“Addicted to Twitter”
Are you addicted to Twitter? I got a laugh from this piece over at Salon:
Last Thursday morning, I sat down at my computer with my cup of sludgy coffee, just like any other day. I checked my e-mail and glanced at the New York Times Web site. But when I opened up Twitter, expecting the usual hodgepodge of scattered thoughts and hectic questions, I found there was nothing there. Nothing at all.
It was the day of the Great Twitter Outage. But I didn’t know that yet. I only knew that something was terribly wrong.
Actually, it was funny, in a kind of pathetic, soul-crushing way: I stared at the blank screen, hitting refresh over and over. Waiting for everyone to come back. For my online life to resume. Finally, I accepted the truth. Twitter, my favorite unreliable news source and constant companion, was gone.
So what did I do?
I walked away from the computer, and out the door, into the startling sunshine of an Atlanta summer morning. The kids and I played in the damp green of the backyard, and then we headed to the playground, where I sat on a park bench and watched my boys climb and swing. We got ice cream.
Only wherever I went — I took Twitter with me. I was thinking in Twitter! All afternoon, my mind percolated with 140-character thoughts that I longed to share with anyone. No, with everyone.
Overheard: “That guy is a little aspergie.” Can’t decide if I’m offended or not.
Why do preschool teachers NEED to glue food to things? I cannot put fruit loops in a scrapbook!
Does anyone else remember the book, Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present? “She likes birds in trees”
It was the oddest feeling. It was as though I were actually posting these thoughts. Formatting them and sending them to all my friends, through the mysterious ether of the Internet. Only I wasn’t. It was all in my head. I was just sitting there, on a park bench, twittering to no one. And that’s when I knew I had a problem.
My addiction shouldn’t have come as a surprise. I’m an absolute extrovert. The last girl to leave any party. I yammer at my seatmate on every plane ride. I ask nosy questions. For someone like me, the the interactive nature of the Web is a dream. I can always be talking to someone.
Twitter should have a three-hour outage randomly once a week. Just to remind us.
So much of my life is imbued with early 21st century technology. Like you I think in 140 characters haiku and I often automatically try to rewind real time as if my brain is a DVR.
I’m a photographer and the first time I realized I’d “crossed over” was when I made a mistake printing a picture in the darkroom. When I automatically thought “oh, I’ll just undo” I knew I needed to move on.
Ashamed to admit refresh button became my best friend that day. I hit it over and over and each time was filled with disappointment Twitter had not returned. Went to Friend Feed for a fix and came out feeling much better. ;> Great post!
RT @JoeTrippi: Are you addicted to Twitter? I got a laugh from this piece over at Salon – on my blog http://bit.ly/Hhm1U
… oh, wait …
I ignored the Salon feed this morning but I really appreciate all of your suggestions so I succumbed. Oh, so familiar, the feelings connected with checking Twitter regularly. This trip took me to Montana, too, via the side banner and since Montana is one of my favorite places I wandered around for awhile before returning here. Many wonder where my lost hours go …
Sorry, friends, but Twitter’s too desperate for me. I actually like living most of my life unplugged and connecting only on my own time.
What fun. Thanks for sharing this piece.
Just wrote about this on my personal blog. Weird. Didn’t see the salon piece until now. I do the same thing.
http://albamaria30.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/all-a-twitter/
ciao,
rpm
How many people here know of someone making money off of Twitter?