even old school rappers like Kwame and Dana Dane. I also enjoyed the tweets of my favorite comic book writers and "it" celebs like Rainn Wilson, Ashton Kutcher, and one of the most infamous tweeters, Sean "Diddy" Combs.  I also got a kick out of people deciding to follow me. I like the idea of followers. I feel like a cult leader, like Jim Jones but without the poison Kool-Aid—a  kinder, gentler cultist, if you will. I also realized that it was a helpful tool for getting info out there. I started following a local theater, the Ridgeway 4, and it was very informative. Their tweets about Anvil performing led me to see that film and performance and post a blog about it. It was also helpful in posting links to my writings here and at other sites. 

My biggest complaint with Twitter, however, is the 140-character limit. I'm an expository kind of guy. I really have to work to express myself with fewer words. Second, some of the people that I engage in Twitter debates with can get a little mean. I posted about Tupac's birthday and one of my "friends" made some snarky comments, and it bothered me. The interwebs can pretty cutthroat at times. Third, I think Twitter might have gotten too big too fast. The site is constantly down for system maintenance, and if too many people tweet at once, the site temporarily "crashes", and they show a picture of a white whale, commonly referred to as a "fail whale". And finally, I feel like "cyber societies" are a detriment to face-to-face communication. Do people really want to know everything that I'm doing? Even I don't care about everything I do in a day's time.

I still think Twitter is a valuable tool, and I will keep my account, but now I check it about 3-5 times a day during the week. I am still one of those dinosaurs who does not have internet access at home or on his phone, so I can't post every activity, and I think that's a good thing. I still read the "celebritweets", but I spend more time talking to people I actually know. I also like tweeting cool videos and the stories that I write. Twitter is cool, but I don't need people knowing everything that I do.  That's a bit too voyeuristic for my tastes.  I would rather live life and tell people about it after the fact.  Sometimes it's good to disconnect from the Matrix and get some fresh air. Of course, I am going to tweet a link to this article as soon as it's posted. I still have to promote me. But I am now a recreational Tweeter, and I plan to keep it that way.