Sunday 26 July 2009

What i am doing.


I’ve been thinking about Twitter recently, people say that you have to.

Though in fact I think it is just another example of the Evangelical Technique – create a product (religion/twitter), convince someone (who doesn’t know what’s going on/ who isn’t doing anything) that they need the product and then tell them that part of the product requires that they tell as many people as possible that it’s changed their life and that they need it too.

Fortunately I got this sort of thing out of my system very early after attending a Jesus Saves You Rally at the impressionable age of 13/14.

I was Born Again Big Time and I twittered about it incessantly – mainly to my Dad who in my eyes was clearly heading for Hell.

I was cured when I eventually realised that I only ever prayed before exams and that if God existed then there should clearly be more commitment on my part and so consequently I owed it to him/her to try on my own.

Yes I’m angry too today.

I’ve been thinking about Twitter because I’ve been sleeping outside and the birds have been waking me with theirs (twittering) and I’m angry because of Air France.

My friend Dave has started his Twitter feed and now with a deft flick of thumb I can find out whether it is raining in his garden in S.W. Ireland.

I feel a little responsible for this as each time I have emailed or rung in the past I have asked – what’s the weather like – and he is clearly answering a human need.

However, the fact that it is ALWAYS raining in his garden in S.W. Ireland makes me feel that the technological energy that went into creating and maintaining the platform for him to say so is wasted.

Surely we could have used all that expertise to, I don’t know; eradicate potholes on the A21 in England?

A look at the top three Twitter sites shows that people still have an over-healthy regard for the banalities of the lives of slightly famous people.

But much that I could rave insanely about how trivial the whole world is becoming there is I fear a more sinister backlash in the coming.

People who live in the public eye are often forced to address questions at the press conference. Like Dave they are probably asked the same question over and over and sometimes they just can’t be bothered.

Now they Twit and one day they will collectively turn around and refuse to talk to anyone directly and say - see my Twit.

And it will be more efficient and we will see one more nail in the coffin for investigative reporting and enquiry.

Something that Air France has managed already by having a Client Service department that is only contactable through a message system and doesn’t even BOTHER to work at the weekend.

They could in fact just put the whole department on to Twitter and send out a daily message – Not Caring again today.

5 comments:

Anne Hodgson said...

Trivia and the hectic pace is indeed a sad combination. But Twitter is an excellent search tool for the truly driven, and an art form for those so inclined. See this: http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article07200901.aspx

popps said...

Thanks, i've calmed down today.
I'll have a look.

Dave said...

See the full scale detail of the weather in my back garden at http://allihies.com > Our weather

....if you want to.

I still find twitter more compelling now than watching the TV news and often often more interesting than the newspaper. After following events unfold on twitter the 'legacy media' just seems so biased to their paymasters whims. Twitter seems seems a tiny bastion of independent voices. Imagine scaning weather reports from lots of little weather stations rather that just the CNN version. But take it of leave it by all means.

popps said...

anne, i checked your link, interesting stuff thanks.
It reminded me of the sort of things people used to say about Text messaging.
Here is something from 205.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2002/dec/05/textpoetrycompetition2002.mobilephones

popps said...

dave, i think a LOT of things are more interesting than the TV news.
In fact i think a lot of things are more interesting than TV so i'm not sure that that in itself is enough to swing the argument.
What's the difference between Twitter and the "what i'm doing" bit of Facebook?