Twitter, like Facebook is one of my many online addictions. As bad as it sounds, I’m not quite sure how I would properly function without it… Then again, I’ve always been a little odd.
One thing that I love most about Twitter is its openness. Anyone can tweet, anyone can follow, and everyone (whether or not you know them properly or not) can engage in some sort of conversation (mind you, Ewan wouldn’t totally agree on that point).
But it’s the openness that Twitter has that amazes me the most. Whist I don’t have nor aim to have hundreds of followers, those few that I do have are very insightful. Just having a platform that requires no time or dedication such as Facebook does for instance, Twitter is simple. It’s easy, fun and you can converse with anyone for as long or short as you so choose.
However, other than people who I know purely online (such as many MIR readers), there is not a single person who I am either following or being followed by who falls into the category of either “Friends” or “Family”… Not one.
This doesn’t surprise me, as actually many of my actual friends only became truly aware of what it is that I am doing when I am constantly texting Twitter all the time when Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry had a fairly notable conversation on the television.
Now I could say “Oh, well Twitter needs to change that! More young people the better!” but actually I disagree.
I love Twitter. I like the way it is now, I like the majority of the people who use it, and I think it’s a brilliant place just to sit back and watch. I don’t want it spoiled with constant streams of “Lol”, “LMAO” and all of the other acronyms that I don’t know the meaning of.
And this will happen if Twitter continues to get the recognition through its “Celeb Users” such as Mr. Fry or Jonathan; it will hit the same spiral of slowing decay that has hit Myspace, Bebo and even Facebook over the recent years. And as much as I hate to say it, it’s the teens that do it!
I mean can you imagine it, a surge of “Twitter Whores”, creating endless chains of “followers”, all of whom are about fifteen years old, and look somewhat odd in their display picture.
I hate to sound like an “old fart”, but I cannot stand this thought; and I bet I won’t be the only one either!
That’s why I think it should be preserved. Whilst it should be able to grow and become better, and improve, should that happen at such a cost to all of us who actually enjoy and utilise the platform?
Samantha
samantha@mobileindustryreview.com
