TWITTER!

A Whole New World...

In my blog today I will be discussing Twitter (and other social media), in which I believe is a distraction to our lives and interferes socially. Some of the points mentioned in this blog come from the supporting works of Mary Cross in her book Twitter World’ in Bloggerati, Twitterati: how blogs and twitter are transforming popular culture.

Living in the 21st century, everything is changing and is completely different from what previous generations are used to. Our society now has been dominated and overtaken by the Internet, which has transformed everything in its path. Marshall McLuhan had predicted in the 20th century that electronic technology was going to change the world, turning it into a village and sending people back to tribes. I think this guy was heading on the right track, we are becoming less and less "civilized" to each other due to the fact we have technology. Instead of interacting with real life people when we are with them, we are on our phones either surfing the net or text messaging someone else. Now that we have Twitter and other social media we are indeed going back to what McLuhan had predicted. We have created global villages online where we can shop, where we can meet new people and where we can express ourselves over the internet.

Twitter and other social media has drastically changed the way the media communicates with us. No longer do we wait for what the television or newspaper reports to us, because it takes too long to find out the information. Instead we await for the “Twitterati” to inform us of the news, as they are the first responders whenever there is a crisis; it is also the first port of call when looking for an eyewitness.  While it is useful in reporting and informing people about the events of bushfires, tsunamis and earthquakes, when it comes down to it, who in their right mind would be tweeting about a crisis when they are running for their lives and trying to be safe? And while its all well and good for people who are safe to report the news to others or alert their followers about what's happening, I ask once again, who in that situation where they are facing life and death are going to jump on a computer or check their phones to see how other people are faring?

Around the world nearly 200 million people a month are updating their Twitter posts, with an average of 140 million in a day, 1 billion a week.

Twitter and other social media has drastically changed the way we communicate with others and how others connect with us. It has changed our routine from the very simple of getting up in the morning and greeting the family hello, to opening up online accounts and greeting the world. Mobile devices have allowed us to continually be connected and “on” to social media. There is a change to the way we entertain our children, while we are busy with our online accounts and checking messages we try to hush our children up and keep them placated while we are busy “socializing”.  When people come together for a meal or go out to “catch-up” there is always someone that is checking their phone for messages or browsing the web. I think that while social media is good for staying in tough with people that we don’t get to see everyday i.e. people overseas or in another state, it is a distraction to the people that we get to physically see. It interferes in the ways we interact with people in the face to face setting.

I, myself, have signed up for a Twitter account because of the studies I'm undertaking at university. Participating in Social Media classes, I thought I would give it a go and see what it's like. I find Twitter to be confusing and highly annoying. While I'm only 21 I seem to be quite old fashioned in the way news is reported and maintaining relationships. Reading posts I find is hard and frustrating with all the symbols interjected within the writing etc. I prefer Facebook, it is much easier to use and simpler for me. I have all my extended family in Perth so for me, Facebook is great in keeping in touch with them. But when I'm around my friends I prefer to be paying attention to them and not some technological device. In the academic papers I have read I can understand and appreciate Donna Harraways's argument of us becoming "cyborgs".