inicio mail me! sindicaci;ón

Posts tagged » sociology

Twitter is…

August 23, 2007 at 6:20 pm · Filed under Art Freak Culture + Design & Web Geek + Life, Meaning, & Selfhood + Minds, Brains, & inbetween

  • dead simple and so easy you’ll barely know you’re using it (which is what really makes it work)
  • a constant stream of banal life snippets of the world in 140 characters or less
  • shouting out to no one and everyone with little expectation that anyone will read it or care
  • a digital location-less replacement for the the social awareness of the village*

* In the village, you always knew

…that Agnes always went to the grocery store at noon on Sunday, and Old Fred’s hanging out at the tavern later than usual lately. In our messy chaos of busy urban life, we only run into most of our friends every week or so. We try to catch up but usually we only remember to mention the big things — not the little banal things which also make us who we are. As result, there’s something missing in our interactions, and we end up lacking that ambient social awareness that helps bring people together.

Not everyone “Get’s it”

While not perfect, Twitter somehow fills this gap in social awareness. You don’t feel it right away, which is why some people try it out for a week or so and then stop saying “I don’t get it!?!” However after a couple weeks of gleaning the stream of your friend’s twitters, you start to feel it. There it is out of the corner of you vision — you somehow feel closer to those people even though it’s hard to put your finger on why. And the next time you see them, the tension of “catching up” is softened.

What about LiveJournal?

For some LiveJournal works in this manner, but LJ is also as the name implies a journal, and it too often becomes a forum for melancholy narcissistic griping and the ubiquitous replies of *hugs* and commiseration. Not to mention, the flood of inane LJ memes (what CareBear are you?) which are a poor substitute for social bonding. It’s hard to really pour your heart out in 140 characters or less, and this limitation grants Twitter to fill a different role.

Floating In My Twitter Stream

I have to say that Twitter is more relevant when mobile (via sms or mobile browser; my iPhone is great for it), but it still fills it’s purpose on normal computer. I check my twitter stream every now and then and see my friends and my family (yes my parents have jumped on twitter and it’s fabulous). I also follow a couple other bloggers and people I find interesting or funny like Othar who writes what can only be described as Twitter fantasy fiction. With only the simplest perusing, I have a slightly stronger connection with all of their lives.

Links:

Related posts

Tags:, , , , , ,

Comments (1)

Is that a cockscomb in your pocket?

May 25, 2007 at 11:09 am · Filed under Life, Meaning, & Selfhood

Court Jester Great interview with Al Gore on the Daily Show. My favorite part is how he compared John Stewart to the jesters in the Middle Ages who were the only ones who could speak the truth without getting their heads choped off.

It’s an interesting analogy. The concept of a jester actually has origins before the middle ages, but mostly people’s impression of one comes from the romanticized Middle Ages. Wikipedia has the following to say about jesters:

The jester was symbolic twin of the king.[1] All jesters and fools in those days were thought of as special cases whom God had touched with a childlike madness—a gift, or perhaps a curse.

Some Jesters probably were mad or otherwise mentally disabled but not all were, and Al Gore is right that several were known for their humorous political commentry. Probably one who most reflects this is Stańczyk, a court jester in Poland in the early 1500s, who became a celebrated folk hero and is still considered to be an important historical figure. Again quoting wikipedia:

Stańczyk has been always considered to have been much more than a mere entertainer. He is remembered as a man of great intelligence and a political philosopher gifted with formidable insight into Poland’s current and future situation. He used his job to criticize and warn his contemporaries by the use of satire. His witty jokes often pertained to current political or court matters. Stańczyk’s remarks and jokes were preserved by numerous contemporary writers and historians, who praised him for fighting hypocrisy in the name of truth. [emphasis mine]

Looking forward at the history of tomorrow, I would not be surprised if John Stewart (and Stephen Colbert) become equally important historical figures. The presence in the historical landscape may be more lasting and in a way more potent than our current president; in the least, they will be more fondly remembered.

Related posts

Tags:, , , , ,

Comments (5)