As the hours till midnight continue to roll by, and the deadline for our first blog post for English 303 draws near I find myself sitting here, perplexed about multiple areas that serve my interests. Whether it is the NFL playoff picture or the standing of any current relationships, the way in which i express my thoughts, emotions and opinions on any topic has been transcended to 140 characters. I must admit I had my doubts when i first encountered Twitter back in 2009 through a close friend that could be identified as a Twitter addict. I found it to be invasive, pointless, another grudge on an already mishandled society, and after weeks of speculation i eventually caved and joined the newest online fad.
Now that two years of my tweets, quotes, and retweets have circulated around the Twitter universe and my experience level as a modern day Tweeter has been elevated to the highest platform I find myself far and beyond what was originally anticipated. My original intent in signing up for Twitter was to follow some of my favorite celebrities, athletes and businesses in order to provide me with another form of online entertainment. Snoop Dogg, Lebron James, Jeremy Piven, all were “followed” without hesitation. What truly amazed me and continues to surprise me is the level of understanding that would come with following my favorite personalities. By reading day to day activities, and rituals of celebrities you begin to appreciate them as a person and not just a face. We see the side the media wants us to see. ESPN, TMZ, CNN; all of these outlets have an agenda in which they portray specific individuals in specific ways for their own personal benefit. Twitter gives celebrities the ability to voice themselves free from interference from outside factors.
Twitter is certainly not without its flaws and defects. Personally I know several people (one in particular) who are donating incredible amounts of time to update their status to the online world. It should be seen as means to describe the unique abstractness of human thought, not something we abuse by listing absolute nonsense, the world does not need to know if you are feeling particularly moody one morning, or that you took a 2 hour nap this afternoon.