Here’s another great “in plain English” video, this time about Twitter.
I recently posted something on my Facebook page that I overheard another Facebook user saying to someone we both know who isn’t on Facebook. “Now you see … if you were on Facebook, you would already know what I had for dinner last night.”
It’s funny. We all have to laugh. But those of us who are on Twitter or Facebook laugh because we know this is exactly the kind of stuff we post all the time. And the rest who haven’t yet drunk the social media cool-aid laugh at what they see as the silliness of those of us who have.
I honestly think there is something meaningful happening in this new way of sharing short moments of our daily lives. You can see it as trivial, or you can see it as welcome, bite-sized views into the fabric of the lives of people we care about. When woven together over time, they make us feel closer and more intimate with them. I don’t want to hear from every one of my Facebook or Twitter connections like this, but for a number whom I really care about, it’s a new way of feeling more in touch day to day. And I often end up discovering surprising little things I didn’t know that enrich my understanding of them. It gives true meaning to the term “social” media.
2 Comments
May 7, 2009 at 10:45 am
it is indeed fun to catch a few snippets of the lives of others. this reminds me of the NYT Times article a while on maintaining “ambient awareness” of friends, family, ect.via facebook, twitter or other channels…this helps folks (like me) who live abroad stay in touch better (i think?!)
–Ryan
May 7, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I’m in the same situation — having lived abroad for 20 years and it does make me feel more in touch. It’s precisely those simple, everyday things that are easily shared when you live close, and now are equally easily shared when you’re digitally close. Missed the NYT article though.