I’m not an avid Twitter user. I don’t see the importance of knowing someone’s meal or how someone’s day went. Sure, it can be nice to find commonalities with others, even with multimillion-dollar celebrities, but I find that it gets old quickly. I’m not sure I’ll ever catch on to it. As for a database of links to videos and other articles, I’ve found ways to find filtered information on the Internet in places where I don’t need to sift through life status updates (like Reddit). With this said, Steven Johnson’s “How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live” had some interesting insights with the social platform that will keep me checking into to Twitter periodically.
The beginning of his article began like most Twitter articles, explaining his skeptical attitude toward the Internet phenomenon and then later his acceptance of it. I gave Johnson a chance and kept reading. And I’m glad I did.
Johnson talked about “end-user innovation.” This is when consumers modify a product to adapt to their unique needs. This theory, as he explains, is the root of innovation. I think this reason alone is why we should never shut down an idea for its face value.
The concept reminded me about an interview I had with Dr. Britten, a journalism professor at WVU. The interview was about the importance of social media in academia. He left me with this quote, which I’ll leave with you guys, as a mindset toward social applications and websites. He said, “What I try to teach students is it’s not about the app. It’s the idea behind the app. That’s a powerful thing. This is fundamental to where social media is going.”