Chris Berry On The Net

UPDATE: 6 days into my experiment and it appears that no one cares. Only 6 followers so far.

Blogging makes sense to me, but I’m not sure I really get what Twitter is all about. This blog has always been a personal reflection of my views on a wide range of issues, and when I have something on my mind, it provides me with the perfect platform to unload. Twitter seems more like a way to share what I had for breakfast. If anyone really cares, it was coffee, OJ, and granola bars.

To be perfectly honest, I’ve never really understood the whole social media phenomenon. Maybe it’s an introvert thing, but I don’t feel the need to accumulate pretend friends like points in a video game. I tried to view someone else’s page on Facebook last year, and I realized that I had to create an account of my own to access it. I spent a total of about 3 minutes on the site, and I’ve never been back. Even though I didn’t create a profile, I continue to get occasional random friend requests from people I’ve never met.

I’ve had a LinkedIn account for about a year, and I have a pretty small number of contacts there. These are people that I know and have had real life experience with over the years. It may defeat the purpose of getting “Linked In”, but I routinely turn down connection requests from people I don’t know. I’ve also joined several LinkedIn groups, but it seems like most people are more interested in joining than actually participating.

MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are all basically variations on the same theme, and it’s a concept that I just don’t find very interesting. I’m one of those people who think ATMs and pay at the pump gas are the greatest developments in history, because they allow me to avoid unnecessary human contact. I really dislike trivial exchanges and idle chit-chat.

Twitter is something completely different from the other forms of social media, and I’ve been trying hard to understand why people find it so addictive. Do I really need a second outlet to share the details of my personal life? Can anyone possibly care about the random brain farts that Twitter seems designed to capture and disseminate? Does anyone ever actually read the tweets of the people they follow, or is the object simply to run up the score by accumulating followers of your own?

The thing I wonder about most is whether it is possible to say anything truly worthwhile in 140 characters or less? I always try to use words as efficiently as possible, but this limit seems like it would challenge even the greatest wordsmiths in history. If Abe Lincoln and Bill Shakespeare couldn’t do it, it’s a pretty safe bet that I can’t either.

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”. (178 characters)

“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” (156 characters)

In a way, Twitter reminds me of the 6 word life story meme that made the rounds on the interwebs a while back. It was an amusing challenge, but it didn’t really serve any purpose. I did come up with a few good responses, and they all fit within the 140 character limit. These were some of my best efforts, but it’s pretty clear I’m no Bill Shakespeare.

Tried hard to be good father. (29 characters)

Spent too much money on golf. (29 characters)

Ass on couch watching South Park. (33 characters)

As skeptical as I sound, I’ve decided to see for myself what all the fuss is about. There’s a chance that I’m wrong, and Twitter may turn out to be right up there with ATMs and pay at the pump gas among my favorite things in life. I’m going to give it a try for 30 days and see what happens. I already spend way too much time on the computer, so if I’m not completely addicted at the end of 30 days I’ll probably give it up. You can Follow Me to see how it works out. I promise not to tweet about my breakfast.