For all those who don't understand Twitter

The boiled-down reason for Twitter is "tell people what you're doing". This leads people to comment, "Well, I don't want to hear about when people are going to the bathroom". To all those who say that, bite me. Only assholes tweet when they're taking a shit.

Now we can get to what Twitter actually is. Twitter is a way to connect to people. For the most part you can follow whomever you want. It can be used for any number of things, from keeping up with family and friends, to keeping up with blogs and podcasts, as I do. Lately, a big part of Twitter is keeping up with current events. For example, Michael Jackson passed away about a week ago. Googling "Michael Jackson" really did no good; you may get a Wikipedia link, links to his music, but probably nothing on what's happening RIGHT NOW. If one wants to learn about something happening RIGHT NOW, one goes to Twitter and searches the subject. A whole list of things that people have tweeted and re-tweeted comes up, and things like that spread like wildfire. Twitter embodies web 2.0 in that it is an instant thing. A search like the one I described above is a snapshot of an instant in time, rather than a culumnation of things, like a Google search.

Then, there's the general arguement against technology that it's better to interact with people face to face. While this is always true, there are many, many times when such meetings are simply not possible. I might be out of town, cut off from friends and family in general. Sure, I can call or text, but that's a very singular act. I can tweet and theorhetically communicate with everyone at once. Or, I can follow people from around the web and around the world, people I would never have met otherwise. Same goes for WoW. There's a girl in my guild who I would consider a friend, to a certain extent without ever meeting her. I never would have met her or anything without this thing that I do.

Yes, there are times when everyone should disconnect, and yes, it is usually better to get together with friends and go to dinner and have a good time, but this technology allows otherwise impossible relationships and impossible communication. If you still can't see the worth in that, then bah humbug. I'll make sure and tell you the next time I'm on the crapper.