Twitter

Twitter is a free social networking service. People follow one another via webposts (aka Tweets) which are brief comments that may not exceed 140 characters. It’s a little like writing Haiku but a lot easier; there are no rules regarding the arrangement of syllables in a given number of lines.

The Twittisphere is populated with bloggers, entrepreneurs, and miscellaneous others with something (not always meaningful) to say. I sometimes think of Tweeters as nothing more than digital screamers competing to be heard over an abundance of pixilated noise.

Celebrity Tweeters seem to enjoy collecting lots of followers who enjoy the pretense of feeling connected to pop idols. Ashton Kutcher has 3,303,082 followers; he follows 192. The Ellen Show has 2,972,305 followers; she follows 26. Oprah has 2,069,394 followers; she follows 15. I have 1,141 followers; I follow 1,146. I admit I want more followers and it seems that the more I have, the more I want. I rarely follow people who don’t follow me; I find that self-deprecating. Some Tweeters send thank you messages to new followers, however, the messages are generally auto-responses (a brainchild which leaves me totally cold).

I suppose the idea of signing up at http://twitter.com/ is to expose yourself (so to speak) and be visible to the millions of people who might read your blog or buy your product. Every now and then, something novel shows up in the sea of sameness. Bitch O Gram (http://www.bitchogram.com/) is one such innovative concept which allows a buyer to send a COMPLETELY anonymous message through email, phone text, or USPS post card.

Do I recommend Twitter? I’m not really sure. But if you sign up, please Follow Me.